A protest inside and outside the United States Capitol this Wednesday demanded that the Joe Biden Administration and Congress advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and stop financing the Israeli "genocide" in Palestine, according to some of their posters. The protest was called by the progressive organizations If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace, made up of American Jews mobilized against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which were behind another similar demonstration held on Monday in front of the White House. .
Part of the protest took place inside the Cannon Building, where some lawmakers have their offices. It is a block adjacent to the main headquarters of the Capitol and although to enter you have to pass a security check, no special accreditation is required to access it. Sitting on the ground and holding large banners demanding the aforementioned ceasefire, some of the protesters were arrested.
"We warned the protesters to stop the protest and when they did not obey we began to arrest them. Among those arrests, three people have been accused of assaulting an officer," the Capitol Police said on X (formerly Twitter) without specifying the number of arrests.
According to media outlets such as CBS News, there have been around 300 arrests. The detainees were handcuffed, placed in a line inside the security cordon that was established around the building and put on a police bus, while the rest of the group, from the other side of the barrier, applauded them and sang the anthem of resistance Bella Ciao.
"We have come together to stop members of Congress from funding or supporting more bombs in Gaza and to call for a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza so Palestinians can stop being killed for war crimes." of Israel," Asher Firestone, representative of Jewish Voice for Peace, told EFE. US President Joe Biden is "supporting genocide by allowing it to happen", he added.
Organizers had rallied people under the slogan "Jews say 'Ceasefire in Gaza' now" and chose the Capitol, which houses the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, so lawmakers would hear "loud and clear." "that claim, as indicated in X.
Many of the protesters who managed to enter Cannon wore a T-shirt printed with "Jews say ceasefire now" and "Not in my name." On its Instagram account, If not now, it posted the moment when some arrests took place. Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now plan to call for new protests until a ceasefire is achieved.
Biden traveled to Israel and this Wednesday supported the Israeli thesis about the explosion the day before in a Gaza hospital, which points to a failed Islamic Jihad rocket as the cause, and convinced Israel to agree to the entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave from Egypt.
