U.S. response to Israel-Hamas conflict faces scrutiny amid growing concern over Gaza death toll

Arab American organizations and White House staffers have expressed frustration with the Biden administration.

Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer
Wed, October 18, 2023 

President Biden is attempting to balance his administration’s support of Israel with growing concerns about the safety of civilians in the Gaza Strip as violence in the region continues to escalate.

Biden visited Israel Wednesday and was set to hold a meeting with Arab leaders in Jordan, which was postponed after an explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of Palestinian patients and refugees. While authorities in Gaza said an Israeli air strike caused the explosion, Israeli authorities said it was caused by a failed rocket launched by Hamas. Meanwhile in Washington, Arab American groups and some Biden administration staff members have expressed frustration with the White House’s approach to the conflict.
'We feel great damage has been done'

Protesters calling for a cease fire in Gaza and an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict look down on fellow protestors occupying the rotunda of the Cannon House office building, surrounded by a ring of U.S. Capitol police, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Hours after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel, which left more than 1,400 dead including at least 31 U.S. citizens, Biden asserted support for Israel, saying the “United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop.” Biden echoed those remarks in the ensuing days and, at an event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday in Tel Aviv, said, “We will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people.”

Biden’s initial response to the attacks was praised by many Democrats and Republicans alike. According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 52% of Democrats say Biden’s response to the situation has been “about right”; with just 15% saying it has been “too pro-Israel.” (41% of Republicans said the president’s response has “not been pro-Israel” enough.) Overall, 67% of Americans now consider “helping to protect Israel” to be an important goal for “U.S. policy towards the Middle East,” up 12 points from 55% in May 2021.

However, the White House has also faced increasing scrutiny for its handling of the crisis from a range of groups, including progressive lawmakers and Arab American leaders. More than 3,300 deaths have been reported in Gaza since Israel began their retaliatory strikes more than a week ago.

A group of House Democrats is pushing the White House to call for a ceasefire in the region amid the continuing violence. When asked at a briefing last week about statements made by members of Congress who called for a ceasefire and did not explicitly back the administration’s call to support Israel, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We believe they are wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful.” A State Department memo that reportedly circulated last week discouraged diplomats from calling for a de-escalation.

Hundreds of people joined a protest led by a group called Jewish Voice for Peace at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, saying they would not leave until a ceasefire was declared. A similar protest was held outside the White House on Tuesday.

Politico reported Wednesday that Warren David, president of Arab America, told the White House that his organization was “outraged — outraged — to say the least at the rhetoric that's been coming out the last few days” from the administration.

“We feel great damage has been done regarding the image of Arabs in the United States,” David said, per the report. “In some ways, it's worse than what happened [after] 9/11.”

President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) (REUTERS)

HuffPost reported Wednesday that White House personnel “worry about retaliation at work for questioning Israel’s conduct amid the U.S.-backed Israeli campaign to avenge an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas,” adding that the fear was prevalent among Muslim staffers. On Sunday, presidential personnel office chief Gautam Raghavan organized a call to discuss the concerns with current and former high-level Muslim appointees.

Robyn Patterson, a White House spokesperson, responded to the HuffPost story by saying Biden had “assembled the most diverse presidential administration in history and is proud of the open, collaborative role his appointees play in advising on policy and strategy ― including Muslim and Arab American team members. He will continue to use all available tools to combat hate against Muslim and Arab Americans.”

While laying out the administration’s plans at an event Tuesday evening at Northern Arizona University, Vice President Kamala Harris was jeered, with one attendee shouting, “Stop making bombs.” Polling has shown younger voters more likely to oppose the U.S. sending military aid and weapons to Israel in response to the violence.

Biden was outspoken in his condemnation of the apparently Islamophobic murder of a 6-year-old Arab child in Chicago over the weekend, saying, “This horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe and who we are.”

”As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate,” Biden said in a statement. “We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.”
A canceled summit

Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on Oct. 12. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

The president was set to meet on Wednesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who announced three days of mourning following the blast. NBC News and CBS News were among the outlets that reported the postponement was a mutual decision. The event was scuttled less than 24 hours after it was announced.

"After consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and in light of the days of mourning announced by President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, President Biden will postpone his travel to Jordan and the planned meeting with these two leaders and President Sisi of Egypt," a White House official said in a statement, adding that Biden “looks forward to consulting in person with these leaders soon, and agreed to remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days."

During the event Wednesday in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu, Biden said the explosion “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there's a lot of people out there who are not sure. So — we've got to overcome a lot of things." When asked about the basis for his confidence, Biden cited "The data I was shown by my Defense Department.”

Later Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said, “While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.”

During his visit to Tel Aviv, Biden announced that Israel and Egypt were allowing $100 million in humanitarian aid to be moved into Gaza and the West Bank. The president likened the situation to how Americans felt after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying, “You can't look at what has happened here ... and not scream out for justice. While you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it.”

U.S. Capitol Police arrest dozens of Jewish activists calling for Gaza ceasefire

Diego Mendoza

SEMAFOR
Wed, October 18, 2023 

U.S. Capitol Police on Wednesday arrested dozens of demonstrators who made their way into a House office building as part of a protest by Jewish activists calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The number of arrests are unclear, but some reports said there were more than 100.

Police said that three people arrested were facing a charge of Assault on a Police Officer.

Footage from inside the Cannon House Office Building shows protesters waving signs that read “ceasefire” and chanting “Not in our name.”

Some members of Congress had been calling for the arrest of the protesters after they entered the House office building, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who on X, described the demonstration as an ”insurrection.”

Know More

Pro-Palestine protesters have taken to Washington over the last several days as the war between Israel and Hamas escalates.

More than 30 people who were part of a pro-Palestine demonstration were arrested outside the White House on Monday, according to the Secret Service.

During his trip to Israel, U.S. President Joe Biden was firm in his support for Israel, calling on Congress for a support package to the country and backing Israel’s account of the deadly Gaza hospital explosion. He has not echoed calls of a ceasefire from some progressive Democrats, and the U.S. on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

300-plus arrested after gathering at Capitol complex to protest Israel-Hamas war

LUKE BARR
Wed, October 18, 2023 

Approximately 300 people were arrested by Capitol Police during a large-scale demonstration on Wednesday against the Israel-Hamas war, a Capitol Police spokesperson said.

Most were arrested for demonstrating in the Capitol, according to the spokesperson.

Hundreds of people had gathered in and outside of the U.S. Capitol complex on Wednesday before the arrests, calling for an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that launched a terror attack in Israel earlier this month.

Some of the demonstrators, organized by a left-wing Jewish group, then entered the Cannon House Office Building at different security entrance points and assembled in the rotunda, the police spokesperson said.

The large-scale demonstration follows a similar event at the White House earlier this week that also resulted in dozens of arrests.

Protesters, like the rest of the public, can legally enter the Capitol complex and only risk issues when they cause a disturbance, according to the police spokesperson.

Police departments from the surrounding areas were called in to help at the complex on Wednesday, including Washington's Metropolitan Police and officers from Virginia, according to law enforcement sources.

Some lawmakers, who have offices in the Cannon House Office Building, chided the demonstrators.

"The irony is the US Constitution protects these protesters freedom to be absolute idiots," Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., wrote in a post on X.

Hundreds Arrested At Capitol During Protest Calling For Ceasefire In Israel-Hamas War

Ted Johnson
Wed, October 18, 2023 


UPDATED: Hundreds of protesters were arrested on Capitol Hill today as they demonstrated inside the Cannon Office Building, chanting for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The demonstrators initially protested on the Capitol grounds, but then made their way into the rotunda of the office building, where a number of media outlets have crews for correspondents to do standups during congressional proceedings.

The protests were organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, which says it is the largest progressive anti-Zionist organization in the world.

Demonstrators unfurled a banner in the rotunda that read “Jews Say Ceasefire Now!” and another that read “Let Gaza Live.” Throughout the afternoon, demonstrators under arrest were lined up in hallways with plastic shackles to be processed, at times singing and chanting.

A Capitol Police spokesperson said that 308 people were charged in the protest, most for demonstrating inside a capitol office building. The public is allowed to enter the Capitol office buildings, but cannot cause a disturbance. Police said that three protesters were arrested and charged with assault on an officer during processing.

“We warned the protesters to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them,” the Capitol Police said.

Reporters who had been covering the speaker vote trekked over to the Cannon building to observe the protests. Capitol Police had instituted heightened security for the day, closing off portions of the Capitol grounds and, when the protests started in Cannon, they closed many of the entrances to House office buildings. The area was cleared by 6 p.m. ET.

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) watched the protests from the rotunda and waved an Israeli flag. He wrote on X/Twitter, “I stand with Israel!”

On the Senate side, one demonstrator interrupted a Foreign Relations confirmation hearing for Jack Lew to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.

“Not in Our Name”: Jewish Activists Take Over Capitol to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza

Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani
Wed, October 18, 2023 



Hundreds of Jewish activists protested inside the Capitol on Wednesday, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. And just as quickly, Capitol Police began arresting them.

The Jewish-led protest involved thousands more protesting outside the Capitol, as well as about two dozen rabbis leading a prayer inside the halls of Congress. Organizers of the event estimated that 500 protesters were arrested, including the rabbis.

Activists inside the Capitol rotunda brought signs emblazoned with such slogans as “Jews say ceasefire now” and “Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living.” Those gathered frequently broke out into chants, proclaiming, “Not in our name.”

Capitol Police arrested the protesters, citing rules forbidding demonstrations inside congressional buildings.

Wednesday’s protest action, which kicked off at noon local time, was organized by a coalition of groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow.

“Our movement will stop the genocide,” read one post from IfNotNow on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our movement will end apartheid. Our movement will win freedom, equality, and safety for all.”

Outside the Capitol, several Jewish leaders, as well as Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib, gave speeches demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Representative Ayanna Pressley also later expressed solidarity with the protesters. All three progressives are part of a small coalition of House Democrats who have introduced a congressional resolution demanding “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”

Dozens of Jewish activists were also arrested during a protest outside the White House on Monday. IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, which organized that protest as well, demanded that President Joe Biden force a ceasefire.

