Thousands of demonstrators are expected to gather Wednesday on Capitol Hill to protest the visit of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to discourage Congress from further funding Israel’s war in Gaza.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The invitation to speak has drawn criticism from pro-Palestinian advocates outraged by Israel’s Gaza invasion that health authorities there say has killed more than 39,000 residents of the battered enclave.
The protests began Tuesday, when Capitol Police said about 200 demonstrators were arrested for “crowding, obstructing or incommoding” inside the Cannon House Office Building.
Multiple demonstrations were planned Wednesday, and some of the thousands of congressional interns have pledged to call in sick in protest. A “diverse coalition” of more than 100 interns anonymously signed a letter denouncing the address.
“As interns, we are united in our moral and ethical concerns regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions and policies in Gaza,” says the letter, which accused Netanyahu of “obstructing ceasefire negotiations, hindering humanitarian aid, and targeting civilian infrastructure.” It blames his policies for the “catastrophic humanitarian crises.”
Developments:
∎ A group called T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, was holding a prayer service and protest Wednesday morning near Union Station in downtown Washington. “It will be a spiritual, soulful, and song-full prayer space,” the group said on its website. “It will also be a protest that calls for an end to the war, a release of all hostages, and an end to the occupation.”
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Jewish Americans protest against the Gaza war in from of the White House
∎ A coaltion of seven labor unions was rallying at 11 a.m. near the Capitol, protesting Netanyahu and his policies
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American unions long backed Israel . The shift reflects a broader generational change, and has exposed philosophical rifts in the labor movement after the Genocide in Gaza
∎ UnXeptable, an organization of Israeli expatriates, was holding a protest on Capitol Hill at noon. “Netanyahu represents a danger to the state, to its democracy, to the hostages and to peace in the entire region,” the group said on its website.
250 Jewish protesters arrested at US Capitol as they chanted “stop arming Israel” and ” Not in our name “
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