Scores of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a sit-in protest in the US Capitol on Wednesday, demanding that the US back a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Police arrested multiple demonstrators who refused to leave the building.
The activists broke away from a larger demonstration on the National Mall and sat on the floor in the House Office Building, as a ring of police looked on.
Chanting “ceasefire now!” the protesters held banners reading “let Gaza live” and “not in our name.”
Shortly after the protest began, Capitol Police warned the crowd to disperse, before moving in and detaining those who refused to comply. Capitol Police reported that roughly 300 people were arrested.
🔴🟠 ÚLTIMA HORA | Los judíos estadounidenses asaltan el Capitolio en #Washington para protestar por los crímenes de #Israel en #Gaza y exigir que el judaísmo como religión no se vincule con el Sionismo. pic.twitter.com/cfEZyKrps6
— ECSaharaui (@ECSaharaui__) October 18, 2023
The demonstration was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, which claimed that more than 350 people, including 24 rabbis, took part.
Outside, the group claimed that up to 10,000 people marched “to challenge the Israeli government’s ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Israel’s air campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza entered its twelfth day on Wednesday.
It was launched following an attack by Hamas fighters at Israeli military bases and settlements in the south of Israel.
Since then, Israel has launched a war that seems to be directly mostly at the civilian population in the Strip, killing nearly 3,500 Palestinians and wounding over 12,000 more. Most of them, according to UN reports are women and children.
Also, Israel, which has already imposed a siege on Gaza for the last 17 years, tightening the siege, blocking the entry of food, water, fuel and bombing much of the Strip’s infrastructure.
"The rhetoric from the Israeli government is genocidal. As Jews, we recognize it."
A speaker from among Jewish groups rallying at the White House in Washington, DC, speaks out against Israel's genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/aTQm2C8gsH
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) October 17, 2023
American officials and lawmakers have overwhelmingly backed the Israeli military response, with President Joe Biden visiting Tel Aviv on Wednesday to demonstrate his country’s solidarity.
Only a handful of Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against the Israeli operation. Among them are Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who both spoke at Wednesday’s rally.
“President Biden, not all of America is with you on this one, and you need to wake up and understand that,” Tlaib told the crowd.
“We are literally watching people commit genocide.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