The latest round of violence in this conflict began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel earlier this month, killing hundreds of Israelis and taking dozens hostage. Israel has responded with a bombing campaign, as well by limiting the occupied Gaza Strip’s water, food, and electricity. The U.N. estimates that more than 3,000 Palestinians and 1,300 Israelis have died thus far.

This article has been updated.

RIGHT WING HAIR ON FIRE

Greg Gutfeld Says Jewish Ceasefire Protesters ‘Don’t Have a Say’

William Vaillancourt
Wed, October 18, 2023 

Fox News

Jewish protesters demanding a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas “don’t have a say” in the matter, Greg Gutfeld argued Wednesday on The Five. The same day that a U.S. Capitol protest reportedly organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace resulted in hundreds of arrests, the Fox News host said it’s too late for a ceasefire. “You can’t break a ceasefire, wage war, and then call a ceasefire,” he said. “Jewish protesters calling for a ceasefire is like the typical leftist pleading not to arrest their mugger because he had a bad childhood. It’s not going to work. You don’t have a say over the justice that will be enacted because you weren’t the one affected by it.” Also on Wednesday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets in Chicago to call for an end to the hostilities. Since Hamas’ invasion earlier this month, Israel has been targeting Gaza with airstrikes.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Shamelessly Calls Peaceful Protest at the Capitol an “Insurrection”


Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
Thu, October 19, 2023 



Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has long downplayed the January 6 riot that claimed five lives, has denounced a peaceful protest on Capitol Hill as an “insurrection” and demanded that the police preserve surveillance footage of the protesters.

Hundreds of Jewish American activists—many of them members of Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group—held a sit-in at a House of Representatives building on Wednesday to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. It was too much for Greene’s delicate sensibilities, apparently.

The Georgia congresswoman says she will ask the House to censure Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, who Greene says “organized” the protest. She also filed a request with the Capitol Police “to preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrest records” from the House office buildings.

This is coming from the same person who has referred to the January 6 rioters as “political prisoners,” suggested they were following “what our Declaration of Independence says ... to overthrow tyrants,” and said that if she and former President Donald Trump had led the attack on the Capitol, they would have “won.”

At yesterday’s sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building, activists carried signs demanding a ceasefire and chanted, “Not in our name.” More than 500 people, including Rabbis, were arrested by Capitol Police, organizers estimated.

Tlaib spoke to a section of the protest outside the Capitol Building, calling on President Joe Biden to rethink his unequivocal support for Israel in the war.

“President Biden, not all Americans are with you on this one and you need to understand that. We are literally watching people commit genocide and killing the vast majority just like this, and we still stand by and say nothing. We will remember this,” she told the crowd.

Greene requests Capitol Police preserve footage, police reports from House protest demanding Israel-Hamas cease-fire
Miranda Nazzaro
Wed, October 18, 2023 

Greene requests Capitol Police preserve footage, police reports from House protest demanding Israel-Hamas cease-fire

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is requesting U.S. Capitol Police preserve all surveillance footage and photos, police reports and arrest records from all House office buildings Wednesday following a large protest on Capitol Hill that demanded a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza.

A large group of protestors began a demonstration inside the Cannon House Office Building on Wednesday, urging Congress to act on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

The protest, organized by Jewish groups Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow, involved numerous demonstrators chanting “cease-fire now,” and holding banners with the same message.

Posting a copy of a letter she sent to Capitol Police Chief John Thomas Manger, Greene wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that she was “formally requesting” Capitol Police “preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrest records from all House Office Buildings on October 18, 2023.”

“By launching an insurrection in the Capitol complex, these actors caused elevators to be shut down, staircases and hallways to be blocked, exits to be made inaccessible, and official legislative business to be obstructed, putting Members of Congress, their staffs and Capitol visits at risk,” Greene wrote in the letter.

The Georgia Republican called on the House Administration Committee to investigate the incident and review all footage and evidence from Capitol Police, writing that the “insurrectionists involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Greene railed against the protests in a series of posts on X, calling the protest “an insurrection of Capitol Hill.”

Greene also claimed Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who spoke to a crowd of demonstrators Wednesday, was leading the protest, calling her a “Hamas Caucus Leader.”

Tlaib, along with Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) who also spoke to demonstrators, have called on the Biden administration to work toward an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Capitol Police did not confirm the total number of protestors arrested, but said arrests were “ongoing” and that three people had been charged with assault of a police officer.

While there remains no confirmation of how many protestors were involved in the demonstration, JVP claimed 10,000 people gathered outside the Capitol, while 500 were inside “to demand an end to the Israeli and U.S. government’s genocide in Gaza.”

The protests come amid the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas, which launched attacks on Israeli villages, farms and military outposts more than a week ago in an assault that left more than 1,300 dead. The Israel military claims Hamas has also taken 199 people hostage.

Israel has since sent hundreds of retaliatory airstrikes into Gaza and cut off the territory’s access to food, water and medicine. Israeli forces last ordered people to move south in advance of an expected ground assault on the territory, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

At least 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza due to the conflict, with another 12,000 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s Thursday update.