Anti-Israel Demonstrators Protest Netanyahu’s Visit to Congress

Anti-Israel Protestors BURN American FLAGS

Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, anti-Israel protestors flocked to Washington, D.C. 

 

Fox News saw a demonstrator with a mask covering his face carrying what seemed to be the Hamas terrorist organization’s banner. 

 

A few hundred demonstrators had assembled outside the Gallery of Art at Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd Street, according to estimates from Fox News. They are chanting right now from a stage that has been built up in front of the Capitol.

 

Code Pink and Answer Coalition are the demonstration organizers. Speakers from a wide range of organizations have spoken, including one from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. 

 

Fox News crews saw a lot of placards with Netanyahu’s face that read, “Wanted War Criminal.” While listening to Netanyahu’s address, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., held up a sign that said “war criminal” while inside Capitol Hill. Among the other statements written by demonstrators on signs were “Stop the Genocide,” “Stop Arming Israel,” and “End All US Aid.” 

After the speakers finished, the crowds began to move up Pennsylvania Avenue. At the intersection of Constitution and Louisiana Avenue, protesters threw red and green powder into the air as police set up a barrier. 

 

“You’re a b—-,” some demonstrators yelled at the police line. Pepper spray was once seen being used, according to Fox News. Six persons were detained, according to U.S. Capitol Police, for interfering with the joint sitting of Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, anti-Israel demonstrators were observed being removed by D.C. Metropolitan Police Department police from the nation’s capital. Officers led a few individuals away, but others chanted for their release. 

 

Marching toward the Capitol, a sizable contingent of demonstrators first blocked a nearby intersection and chanted slogans such as “student intifada” and “shut it down!” over and over. Netanyahu was even addressed by his alias. “Bibi, Bibi, We have not finished!” Protesters yelled, “The intifada has just begun!”

 

A “crowd in Columbus Circle is engaged in criminal activity and confronting law enforcement on scene,” the U.S. Park Police wrote on social media shortly after 3 p.m. USPP is reaching out to the event organizer to request assistance in defusing the situation.

 

The Columbus Circle demonstration permit had been canceled, the Park Police announced around fifteen minutes later, along with the request that people “please leave the area at this time.” Just after 4 p.m., Park Police reported on social media that there was still a gathering near Columbus Circle and that demonstrators should leave.