WASHINGTON, DC – A Palestinian-American couple from an Indianapolis suburb sat, draped with keffiyehs, drinking coffee on Wednesday morning at a hotel a few blocks from the National Mall where, a few hours later, they would join the massive protests that shut down much of the area around Capitol Hill as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing Congress.
At least five buses of pro-Palestinian protestors from the greater Indianapolis area came to DC to demonstrate against Netanyahu, Bassam Abdullah told The Jerusalem Post.
Abdullah, who grew up in the Nablus area and whose family relocated to Jordan after the 1967 war, said he wanted to see members of Congress have enough of a backbone to sit down in front of Netanyahu and say, “Here’s what you need to do.”
“If somebody has the guts to say something or do something, I just need to tell them to try and be human,” Abdullah said. “Because what he’s doing in the West Bank and Gaza is just inhuman in a big way. He is not just a criminal. He’s actually an animal.”
Abdullah said he expected Netanyahu to stand before Congress and justify his actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
“He’s a ruthless leader,” he said. “He doesn’t really care about anybody else. He’s doing what he thinks is best for him and his group to maintain the status quo.”
Hours before Netanyahu’s address, pro-Palestinian protestors began gathering around the blocked-off streets in front of the Capitol.
Chlose, a 23-year-old woman who was raised Jewish and is a member of a North Carolina chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), came up to DC from outside the Raleigh area.
Jacob Melsh, a 56-year-old man from the DC area who grew up in Liverpool, United Kingdom carried a sign that read “Jewish voter against Netanyahu.”
“I’m with one of the many Jewish contingents here, and there’s a large number of Jewish groups. And I wanted to find a message we can all agree on,” Melsh told the Post.
“We believe that what the Netanyahu government is doing, it endangers the Jewish people. It endangers the State of Israel. It endangers the people of Palestine,” he said. “It is bad for everyone.”
Melsh said it was essential to have Jewish voices in the pro-Palestinian, anti-Netanyahu movement because many people on Netanyahu’s side like to present themselves as representing all Jewish people.
“They say that anyone who criticizes their policies is antisemitic, so it’s absolutely vital for there to be Jewish people who say, ‘No, it’s not antisemitic to criticize the State of Israel,’” he said.
Melsh explained that “There are many people who aren’t Jewish here, who are bombarded and attacked with accusations of anti-Jewish sentiment, simply because they disagree with this or that policy.”
“So we’re here to say, no, they’re not antisemitic, they’re not anti-Jewish,” he concluded.
Paul Zeitz, a DC-based doctor and rabbi, who wore a yarmulke on his head and a keffiyeh around his shoulders, is involved with Rabbis for Ceasefire and traveled with the group to Israel on a peace mission in April over Passover.
“The teaching of b’tselem Elohim [in the image of God] is about equality, that all souls are equal,” Zeitz said.
He described Israel’s execution of its war in Gaza as “inconsistent with his Jewish values.”
“And the idea that Israel is a place of safety, for us to be safe, has been shattered,” he said, noting Hamas’ attack on October 7 and Iran’s drone attack on Jerusalem in April. “I think that illusion of that land being safe for Jews needs to be reconciled.”
Zeitz called Netanyahu’s invitation to address Congress an “abomination” and a sign of a broken American government.
“He thinks he can act with impunity,” Zeitz told the Post. “That’s not right. He’s not above the law, and I believe in the rule of law. It is a wake-up call for the American people that our government would invite an accused war criminal to speak before our Congress!”
Thousands protest near US Capitol ahead of Netanyahu speech
Thousands of other protesters opposed to Israel's war in Gaza, some carrying Palestinian flags, gathered near the US Capitol on Wednesday hours before the speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to members of Congress.
A stage decked with banners included one declaring the Israeli leader a "Wanted War Criminal" in reference to an arrest warrant sought by International Criminal Court prosecutors. Netanyahu vehemently denies war crimes allegations.
Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon took to the stage and condemned the death toll. "No one is free until everyone is free," Sarandon said.
Nearby, demonstrators placed nearly 30 human-size cardboard coffins wrapped in Palestinian flags in memory of those killed in the war in Gaza. Traffic was barred from several roads near the Capitol.
"I want all aid (to) be suspended to Israel due to its actions in Gaza," said Bradley Cullinan, who said he traveled to the area from Columbus, Ohio, 400 miles (640 km) away.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers planned to skip Netanyahu's speech to Congress, expressing dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths and the humanitarian crisis from Israel's campaign in Gaza.
Members of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group, Neturei Karta, carried Palestinian flags and signs reading "Free Palestine" and "Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism," while a group of younger protesters danced to Arabic music and carried large banners reading "Stop Arming Israel and "Stop War Crimes in Gaza."
Pro-Palestinian groups and university students have for months protested in the US against Israel's offensive in Gaza, a Hamas-ruled enclave where the terrorist group's health authorities say nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly all of its 2.3 million people have been displaced.
Israel's military assault followed the October 7 attack by Hamas, whose terrorists surged into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
ICC prosecutors say there are reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh, bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.