Jewish and Pro-Palestine Protesters Block White House Entrances, 49 Arrested
Photography by Camille Wallace/NUNAR.
Over 1,000 pro-Palestinian, anti-war supporters joined a Jewish-led coalition headed by IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for Peace to shut down the White House on Monday, October 16. Protesters gathered to make various demands, including an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. Axios confirmed that 49 demonstrators were arrested by the Secret Service during the event: 33 people on suspicion of unlawful entry and 16 for allegedly incommoding.
Jewish actor Wallace Shawn appeared at the rally and criticized Israel's retaliatory actions, stating, “I don't believe in revenge, and that's what this is.”
At times, there were shoving incidents as protesters encountered both passersby and law enforcement officers attempting to break through the interlocked protesters blocking entryways.
As of October 21, the global protests against apartheid in Israel and its indiscriminate military response continue. These protests follow the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza briefly retaking Israeli-occupied land and launching a large-scale attack on Israel on October 7th, resulting in over 1,000 casualties, including IDF soldiers. Since then, the IDF has well dropped over 6,000 bombs in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, with nearly 50% of the population being children in an military effort many Western governments are describing as Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
The death toll in Gaza has now reached 4,385 since the war began, with at least 1,756 of those being children. International outrage is growing over the Israeli government's actions, characterized by non-stop air strikes on residential buildings, refugee camps, hospitals, places of worship, and even bakeries. The government, controlling the borders of Gaza, has hindered humanitarian aid groups from entering the besieged area and cut off essential resources like the internet, water, electricity, food, fuel, and medical supplies.
Legal experts specializing in genocide and international law have condemned Israel's warfare in Gaza as collective punishment, a breach of the Geneva Conventions, and a war crime. The U.N. has called for a 'humanitarian pause' to allow aid to reach Palestinians, while the WHO has strongly criticized Israel's repeated evacuation orders for 22 hospitals treating over 2,000 inpatients in northern Gaza.
Other pro-Palestinian demonstrations are taking place in Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, and internationally in Rome, Sydney, London, Ireland, Colombia, Belgium, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Beirut, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
More U.S. protests by Jewish and Palestinian anti-war and anti-apartheid groups are planned throughout the end of the month and into November. A National March on Washington: Free Palestine event is scheduled for Saturday, November 4th, organized by a coalition of national groups.
