The following statement was issued by the ANSWER Coalition on July 25, 2024.
Netanyahu is parading around Washington today, meeting with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, pretending that this visit is somehow a victory for his genocidal policies. In truth, his address was immediately overshadowed by the heroic actions of tens of thousands of young people who overcame police repression to hold simultaneous mass demonstrations in the nation’s capital. The protests received widespread media coverage all over the world. He came to Washington to overcome his global isolation — instead he deepened it.
History will also remember that on July 24, 2024, the U.S. Congress gave standing ovations to an internationally wanted war criminal as he actively prosecuted a genocide and single-handedly blocked a ceasefire. That a globally despised figure was given such a welcome serves as an indictment of the U.S. government once again as a co-conspirator in Israel’s crimes.
The disgraceful spectacle inside the Capitol was matched by a disgraceful spectacle outside. The whole area was converted into “Fort Netanyahu,” with massive fences and barricades blocking all the surrounding streets so as to deprive the people of their right to protest near the war criminal’s whereabouts. They even innovated new ways to waste tax dollars by bussing in NYPD officers to “serve and protect” Netanyahu for a day.
The only thing honorable about this day were the determined people of conscience who protested powerfully and stood up for Palestine and for humanity. People assembled in Washington, D.C. on a Wednesday morning from all walks of life, coming from towns and cities nationwide, of all faith backgrounds (including prominent Muslim, Christian and Jewish organizations), from major labor unions to small community groups, students and peace organizations, all wearing red, to show that the politicians shamefully applauding for Netanyahu did not speak for us.
As soon as this mass assembly began to march towards Congress, police attacked. So not only does the Biden-Harris administration direct U.S. tax dollars to fund the Israeli war machine, they unleash pepper spray on people who object. Dozens of marchers exercising their First Amendment rights were subject to a brutal and unprovoked police attack. Now the White House is directly slandering the protest as “violent and antisemitic.” Everyone who was there knows this is an outright lie.
The collective organization and expression of young people in such large numbers and from all nationalities is significant, in particular because it is reminiscent of the mass mobilizations in 1968 and 1969 that turned public opinion dramatically against the war in Vietnam, and played a major role in bringing that war to an end. The determination of young people to intervene in and disrupt Netanyahu’s schedule at every opportunity, from the moment he arrived, and to withstand brutal police repression to continue protesting, completely spoiled Netanyahu’s visit to the United States. The mild reproach of a few representatives and few empty chairs in Congress were not enough to make an impact; the protests and collective actions put U.S. support for the genocide on trial, and demonstrated the inviability of the current U.S.-Israeli occupation regime.
To try and misdirect people’s attention, some parts of the corporate media and the White House itself are now trying to minimize the significance of these actions. They are attempting to demonize the protests, and focus on one individual sign or some individual’s burning of the American flag. This is designed to distract the public from the actual police violence yesterday, and the true mass violence that has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives and millions more in U.S.-led wars across the world. But the rising of the Palestinian flag on multiple flagpoles in front of Union Station and in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol grounds is a clear indication that the tide has turned. Public opinion has been transformed so dramatically that no attempt at deflection can turn it back. Nothing can hold back the tide in favor of Palestinian liberation and against the regime of genocide.
Featured photo: Protesters take on Netanyahu on July 24, 2024. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.
