Thousands of protesters surrounded the White House on Saturday to protest U.S. President Joe Biden‘s Israeli battle coverage, principally the invasion of Rafah.
The protest coincided with the eight-month mark of the onslaught between Israel and Palestine.
It began at Lafayette Park in entrance of the White House, the place protesters, sporting purple, surrounded the constructing with a two-mile-long purple banner symbolizing Biden’s “red line” regarding Israel’s invasion of Rafah.
Previously, Biden mentioned that an invasion of Rafah would cross a “red line,” however senior U.S. officers have been fast to backtrack on these remarks, saying the president didn’t set any “red lines” for Israel because it carries out its offensive.
Police tightened the safety and put further public security measures, together with anti-scale fencing, close to the White House advanced.
“Biden, We Are Your Red Line,” protesters mentioned, urging the president to cease the “genocide” within the Gaza Strip. They additionally demanded a halt to sending weapons to Israel.
Their banners learn: “Genocide Is Our Red Line”, “Biden’s Red Line Was A Lie”, “Hands Off Rafah! Stop The Genocide”, “End All U.S. Aid to Israel”, “Stop Arming Israel”, “Lift the Siege on Gaza Now” and “Arms Embargo on Israel”.
Carrying Palestinian flags, the protesters additionally chanted slogans in opposition to the president, saying: “Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”
Biden is presently on a state go to to France.
The president has confronted a wave of protests nationwide concerning his dealing with of the Gaza battle.
‘STOP SENDING ARMS TO NETANYAHU’
Rob Stephens demanded that the Biden administration cease sending arms to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I’m demanding that the Biden administration stop sending arms to Netanyahu and stop be more active, and stop the supply of arms and weapons and the genocide that is carrying out against the Palestinian people,” he informed Anadolu.
Stephens mentioned he’s a son of a survivor of the Holocaust.
“My father helped liberate a concentration camp, and I am here for them because I believe that they would not be proud of what my country has been doing recently with the strong support of Israel,” he mentioned. “I think it’s wrong, and it’s not what America should be doing.”
Maria Lopez-Silvero informed Anadolu that she desires the U.S. to not arm Israel in its onslaught in opposition to Gaza.
“I’m demanding for a state for Palestine — freedom for all Palestinian individuals and for the United States to cease offering arms to Netanyahu and to Israel as a result of these arms are killing the Palestinians, she mentioned.
Abby Pierce mentioned it was her fourth protest, and Biden doesn’t imagine in a “red line.”
“I think that everything that he (Biden) says is just to please people. He wants to fund Israel no matter what. I think that they make money off of the war, and they make money off of Israel, and he doesn’t want to stop. He doesn’t believe in the red line,” she informed the Turkish news company.
Another protestor, Bob Jeremy, urged individuals to protest the battle.
The battle “can only end if people, just average people, everyday people, get out here and protest and stand and march and do whatever they can to end this,” Jeremy informed Anadolu.
Monica Poll, for her half, mentioned protestors attempt to present that folks within the U.S. stand with Palestine.
“We really want a cease-fire and then end this war in general. I wish he (Biden) would hear this message and understand how much we care. Hopefully, he sees how many people are out here right now and how many people don’t agree with what he’s doing and what the U.S. government in general is doing right now in support of Israel,” Poll added.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7 regardless of a UN Security Council decision demanding a right away cease-fire.
More than 36,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them ladies and kids, and over 83,600 others injured, in response to native well being authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli battle, huge tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of meals, clear water and drugs.
Israel is accused of genocide on the International Court of Justice, whose newest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to right away halt its operation within the southern metropolis of Rafah, the place greater than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the battle earlier than it was invaded on May 6.
Source: www.anews.com.tr