More than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside of the White House on Saturday for an international day of action, two days before the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protesters met by Lafayette Square at 4 p.m. to flood the intersection of H and 16th Street while leaders from organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine and the Party for Socialism and Liberation stood on top of trucks and demanded the U.S. divest from companies supplying arms to Israel. The D.C., Maryland and Virginia chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement announced the rally in an Instagram post last week, which they organized in conjunction with more than 60 local pro-Palestinian organizations to protest Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel launched the war in Gaza directly following the Oct. 7 attacks. Over the last year the Israeli military has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza. Israel last week crossed the border into Lebanon to attack Hezbollah, a Lebanese military group, where it has continued its ground operation and airstrikes across the country.
Leaders of pro-Palestinian national and student groups condemned universities for their handling of anti-war activism on campus and the U.S. for continuing to supply arms to Israel’s military. U.S. President Joe Biden in August approved a $20 billion arms sale to Israel.
The first speaker, a law student with Maryland 2 Palestine — a grassroots organization fighting for Palestinian liberation — said institutions like the University of Maryland have “repressed” pro-Palestinian student demonstrators by suspending student activists and restricting on-campus protests, but students have resisted. She said the UMD chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine won a lawsuit against UMD to allow an on campus vigil for Oct. 7 following the University’s original refusal to allow students to reserve campus space for the event.
Last month, the University of Maryland’s SJP chapter sued UMD President Darryll Pines and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents after the university limited student group events for Oct. 7 and only permitted a “University-sponsored Day of Dialogue.” On Oct. 1, the U.S. District Court of Maryland temporarily paused UMD’s plan to restrict student group events.
“One year of witnessing massacre after massacre of our eyes glued to the news, holding our breath to see what depraved violence Israel and this White House has in store for our people,” the demonstrator said.
Sean Blackmon, a representative from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said in a speech to the crowd he is “tired” of being told to pick between the “lesser evil” in the presidential election, because both democrats and republicans intend to “fund and facilitate genocide.”
“Not only are they not going to stop a genocide, they don’t intend to do anything to improve your material conditions right here in the United States of America,” Blackmon said.
A singer then came up to the truck and sang three songs from Palestinian and Lebanese artists about the war in Gaza. He asked fellow protesters to sing and clap along with him as he performed songs about the suffering and displacement of people in both Lebanon and Palestine, highlighting the loss of homes and Israeli forces’ attacks on women and children in Palestine.
The singer sang songs like Unadikum, a pan-Arabic song popularized in the context of the Palestinian resistance for self-determination, and “Irhal,” or “leave” in Arabic, which was the anthem for the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
Organizers brought four children onto the truck to lead chants like “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Protesters crescendoed as they cheered on the children.
“Biden, Biden, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?” One of the children chanted.
A speaker then came up to the microphone and asked protesters if they felt isolated in their support for Palestine last year, and if protesters knew each other a year ago. He said student demonstrators found community at pro-Palestinian encampments at universities like GW.
Students from universities in the DMV like Georgetown and American universities joined GW students during the 14-day pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard last spring.
He said protesters need to prioritize collective action and justice over personal differences, citing a need to overcome faith divides to fight for a common cause.
“Regardless of your faith, whether you’re a saint, whether you’re a sinner, whether you’re a heathen, whether you’re an atheist, we got work to do for our people,” the speaker said.
At about 6 p.m., speakers reported a protester had attempted to self-immolate on the northwest corner of 16th and H street. Metropolitan Police Department officers and demonstrators surrounded the demonstrator to provide medical attention and put out the fire, according to an MPD press release. The D.C. Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services responded and transported the protester to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to MPD.
At about 6:15 p.m., protesters began marching down H Street and through downtown D.C. before stopping outside of Franklin Park and the Washington Post headquarters on K Street, where a final speaker delivered a speech and led chants. At about 7:05 p.m., the demonstrators began to march back toward the White House.
Protesters slowly began leaving once the demonstration returned to the White House at about 7:55 p.m. After chanting and dancing music by a D.J., the protest ended at around 8:15 p.m.
Tyler Iglesias and Ella Mitchell contributed reporting.
