Skip to main content

Demonstrators in DC Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

Demonstrators in DC Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Pro-Palestinian protesters held a rally outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington, DC, urging a ceasefire in Gaza. 

US Capitol police officers have clashed with the non-violent protesters.

The protest was organized by three advocacy groups and held in an area near the US Capitol in Washington on Wednesday night to urge lawmakers for a ceasefire in Palestine and an end to the brutal Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.


Several advocacy groups, including IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace Action, claimed on X platform (formerly known as Twitter) that they were “assaulted.”

“We were peacefully linking arms, singing, and calling for a ceasefire,” IfNotNow posted. “Then Capitol Police rushed in, threw us down the stairs, and pepper sprayed us.”

The organizers rejected allegations that demonstrators were violent.

Photos posted on social media showed protesters wearing black T-shirts stenciled with “Cease Fire Now” in white letters struggling with police officers trying to pull them away from the building’s entrance.


Jewish Voice for Peace Action said that the initial plan was to lay out 11,000 candles, representing the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes but the police interrupted with violence and used pepper spray on some protesters and pushed the group back to about a block away from the DNC.

IfNotNow spokesperson, Eva Borgwardt, said in a statement that the protest was “nonviolent” and a “moral act of civil disobedience to call on Democrats to support a cease-fire and an end to our government’s funding of violence against Palestinian civilians by Netanyahu’s far-right government.”

Police escorted legislators who were at the DNC offices at the time and evacuated them from the area, Press TV reported.

In a post on X, the US Capitol police put the number of protestors at around 150, claiming that they were "illegally and violently protesting" near the party offices.


It also said one person had been arrested over alleged "assault on an officer."

The demonstration comes as Israel is intensifying its attacks on Gaza despite widespread international condemnation.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and more than 32,000 others have been injured.

Tel Aviv has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

 

This article was published in Tasnim News Agency and is re published here under a creative commons license.

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poll: US Public Support for Israel Wanes as 68 Percent Call for Ceasefire

  TEHRAN (FNA)- Israel’s war on Gaza is upsetting many Americans who think it must follow growing demands for an immediate ceasefire, according to a new poll. The Reuters/Ipsos survey found only 32 percent of respondents said “the US should support Israel”. That is down from 41 percent from a poll conducted on October 12-13 – just days after the war broke out. About 68 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement, “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate”. Some 39 percent supported the idea “the US should be a neutral mediator”, compared with 27 percent a month earlier. Only 4 percent of respondents said the United States should support Palestinians, while 15 percent said the US shouldn’t be involved at all in the war. While the US has been a significant Israeli ally, just 31 percent of respondents said they supported sending Israel weapons. The plunge in support fol
Post a Comment
Read more

Increase in Demand for Bangladeshi Flags in Pakistan Following Sheikh Hasina’s Regime Change

After the fall of the pro India regime in Bangladesh, there has been a significant increase in the demand for Bangladeshi flags in Pakistan. This surge in interest can be attributed to a variety of factors that have emerged in the political landscape of the region. The changing dynamics have led to a noticeable shift in how people in Pakistan are expressing their sentiments and affiliations. As a result, the Bangladeshi flag has become a symbol of solidarity and support inside Pakistan.
1 comment
Read more

US ‘Biggest Nuclear Threat’: China

  TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United States poses the greatest danger to the world when it comes to the risks of a potential nuclear conflict, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang told journalists on Friday. Beijing has accused Washington of making “irresponsible decisions” in attempts to maintain its hegemony, including through intimidating the international community with its nuclear arsenal, RT reported. The damning statement came in response to the Pentagon’s decision to upgrade US Forces Japan into a joint force headquarters under the command of a three-star officer reporting to the commander of the Indo-Pacific Command. The announcement was made by the US Defense Department in late July following the meeting of the American and Japanese defense and foreign policy chiefs. US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin hailed the development as “one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years” at that time. He also said that the two sides “held a separate
Post a Comment
Read more