WASHINGTON
A group of demonstrators staged a protest Wednesday outside the headquarters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington, D.C. one day after the pro-Israel lobby group concluded its annual policy conference.
The protestors, some of whom wore Palestinian keffiyehs, or head scarves, carried Palestinian flags as well as banners with messages such as "Free Palestine," "End all US aid to Israel" and "Stand with Palestine, end the occupation now.”
During the demonstration organized by the Party For Socialism and Liberation and the Palestinian Youth Movement and joined by members of the CODEPINK group, the protestors shouted "Viva Viva Palestina" and "Free, Free Palestine.”
They called for end to Israeli attacks in Gaza and US support for Israel.
Speaking to Anadolu, Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle, a member of Doctors Against Genocide, said she was feeling "extremely bad" about the plight of Gaza residents under Israeli attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"We know Ramadan is the time for families to get together, share a meal, pray together, enjoy spirituality. We know the families in Gaza do not have any of that," said Kuemmerle. "We feel it is our duty to advocate for them and raise our voices for the voiceless children in Gaza."
Kuemmerle, who came from Boston, said the US government is complicit in what is happening in Gaza, recalling that the US vetoed several UN Security Council resolutions that called for a cease-fire in Gaza.
"So we are complicit, our government is complicit. Our president is complicit. And we raise our voices to urge this government to do the right thing and pressure Israel to stop this genocide," she added.
Morgan, a MD/PhD candidate who declined to give her last name, called the Israeli war on Gaza "the single most destructive foreign policy decision" the US has made.
"The American government doesn't realize the extent to which they're losing legitimacy on issues like human rights and international law," she said.
Mohammad Qasim, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told Anadolu that Israel has a history of escalating attacks during Ramadan.
"And now we're witnessing something unprecedented in human history. And that is a genocide right before our eyes, something that we're watching in real time, and that's something that the world has never seen before," he said.
Qasim said Israel would not be where it is without the US.
"(President Joe) Biden himself has said that had there not been an Israel, they would have created one, right? We don't put our trust in these officials that are not accountable to the people. Rather, we put our trust in ourselves that through collective efforts, through mass action, that we will apply enough pressure where it makes it untenable to support Israel by the US," Qasim added.
Yasin Shami, another member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said the Biden administration makes it seem like they are trying "to maintain some distance here and there.”
"But we know that Israel would not be able to do this or to continue to do this without US support. The US is one hundred percent just as responsible for the genocide as Israel is," said Shami.
"There's no word to encompass the anger and the rage that we feel, not only that Israel has been murdering senselessly and nonstop for almost six months now at this point, but at the US, our government that we pay tax dollars to, to continue to not only support them and to be complicit, but to actively enable them and to participate in this genocide. It's absolutely horrendous. There's no words to cover the sort of rage that we feel every single day," he added.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which 1,163 people were killed.
More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza and over 73,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
