Pro-Palestine protesters took over the Rotunda in the Cannon House office building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to demand a ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas.
Footage of the demonstration shows protesters chanting “ceasefire” as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prepare for a large-scale offensive in Gaza. Israel warned roughly 1 million residents in northern Gaza to flee last week after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7 killing at least 1,400 Israeli civilians.
The scene in the Cannon House Office Building rotunda on Capitol Hill as Hamas sympathizers chant under a banner calling for a “CEASEFIRE.” Of note, demonstrations are not allowed in congressional buildings, per Capitol Police. pic.twitter.com/9RcCIjUzud
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) October 18, 2023
While Hamas holds hostages captive — 200 of them, according to the terror group whose numbers are notoriously unreliable — the pro-Palestinian demonstrators with Jewish Voice for Peace continued their call for Israel to stand down on the same day President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hundreds of the demonstrators were reportedly arrested for “illegally protesting inside a House Office Building,” and three were charged with assaulting a police officer.
JUST IN: The United States Capitol has been taken over inside and outside by pro-Palestine protesters as Rep. Rashida Tlaib spoke with a crowd nearby.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 18, 2023
Are we only allowed to call people like this insurrections when they are Donald Trump supporters?
Police are now making… pic.twitter.com/W0rttqIx51
Far-left House members offered their support for the protest.
Solidarity with those mobilizing and demanding a #CeasefireNOW to save lives. pic.twitter.com/hM7nkT7FWQ
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) October 18, 2023
Speaking to protesters outside the Capitol building, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., broke down in tears as she regurgitated the false claim that Israel had bombed a hospital in Gaza. Visual and audio evidence released by Israeli intelligence, however, show the missile strike landed in a parking lot and came from a Hamas rocket that misfired.
“People continue to think it’s OK to bomb a hospital,” said Tlaib, who’s been blaming Israel for the explosion since Tuesday. “If we’re not crying, then something is wrong.”
Despite it being proven wrong that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza, Rep. @RashidaTlaib breaks down in tears at a pro-Hamas rally outside the Capitol repeating the claim Israel bombed a hospital.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 18, 2023
pic.twitter.com/7POVh8uaBv
Legacy media similarly blamed Israel for the explosion, parroting Hamas propaganda without scrutiny.
“Israeli Strike Kills Hundreds in Hospital, Palestinians Say,” read the first New York Times headline before it was changed multiple times, as Federalist Senior Editor John Daniel Davidson reported.
Mobs reportedly began to assault American and Israeli embassies and military installations throughout the Middle East that same night, including in Baghdad, Istanbul, Beirut, Amman, Doha, Tehran, and Cairo, leading to fears there could be a Benghazi-style attack.
Following the Capitol Hill demonstration on Wednesday, Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing a pro-Israel sign had been torn down outside his office.
“This is what happens when unrealistic, uneducated people want to support the killing of innocent Israelis,” Weber said. “These people should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The demonstrations on Capitol Hill follow a slew of statements from student groups at elite colleges around that country blaming Israel for the attack by Hamas. A professor at the University of Virginia reportedly even offered extra credit for students who attended an event on how to “stand in solidarity with Palestinians resisting occupation.”
