Protesters Surround White House, Call for ‘Intifada Revolution’

Washington, D.C. — Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded the White House on Saturday afternoon, calling for President Joe Biden to end U.S. military aid to Israel.

The activists dressed in red and encircled the White House to create a two-mile-long line, representing the “red line” they say Biden allowed Israeli forces to cross by entering Rafah last month. The president had previously said he would withhold aid from Israel if its military entered the city on the south side of the Gaza Strip.

Protesters chanted “Globalize the intifada,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” only steps from the White House. The protest was organized by a range of pro-Palestinian organizations, including CODEPINK and the Council on American–Islamic Relations.

A group in keffiyehs and black ski masks held a banner that read “Jihad of Victory or Martyrdom” and “Al Qassam.” They chanted “Hezbollah, Hezbollah, kill another Zionist now.”

A man wearing a black ski mask and holding a megaphone approached me and asked if I was “Zionist” or “Israeli.” When I did not respond, he followed me and shouted through a megaphone, “Stay away from the Zionist.” He told me he was “with the H-Team, the people who start with ‘H.’”

Another man nearby pointed to my nose and asked if I was Jewish (I am not of Jewish heritage). A third asked me if I was Jewish and said “mazel tov” and “l’chaim.”

One protester handed out stickers reading “Genocide Joe” with a picture of the president. Every protester asked by NR if they would vote for Biden in November said no or declined to answer.

Many signs and speakers said Israeli forces had killed more than 30,000 civilians, citing numbers from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

“We are here to honor the 40,000 and counting Palestinian martyrs,” a speaker from the Palestinian Youth Movement told a crowd gathered in Lafayette Square, across from the White House. “We are here to carry their struggle forward.”

The United Nations stopped accepting the figures last month, and the Associated Press released an analysis discrediting the numbers yesterday.