'Ceasefire now': Hundreds arrested at anti-Israel protest in US Capitol

Many of the protesters wore shirts reading "Jews say ceasefire" and "not in our name."

OCTOBER 19, 2023 04:51

Protesters calling for a cease fire in Gaza and an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict occupy the rotunda of the Cannon House office building with a civil disobedience action on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, October 18, 2023. (photo credit: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS) — Protesters calling for a cease fire in Gaza and an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict occupy the rotunda of the Cannon House office building with a civil disobedience action on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, October 18, 2023.

(photo credit: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)

Hundreds of activists protesting against the war between Israel and Hamas were arrested after storming the US Capitol on Wednesday night.

The protest was organized by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow organizations. Many of the protesters were shirts reading "Jews say ceasefire" and "not in our name" and carried signs reading "ceasefire now."

Just as we demand an end to genocide in Gaza, we must put the same effort into dismantling the systems of Zionism, apartheid, and colonialism that brought us to this moment. pic.twitter.com/LADb6ASgmt
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) October 18, 2023

US Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) spoke at the protest. A Capitol Police spokesperson told ABC news that about 300 people were arrested.

“I wish all the Palestinian people would see this. I wish they could see that not all of America want them to die. That they are not disposable, that they have a right to live,” said Tlaib, according to The Hill.

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) dangles an Israeli flag over protesters, many of whom said they are Jewish, as they hold a civil disobedience action calling for a cease fire in Gaza and an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict while occupying the rotunda of the Cannon House office building on Capitol Hill. (credit: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)

During the protest, US Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) dangled an Israeli flag from a balcony overlooking the demonstration.

US Capitol Police said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that "we warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them."

"Arrests in the Canon Rotunda and the rolling road closures are ongoing. Amongst these arrests, three people have been arrested and charged with Assault on a Police Officer during processing."

Jewish Voice for Peace says Israel committing 'genocide'

Jewish Voice for Peace accused Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing in its social media posts about the protest. The posts did not reference Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel last week.

The organization additionally repeated claims that the IDF had bombed the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, retweeting a tweet claiming that 1,000 people were killed in the explosion. The IDF, the US, and independent open-source intelligence investigators have found that the explosion at the hospital was likely caused by a rocket fired by a Palestinian group in Gaza.

On the day of Hamas's assault on southern Israel, Jewish Voice for Peace blamed Israel for the attack, saying that "Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence."