Thousands of protesters marched towards the US Capitol in Washington DC on Wednesday, chanting “Free, free Palestine”, as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress. The protesters burned effigies of Netanyahu and American flags, but the demonstration was mostly peaceful, AFP reported. The participants largely consisted of families, children, the elderly and concerned citizens, many of whom travelled from thousands of miles away, the report said.
Speaking to AFP, Karameh Kuemmerle, a member of a group called Doctors Against Genocide, expressed her and her colleagues’ horror at the destruction of the health system in Gaza. The organisation was at the demonstration to show their opposition “to having the criminal Netanyahu come to [the] capital and being greeted by the politicians who sent him weapons to kill children in Gaza”, the doctor, who travelled from Boston, said.
Crowds carrying Palestinian flags and signs gathered near the Capitol and called for a ceasefire. They also demanded the arrest of Netanyahu. Some protesters tried to block Netanyahu’s route to the Capitol but were removed from the street by police.
At a rally before the march, both Palestinian and Jewish organisers denounced the United States and the Israeli government over “genocide”, and called for a “citizen’s arrest” of Netanyahu.
The Associated Press reported that American flags outside the Union Station, a major train station in Washington, were removed and Palestinian ones hoisted by the protesters, drawing loud cheers.
Protesters spoke about the war and Washington's support for it. "The hypocrisy of our politicians today has gone beyond any limits," Mo, a 58-year-old protester, told AFP.
According to AP, nine people were arrested across Washington, including four who were charged with assaulting a police officer outside Union Station.
Netanyahu in Capitol
In his speech at the Capitol, Netanyahu asked for support from US lawmakers as the war triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel drags on.
A group of congressional staffers staged a walkout, calling for a ceasefire in the name of their constituents, AFP reported.
Netanyahu called those protesting against him "Iran's useful idiots", and said Tehran was funding the demonstrations. Some US lawmakers booed him over this comment.
"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," Netanyahu said, as quoted by AFP.