Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the Capitol in Washington, the U.S. capital, on Saturday to call for an arms embargo on Israel. The demonstration, held as the war in Gaza entered its third year, featured Palestinian flags and signs protesting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Youth Movement and other groups that organized the protest called for increased pressure to end U.S. military and diplomatic support for Israel. Some signs linked military spending to high prices and low wages in the United States.
“We will not allow genocide to become normalized”
Nouhad Akkar, a representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said elected officials should be held responsible for military aid sent to Israel. “We will not allow this genocide to become normalized,” Akkar said. She called for public institutions to divest from companies that supply weapons to Israel and said they were campaigning to withdraw Virginia’s retirement system’s stake of more than $394 million.
Isabella Javidan of the National Iranian American Council linked the attacks in Gaza to military activities in Lebanon and Iran, accusing U.S. lawmakers and defense companies of being complicit in violence in the region. A demonstrator who identified herself as a Jewish American also carried a sign reading, “Do not arm genocide in my name.”
Ahead of the midterm elections
A discussion featuring Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti and writer Jihad Abu Salim was scheduled after the demonstration. The protest took place weeks before the November 3 midterm elections in the United States, amid growing public criticism of support for Israel.
