On Wednesday, Washington, DC witnessed large demonstrations as numerous Hamas supporters, including many Israeli Yordim and American Jews, gathered to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress. The city saw a considerable police presence as protesters marched in the streets. And while most of them demonstrated peacefully (if not quietly), some confrontations with law enforcement took place, and DC and Capitol Police arrested 23 individuals. Police officer also used pepper spray against violent protesters.
Near Union Station, demonstrators chanted “Release them!” at law enforcement personnel who had encircled a group of detainees. An individual attempted to seize an officer’s riot shield before assuming a combative posture with raised fists. Officers snatched Palestinian flags from the crowd and discarded them.
According to the Washington Post, the largest demonstration was organized by the ANSWER Coalition, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
?️“NETANYAHU COME OUTSIDE — WE’RE ARRESTING YOU FOR GENOCIDE!”
Washington DC rallies against the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister and war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu! pic.twitter.com/ksKtbTd6M1
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) July 24, 2024
Inside the House of Representatives, Netanyahu had this to say about them:
They refuse to make the simple distinction between those who target terrorists and those who target civilians, between the democratic State of Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hamas. We recently learned from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, that Iran is funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America. They want to disrupt America. So, these protesters burned American flags even on the 4th of July. And I wish to salute the fraternity brothers at the University of North Carolina who protected the American flag, protected the American flag against these anti-Israel protesters.
[There was a very loud and long applause from both sides of the aisle here, as lawmakers stood up to acknowledge the UNC boys.]
For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building—not that many, but they’re there—and throughout the city. Well, I have a message for these protesters: When the Tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.
It’s amazing, absolutely amazing. Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming “Gays for Gaza.” They might as well hold up signs saying “Chickens for KFC.”
As Netanyahu was addressing the House and Senate members, security personnel escorted out five individuals from the gallery who wore matching yellow shirts emblazoned with “seal the deal now.” They hadn’t actively disrupted the speech but stood up to showcase their message during applause breaks, against Speaker Mike Johnson’s instructions.
When Squad member Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) stood and held up an auction-bidding sign that read “War Criminal” on one side and “Genocide” on the other, she was approached immediately by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) who sat down next to Tlaib and engaged her in conversation. Luna is a Messianic Jewish Christian. Luna co-sponsored resolutions to impeach AG Merrick Garland, FBI chief Christopher Wray, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, US Attorney for DC Matthew Graves, and Rep Adam Schiff (C-Ca.).
The demonstrations may have been in protest of Israel’s military response to the Hamas atrocities, but it was all about Netanyahu, reminiscent of the Goldstein hate hour in George Orwell’s “1984.”
They shouted, “Bibi, Bibi, we’re not done, the intifada has just begun!” and, “Netanyahu, you can’t hide. You’re committing genocide,” and “Not another nickel, not another dime. No more money for Israel’s crimes.”
Demonstrators attempted to obstruct Netanyahu’s path to the Capitol, but law enforcement cleared them from the roadway. When police prevented them from approaching the Capitol building, the protesters marched through several streets in the Capitol Hill area before congregating near the local train station.
Manifestantes en Washington DC quemaron una efigie de Netanyahu a pocas cuadras de donde el Primer Ministro israelí pronunció su discurso ante el Congreso. pic.twitter.com/PpDLJ7UhB3
— Palestina Hoy (@HoyPalestina) July 24, 2024
The crowd erupted in applause as effigies of Netanyahu and President Biden were set ablaze. The Biden figure was depicted with bloodstained hands. A masked individual spray-painted “Hamas is coming” in large red letters on a Christopher Columbus monument.
The protests began upon Netanyahu’s landing in the US on Monday when a truck paid for by the Israeli-American anarchists’ group UnXeptable drove around the city flashing the message “Bibi Non-Grata” on a giant screen.
The Israeli anti-Bibi rally was held on the opposite side of the Capitol, as Police separated the Israeli and Jewish protesters from the huge pro-Hamas demonstration down the hill. Police estimated the number of Hamas’s useful idiots at 6,000. There were only a few dozen Israeli and Jewish useful idiots. Considering that The Hill on Tuesday reported that “Tens of thousands plan to march on the Capitol during Netanyahu’s speech,” one must either praise the increase in intelligence of so many Americans or condemn The Hill for converting its wishful thinking into reporting.
“If they won’t arrest you, were here to conduct a citizen’s arrest.” Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered in Washington, DC, to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addressed the US Congress on Wednesday. The protesters called for a ceasefire… pic.twitter.com/COlqU3nBmr
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 25, 2024
Around midday, some 100 individuals gathered in a park adjacent to Union Station with Israeli flags and a banner proclaiming “Save Israel from Bibi.” The event was coordinated by UnXeptable, and the keynote speaker was Reform clergy Jill Jacobs, who called on Israeli politicians to not only rescue the hostages but also to “preserve Israel and its democratic system.” You know, the kind of system where the leader who cobbles together 64 out of 120 parliamentary mandates makes the decisions. Or, as Jacobs put it, “Our presence here today is to voice our refusal to allow a minority of extremists, Netanyahu included, to dismantle the Israeli state.”
“We’re sending a clear message to Netanyahu that his brand of authoritarian politics has no place in either the United States or Israel,” she declared, to the audience’s repeated chants of “Shame, shame, shame,” and “Seal the deal.”
You know that just because something rhymes don’t make it true, right?
.@truahrabbis prayer to end the war, end the occupation and peace in DC before the Netanyahu speech to Congress pic.twitter.com/mNNsVc4xCj
— Gili Getz (@giligetz) July 24, 2024
Jacobs is probably the most Woke Jewish clergy living today, at least based on her condemnation of former President Donald Trump whom she accused of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, Islamophobia, and, of course, antisemitism.
The pro-Hamas protesters who were rallying on the National Mall demanded Netanyahu’s arrest as a “war criminal.”
Inside, Netanyahu concluded his remarkable, fourth speech before a joint session of Congress, saying, “I’m hopeful about America because I’m hopeful about Americans. I know how much the people of this country have sacrificed to defend freedom. America will continue to be a force for light and good in a dark and dangerous world. For free peoples everywhere, America remains the beacon of liberty its extraordinary founders envisioned back in 1776.”
And then:
“On behalf of the people of Israel, I came here today to say: Thank you, America. Thank you for your support and solidarity. Thank you for standing with Israel in our hour of need. Together, we shall defend our common civilization. Together, we shall secure a brilliant future for both our nations. May God bless Israel. May God bless America. And may God bless the great alliance between Israel and America forever.”
