US: Jewish demonstrators arrested in anti-Netanyahu protest
Jewish Voice for Peace protesters entered the US Capitol complex ahead of the Israeli prime minister's speech to Congress. Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of US lawmakers for the fourth time on Wednesday.
Jewish Voice for Peace was founded in 1996 by Jewish Americans, with members having mobilized to demand a cease-fire in Gaza in recent times
IMAGO/UPI Photo
DW
JULY 24,2024
Police arrested multiple protesters on Tuesday night as they sat inside the Cannon House rotunda, part of the US Capitol complex.
The demonstration, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), was called in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress on Wednesday.
In an Instagram post that shows protesters holding banners as they sat on the rotunda floor, JVP wrote "today, 400 US Jews refused to leave Congress, demanding our government stops arming Israel. As the daily horrors against Palestinians in Gaza escalate, so too will our resolve and commitment to stand with Palestinians."
Police officials told reporters that protests are not permitted inside Cannon House, and so the arrests commenced when demonstrators refused to leave.
Netanyahu in Washington amid strained relations between the US and Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address US lawmakers later in the day, with his speech marking the first time a foreign leader has addressed Congress four times.
He is due to hold talks with President Joe Biden on Thursday as well as meet with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Likely Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is also planning to meet with Netanyahu. She will however miss his talk due to a previously scheduled campaign event.
His speech is likely to focus on the conflict in Gaza, which followed the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.
Kamala Harris to skip Netanyahu's address to Congress 02:45
es/rm (AP, dpa)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week has kicked off a wave of protests in the nation's capital. Police on Tuesday cracked down on Jewish Voice for Peace demonstrators who staged a sit-in at a congressional office building ahead of Netanyahu's address to Congress on Wednesday, and in protest at President Joe Biden's continued military support of Israel.
Issued on: 24/07/2024 -
Demonstrators from Jewish Voice For Peace protest the war in Gaza at the Canon House Building on July 23, 2024 in Washington, DC.
© Tierney L. Cross, AFP
Protesters against the Gaza war staged a sit-in at a congressional office building Tuesday ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 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 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.
Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, protesters wearing red T-shirts that read “Not In Our Name” took over the building's rotunda, sitting on the floor, unfurling signs and chanting “Let Gaza Live!”
After about a half-hour of clapping and chanting, officers from the US Capitol Police issued several warnings, then began arresting protesters — binding their hands with zip ties and leading them away one-by-one.
“I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and I know what a Holocaust looks like,” said Jane Hirschmann, a native of Saugerties, New York, who drove down for the protest along with her two daughters — both of whom were arrested. “When we say ‘Never Again,’ we mean never for anybody.”
The demonstrators focused much of their ire on the Biden administration, demanding that the president immediately cease all arms shipments to Israel.
“We’re not focusing on Netanyahu. He’s just a symptom,” Hirschmann said. “But how can (Biden) be calling for a cease-fire when he’s sending them bombs and planes?”
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, "including over a dozen rabbis," had been arrested.
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 “became disruptive, violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.”
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.
Netanyahu's 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.
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 “Seal the Deal NOW!” chanted “Bring Them Home” and listened to testimonials from relatives and former hostages. The demonstrators applauded when Biden's name was mentioned, but several criticized Netanyahu — known by his nickname “Bibi” — 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.
“I'm begging Bibi. There's a deal on the table and you have to take it,” said Aviva Siegel, 63, who spent 51 days in captivity and whose husband, Keith, remains a hostage. “I want Bibi to look in my eyes and tell me one thing: that Keith is coming home.”
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.
Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet Thursday, according to a US 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.
Harris, as Senate president, would normally sit behind foreign leaders addressing Congress, but she’ll 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.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet with Netanyahu on Friday.
(AP)
Protesters against the Gaza war staged a sit-in at a congressional office building Tuesday ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 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 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.
Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, protesters wearing red T-shirts that read “Not In Our Name” took over the building's rotunda, sitting on the floor, unfurling signs and chanting “Let Gaza Live!”
After about a half-hour of clapping and chanting, officers from the US Capitol Police issued several warnings, then began arresting protesters — binding their hands with zip ties and leading them away one-by-one.
“I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and I know what a Holocaust looks like,” said Jane Hirschmann, a native of Saugerties, New York, who drove down for the protest along with her two daughters — both of whom were arrested. “When we say ‘Never Again,’ we mean never for anybody.”
The demonstrators focused much of their ire on the Biden administration, demanding that the president immediately cease all arms shipments to Israel.
“We’re not focusing on Netanyahu. He’s just a symptom,” Hirschmann said. “But how can (Biden) be calling for a cease-fire when he’s sending them bombs and planes?”
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, "including over a dozen rabbis," had been arrested.
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 “became disruptive, violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.”
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.
Netanyahu's 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.
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 “Seal the Deal NOW!” chanted “Bring Them Home” and listened to testimonials from relatives and former hostages. The demonstrators applauded when Biden's name was mentioned, but several criticized Netanyahu — known by his nickname “Bibi” — 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.
“I'm begging Bibi. There's a deal on the table and you have to take it,” said Aviva Siegel, 63, who spent 51 days in captivity and whose husband, Keith, remains a hostage. “I want Bibi to look in my eyes and tell me one thing: that Keith is coming home.”
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.
Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet Thursday, according to a US 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.
Harris, as Senate president, would normally sit behind foreign leaders addressing Congress, but she’ll 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.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet with Netanyahu on Friday.
(AP)
Calls for boycotts, threats of arrests precede Netanyahu's controversial speech to Congress
1 of 7 | Members of Jewish Voice for Peace hold a pro-Palestinian demonstration one day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress in the Cannon House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
July 23 (UPI) -- Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin will preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint address to Congress on Wednesday as he faces calls to boycott the speech.
The Maryland office of Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, urged the Maryland senator to boycott what the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization referred to as Netanyahu's "war criminal" address to Congress.
"It is deeply troubling that Sen. Cardin would choose to lend legitimacy and support to a war criminal who is responsible for egregious violations of human rights and international law," said CAIR's Maryland Director Zainab Chaudhry.
"Instead of providing a respectable platform to a war criminal engaged in the wholesale slaughter of possibly more than 186,000 civilians, Sen. Cardin and members of Congress must set an example, stand on principle and boycott Netanyahu's address," Chaudhry added.
Netanyahu arrived Monday in Washington, D.C., where he will hold meetings with the Biden administration and will address the joint session of the House and Senate on Wednesday, as he seeks bipartisan support for Israel just days after President Joe Biden announced he would end his re-election bid.
While it is the vice president who typically presides over joint addresses, Vice President Kamala Harris said she will not preside over Netanyahu's address Wednesday due to a campaign event in Indianapolis. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who is the President pro temper of the Senate, has refused to preside over the address and plans to boycott the speech.
Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is an orthodox Jew, has been a vocal advocate for Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.
"It is critical for the international community to remain focused on who perpetrated the Oct. 7th massacre -- Hamas," Cardin said in a committee report, released in May.
"Israel has a right to target Hamas leadership in Gaza, but there is a right way to pursue that goal," Cardin added. "Going into Rafah without a credible plan to deal with the humanitarian situation is not the right way. Any operation must take all measures to protect civilian lives."
On Tuesday, Hamas, Fatah and 12 other Palestinian factions signed a Chinese-brokered unification pact "ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity" following two days of negotiations, according to China's foreign ministry.
As Netanyahu addresses the joint Congress on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned lawmakers that there will be a "zero-tolerance" policy for anyone who disrupts the speech and that law enforcement "will remove ... offending visitors from the gallery and subject them to arrest."
On Tuesday, hundreds of members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested during a demonstration inside the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., according to the group.
