Thousands of demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza marched through Washington on Wednesday, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes as he addressed congressional lawmakers during a joint session.
The protesters, who faced off against law enforcement, were pepper sprayed, and engaged in several chants including “Free, Free Palestine,” “The whole world is watching,” “We will never be silenced,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Hundreds were arrested on Tuesday night at a sit-in at a House office building at the Capitol complex.
Mary Michelle, 61, a protester from Florida said, “The genocide has been going on for 78 years, and it’s just increased at this point to pure slaughter on a daily basis. I’ve been seeing it on my phone.”
She said, “Children dying, being burned, limbs being blown off. When is it going to stop?”
One demonstrator, a man who appeared to be in his early 20s and lives in the DMV area but declined to give his name, said, “If I see my dad die in front of me, what am I going to grow up to be? If you’re killing more than 20,000 children, what am I going to grow up to be? A Hamas fighter? This is a never-ending cycle.”
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Reem Antesh, 50, of Northern Virginia, said she was “surprised” that Mr. Netanyahu was being protected so heavily.
“I’m really surprised. Our people are protecting a criminal, against Americans. This is a shame. I don’t feel really that they should be standing here,” she said. “They should turn around and go arrest the war criminal inside.”
The International Criminal Court announced in May that it sought arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to charge them with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
President Biden condemned the ICC’s action as “outrageous” and Mr. Netanyahu described it as “absurd.”
The demonstrators demanding an end to the war in Gaza, where 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, walked toward the Capitol but were prevented from getting near the building.
They rallied instead at Union Station, where they removed American flags outside the train station and replaced them with Palestinian flags.
At that point, protesters chanted, “Shut it down!” and marched behind a banner that said, “globalize the student intifada.”
Law enforcement began to deploy pepper spray and began to make arrests around the train terminal.
“Part of the crowd has started to become violent at First Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line,” Capitol Police wrote on X. “We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line.”
Police have reinforced security around the Capitol and closed several roads for most of the week.
Workers erected a metal fence around the White House on Wednesday morning, while tall steel barriers surrounded the Capitol.
Protesters greeted Mr. Netanyahu outside his hotel on Monday night, and on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of them rallied flashmob-style in the Cannon building, where the offices of House lawmakers are located.
The Capitol Police said about 200 people were arrested Tuesday on charges stemming from the sit-in at the Cannon building.
— This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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