About fifty organized demonstrators were arrested after the closure of a Senate cafeteria in protest of US policy toward Israel.
‘Senate can’t eat until Gaza eats!’ the activists shouted as they blocked the entrances to the Dirksen cafeteria. They were apprehended by Capitol Police.
Some wore the group’s signature pink shirts, adorned with slogans such as “No $$$ for Israel” and “Let Gaza Live.”
The protests were organized by action group Code Pink and Christians for a Free Palestine. They demanded that Congress support a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and oppose offering further funding to Israel.
About 50 organized demonstrators were arrested after the closure of a Senate cafeteria in protest of US policy toward Israel
‘Senate can’t eat until Gaza eats!’ the activists shouted as they blocked the entrances to the Dirksen cafeteria. They were apprehended by Capitol Police
Pro-Gaza protesters have been working overtime on Capitol Hill in recent months of the conflict as civilian deaths piled up. On Tuesday morning, a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing descended into chaos as protesters demanded that President Biden’s top officials “stop funding Gaza.”
In a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Biden said an “immediate ceasefire” is “essential,” according to a readout of the call.
Michigan Republican Representative John James labeled the protests a “distraction” funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
‘Fun fact: Code Pink (which funds these ‘protests’) is funded by the CCP. And while these people try to distract from the fact that the hostages are still being held by Hamas, Israel is waging a war to preserve its survival and keep the Jewish people safe,” he wrote on X.
Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown answered questions about the Defense Department’s 2025 military budget request, which totals a whopping $850 billion.
Shortly after the hearing began, Austin testified, “We do not have any evidence that Israel has (committed) genocide against the Palestinians,” a claim that directly contradicts what protesters claimed to support earlier in the hearing.
Just minutes earlier, chaos erupted as hecklers began shouting at Biden’s top military officials, accusing them of complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
“Enough is enough how many people have to die,” one protester shouted about the lives lost in Gaza as Israel tried to eliminate the terrorist group Hamas. ‘How many children must die?’
Protesters demand that the US support a ceasefire in Gaza
“Enough killing my people, enough,” the man continued.
“Stop bombing Gaza,” the protester demanded. ‘Stop financing Israel.’
The protesters accused the US of complicity in a genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, a claim the defense minister denies.
Later, Austin was expected to talk further about US plans to help the Gaza Strip, including the construction of a pier that would be used to bring food and relief supplies to the Hamas-run area.
He said the pier would “probably” be ready by the third weekend of this month.
If true, it means the military auxiliary pier could be ready in a few days.
The White House has only recently become critical of Israel’s military campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas.
National security spokesman John Kirby said the White House is “increasingly frustrated” by Israeli actions in Gaza.
During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, co-host Martha Raddatz noted how President Biden and his Cabinet officials appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with Israel’s bloody offensive to root out Hamas.
“I’m glad you’re putting forward that timeline because it shows the extent… the growing level of frustration that we’ve had with the way these operations are being prosecuted and the way Israelis are acting on the ground in terms of civilian casualties ,” Kirby told Raddatz.
‘So we are becoming increasingly frustrated. And again, that was the core message that the president conveyed to Prime Minister Netanyahu during their phone call last week: that they have to do more, that they have to make changes,” he continued.
Biden has faced a backlash from progressives who say he is too supportive of Israel as civilian casualties pile up in Gaza. Criticism of Israel’s military campaign increased this week when an Israeli airstrike killed six World Central Kitchen workers, including an American, and their Palestinian driver as they left a warehouse in central Gaza.
The workers, who were delivering food aid in Gaza, were traveling in a “conflict-free zone” in armored, tagged cars that were hit by an Israeli missile.
On Friday, a group of more than 30 House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, demanded that Biden halt arms transfers to Israel.
“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe that it is unjustified to authorize these arms transfers,” the letter said.
The Palestinian death toll since October has surpassed 33,000.