"Arrests are beginning as over 400 American Jews refuse to leave Congress, but we won't leave until our government stops arming Israel and ends the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza!" the group wrote Tuesday in a post on X.
Many lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are planning to boycott Netanyahu's address Wednesday over Israel's war in Gaza.
"It is a dark day in U.S. history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress," Ocasio-Cortez wrote Tuesday in a post on X. "I will be boycotting his address."
Following his joint address and meetings in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu will travel to Florida to meet with former President Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago. The last time he met with Trump was at the White House in September 2020 to sign the Abraham Accords.
"Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach," Trump wrote Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.
"During my first term, we had peace and stability in the region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords -- and we will have it again."
Netanyahu will be the second world leader to meet with Trump in recent weeks. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited the former president at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. Trump also spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week to discuss ending Ukraine's ongoing wear with Russia.
1 of 7 | Members of Jewish Voice for Peace hold a pro-Palestinian demonstration one day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress in the Cannon House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
July 23 (UPI) -- Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin will preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint address to Congress on Wednesday as he faces calls to boycott the speech.
The Maryland office of Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, urged the Maryland senator to boycott what the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization referred to as Netanyahu's "war criminal" address to Congress.
"It is deeply troubling that Sen. Cardin would choose to lend legitimacy and support to a war criminal who is responsible for egregious violations of human rights and international law," said CAIR's Maryland Director Zainab Chaudhry.
"Instead of providing a respectable platform to a war criminal engaged in the wholesale slaughter of possibly more than 186,000 civilians, Sen. Cardin and members of Congress must set an example, stand on principle and boycott Netanyahu's address," Chaudhry added.
Netanyahu arrived Monday in Washington, D.C., where he will hold meetings with the Biden administration and will address the joint session of the House and Senate on Wednesday, as he seeks bipartisan support for Israel just days after President Joe Biden announced he would end his re-election bid.
While it is the vice president who typically presides over joint addresses, Vice President Kamala Harris said she will not preside over Netanyahu's address Wednesday due to a campaign event in Indianapolis. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who is the President pro temper of the Senate, has refused to preside over the address and plans to boycott the speech.
Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is an orthodox Jew, has been a vocal advocate for Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.
"It is critical for the international community to remain focused on who perpetrated the Oct. 7th massacre -- Hamas," Cardin said in a committee report, released in May.
"Israel has a right to target Hamas leadership in Gaza, but there is a right way to pursue that goal," Cardin added. "Going into Rafah without a credible plan to deal with the humanitarian situation is not the right way. Any operation must take all measures to protect civilian lives."
On Tuesday, Hamas, Fatah and 12 other Palestinian factions signed a Chinese-brokered unification pact "ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity" following two days of negotiations, according to China's foreign ministry.
As Netanyahu addresses the joint Congress on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned lawmakers that there will be a "zero-tolerance" policy for anyone who disrupts the speech and that law enforcement "will remove ... offending visitors from the gallery and subject them to arrest."
On Tuesday, hundreds of members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested during a demonstration inside the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., according to the group.
"Arrests are beginning as over 400 American Jews refuse to leave Congress, but we won't leave until our government stops arming Israel and ends the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza!" the group wrote Tuesday in a post on X.
Many lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are planning to boycott Netanyahu's address Wednesday over Israel's war in Gaza.
"It is a dark day in U.S. history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress," Ocasio-Cortez wrote Tuesday in a post on X. "I will be boycotting his address."
Following his joint address and meetings in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu will travel to Florida to meet with former President Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago. The last time he met with Trump was at the White House in September 2020 to sign the Abraham Accords.
"Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach," Trump wrote Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.
"During my first term, we had peace and stability in the region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords -- and we will have it again."
Netanyahu will be the second world leader to meet with Trump in recent weeks. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited the former president at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. Trump also spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week to discuss ending Ukraine's ongoing wear with Russia.
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