WASHINGTON (National Times) Thousands of anti-Israel protesters gathered on Wednesday about half a mile from the Capitol ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s address to a joint session of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minutes before the address began, the Capitol Police tweeted that a crowd of protesters demonstrating outside the building became violent, leading officers to deploy pepper spray in order to push the rioters back behind the police line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demonstrators chanted for an intifada (or popular uprising) and declared that \u201cresistance is justified when people are occupied.\u201d One of the protesters held up a sign calling on \u201cSatanyahu\u201d to \u201creturn to Europe.\u201d
Nearby, demonstrators placed nearly 30 human-size cardboard coffins wrapped in Palestinian flags in memory of those killed in the war in Gaza. Traffic was barred from several roads near the Capitol.
\u201cI want all aid [to] be suspended to Israel due to its actions in Gaza,\u201d said Bradley Cullinan, who said he traveled to the area from Columbus, Ohio, 400 miles (640 kilometers) away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protesters gathered on Wednesday were calling for a ceasefire while also criticizing Netanyahu\u2019s appearance in the United States.
\u201cSeek peace and pursue it,\u201d read one sign, quoting a Bible verse, while others were designed as criminal \u201cwanted\u201d signs, with photos of Netanyahu in place of a mugshot. \u201cArrest that war criminal,\u201d read another. Several erected a large effigy of US President Joe Biden with blood dripping from its mouth and devil horns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are horrified by the destruction of the health system in Gaza,\u201d Karameh Kuemmerle, of the organization Doctors Against Genocide, who traveled to the protest from Boston, told AFP. \u201cAnd we are here to show our opposition to having the criminal Netanyahu come to our capital and being greeted by the politicians who sent him weapons to kill children in Gaza.\u201d
Members of the fringe ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta group carried Palestinian flags and signs reading \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cAnti-Zionism is not antisemitism,\u201d while a group of younger protesters danced to Arabic music and carried large banners reading \u201cStop Arming Israel\u201d and \u201cStop War Crimes in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers said they\u2019d skip Netanyahu\u2019s speech to Congress, expressing dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths and the humanitarian crisis from Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war in Gaza began on October 7 when thousands of Palestinian terrorists broke through the border to slaughter some 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, and kidnap 251 to Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The enclave\u2019s Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel\u2019s military offensive. The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Israel\u2019s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 327.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu\u2019s speech is the Israeli leader\u2019s fourth address to a joint session of Congress. He most recently did so in 2015, when he controversially sought to convince US lawmakers to torpedo negotiations at the time between the Obama administration and Iran over its nuclear program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON (National Times) Thousands of anti-Israel protesters gathered on Wednesday about half a mile from the Capitol ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s address to a joint session of Congress. Minutes before the address began, the Capitol Police tweeted that a crowd of protesters demonstrating outside the building became violent, leading officers to deploy pepper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n