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Joel Rubin, veteran of a number of Jewish organizations, to run for Congress in Maryland
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joel Rubin, who has had leading roles at a number of Jewish organizations, is entering a crowded Democratic congressional race in a Maryland district that stretches from Washington’s suburbs to the Pennsylvania border.
The race in Maryland’s competitive 6th District is uncharted waters for Rubin, a Jewish progressive. Redistricting after the 2020 census drained the district of much of its Jewish population and stretched its boundaries into the conservative redoubts of the otherwise deep blue state.
Rubin, a national security consultant who launched his campaign on Monday, said he would bring into play his hands-on experience as the deputy mayor of Chevy Chase, a D.C. suburb, and his roots in Pittsburgh, which lies about 90 minutes north of the western part of the district.
“It’s just a matter of transportation, housing, public safety and security, questions about economic development and what’s the vision for our children in the schools,”said Rubin who in May wrapped up his third two-year term as deputy mayor of the suburb.
Rubin helped found J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, in 2008, and was the Jewish community liaison for Jewish Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, in 2020.
He served on the board of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and from 2020-2022 was executive director of the American Jewish Congress, where he led an initiative tracking antisemitism on the far right.
He said that he would embrace the template that helped incumbent Democrat David Trone keep the seat even after the redistricting, focusing on the area’s economic woes. Rubin said his Pittsburgh upbringing would bring “a perspective of working people, a perspective of being in areas that have gone through a lot of change economically, and a lot of change and social issues, and the opioid crisis.”
Trone, a wine-selling magnate whose wife and children are Jewish and who has close ties to the Anti-Defamation League, is running for the Senate seat to be vacated by Ben Cardin, a long-serving Jewish Democrat.
Trone and Rubin ran against each other in the open primary for the 8th District in 2016; they lost to Jamie Raskin. Rubin still resides in the 8th District, which under Maryland law does not disqualify him from running in the 6th. He notes that Trone lives in the 8th as well.
The race will be crowded: Rubin is at least the fourth to declare, and others come from within the district and bring with them records as moderate-to-conservative Democrats. The party establishment may want to get behind a more conservative Democrat in a year that Democrats hope to wrest back the House of Representatives from Republicans.
Rubin, who was also a deputy assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, said he could translate his progressive values into a pitch that would appeal even to the district’s conservative voters. He said he learned about reaching across divides when he served as a Jewish volunteer for the Peace Corps from 1994-1996 in a small Catholic village in Costa Rica.
“The values that as a Jewish American are near and dear to my heart are universal values, the value of tikkun olam, of healing the world, the belief in trying to be inclusive and trying to be to have a tolerant society, those are the Jewish values that I grew up with that informed me as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh,” he said. “Those are values that I’ll communicate. And I think those resonate as I did when I was in the Peace Corps.”
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The post Joel Rubin, veteran of a number of Jewish organizations, to run for Congress in Maryland appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.