{"id":30054,"date":"2024-07-24T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=30054"},"modified":"2024-07-24T21:12:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T02:12:45","slug":"demonstrators-stage-mass-protest-against-netanyahu-visit-and-us-military-aid-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=30054","title":{"rendered":"Demonstrators stage mass protest against Netanyahu visit and US military aid to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Protesters against the Gaza war staged a sit-in at a congressional office building Tuesday ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s<\/u><\/a> address to Congress, with Capitol Police making multiple arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu arrived in Washington Monday for a visit that includes meetings with President Joe Biden and a Wednesday speech before a joint session of Congress. Dozens of protesters rallied outside his hotel Monday evening, and on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of demonstrators staged a flashmob-style protest in the Cannon Building, which houses offices of House of Representatives members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, protesters wearing red T-shirts that read \u201cNot In Our Name\u201d took over the building\u2019s rotunda, sitting on the floor, unfurling signs and chanting \u201cLet Gaza Live!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After about a half-hour of clapping and chanting, officers from the U.S. Capitol Police issued several warnings, then began arresting protesters \u2014 binding their hands with zip ties and leading them away one-by-one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and I know what a Holocaust looks like,\u201d said Jane Hirschmann, a native of Saugerties, New York, who drove down for the protest along with her two daughters \u2014 both of whom were arrested. \u201cWhen we say \u2018Never Again,\u2019 we mean never for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstrators focused much of their ire on the Biden administration, demanding that the president immediately cease all arms shipments to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not focusing on Netanyahu. He\u2019s just a symptom,\u201d Hirschmann said. \u201cBut how can (Biden) be calling for a cease-fire when he\u2019s sending them bombs and planes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday night, the Capitol Police said they did not have a final tally of the number of people arrested. But JVP claimed in a statement that 400 people, \u201cincluding over a dozen rabbis,\u201d had been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitchell Rivard, chief of staff for Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said in a statement that his office called for Capitol Police intervention after the demonstrators \u201cbecame disruptive, violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kildee later told The Associated Press that he was confused why his office was targeted, saying he had voted against a massive supplemental military aid package to Israel earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu\u2019s American visit has touched off a wave of protest activity, with some demonstrations condemning Israel and others expressing support but pressuring Netanyahu to strike a cease-fire deal and bring home the hostages still being held by Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families of some of the remaining hostages held a protest vigil Tuesday evening on the National Mall, demanding that Netanyahu come to terms with Hamas and bring home the approximately 120 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. About 150 people wearing yellow shirts that read \u201cSeal the Deal NOW!\u201d chanted \u201cBring Them Home\u201d and listened to testimonials from relatives and former hostages. The demonstrators applauded when Biden\u2019s name was mentioned, but several criticized Netanyahu \u2014 known by his nickname \u201cBibi\u201d \u2014 on the belief that he was dragging his feet or playing hardball on a proposed cease-fire deal that would return all of the hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m begging Bibi. There\u2019s a deal on the table and you have to take it,\u201d said Aviva Siegel, 63, who spent 51 days in captivity and whose husband, Keith, remains a hostage. \u201cI want Bibi to look in my eyes and tell me one thing: that Keith is coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple protests are planned for Wednesday, when Netanyahu is slated to address Congress. In anticipation, police have significantly boosted security around the Capitol building and closed multiple roads for most of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet Thursday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the White House announcement. Vice President Kamala Harris will also meet with Netanyahu separately that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris, as Senate president, would normally sit behind foreign leaders addressing Congress, but she\u2019ll be away Wednesday, on an Indianapolis trip scheduled before Biden withdrew his reelection bid and she became the likely Democratic presidential candidate over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet with Netanyahu on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Protesters against the Gaza war staged a sit-in at a congressional office building Tuesday ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s address to Congress, with Capitol Police making multiple arrests. Netanyahu arrived in Washington Monday for a visit that includes meetings with President Joe Biden and a Wednesday speech before a joint session of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":30055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1153],"tags":[1386,1151,4576,1521,605,1385],"class_list":["post-30054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military","tag-capitol","tag-gaza","tag-netanyahu","tag-protesters","tag-visit","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30056,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30054\/revisions\/30056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}