Thousands of people are demonstrating in Washington this Saturday in solidarity with the Palestinians.WILL OLIVER (EFE)
Marches for Palestine in large metropolitan areas such as New York, Washington, Seattle and San Francisco, but also in smaller cities in the USA, this Saturday have reinforced the echo of the growing demonstrations of opposition to Israel, but also of unified support for the Joe Biden administration Offensive against Gaza. With Washington as a symbol of a mobilization that should be national, the protests mirror the massive demonstrations of support for Palestine in Asian and European capitals, such as those taking place today in London, Berlin, Paris, Ankara and Istanbul.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Washington with Palestinian flags and chanted slogans such as “Biden, you can’t hide, you signed the genocide” before gathering in Freedom Square, just steps from the White House. Speakers condemned the president’s support for Israel and accused him of having “blood on his hands.” Some have vowed they will not support Biden’s re-election next year or the campaigns of other Democrats, calling them “double-faced” liberals. Other protesters criticized civil rights activists for failing to condemn the deaths of women and children due to Israeli bombings. Gaza health authorities put the number of Palestinians killed by Israel this Saturday at 9,488.
Although the majority of American public opinion sympathizes with Israel, the scale of the retaliation against Gaza has spurred protesters who are much less visible and numerous than those who took to the streets to demand the right to defend themselves against Israel. The muezzins of the mosques of the Bay Ridge district, the epicenter of the Palestinian community in New York, invited this Friday to take part in the march on Washington, the heart of the country’s political power, as the national vanguard of a growing reaction – including from Democratic lawmakers – to the foreign policy of the democratic government. Although Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in line with Israel, has reiterated his administration’s rejection of a ceasefire, a growing citizen protest is increasingly in favor of a cessation of hostilities in the United States. Two weeks ago, groups of Jews occupied the Capitol in Washington and the main train station in New York to put pressure on the White House.
Among those denouncing the Biden administration’s position is Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the first representative of Palestinian descent in Congress, who accused the president of supporting a “genocide” against Palestinians and of the likely impact of that support in 2020 2024 warned In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) late Friday, the Democratic congresswoman from Michigan reiterated to Biden her call for an immediate ceasefire.
There is no doubt that Biden’s unwavering support for Israel could cost him dearly. The community of Arab-Muslim Democratic voters, such as in the state of Michigan – like Tlaib – who were crucial to her election victory in 2020, are now reconsidering their support in light of the rapprochement with Israel. And a year from now, when the presidential election takes place, every vote will be crucial. The president’s popularity is falling (42% support compared to 57% opposition, according to polls released this week), while forecasts suggest that the election will be a virtual tie between the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate (predictably and despite all legal fronts, Donald) comes trump).
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Thus, Washington’s push for local “humanitarian pauses” is viewed by many Americans of Arab and/or Muslim descent as a gesture to the gallery. The group makes up a small percentage of the country’s population but has significant influence in closely contested states like Michigan, home to more than 200,000 registered Muslim voters, 146,000 of whom voted in 2020, according to an Emgage analysis. a political lobbying group of American Muslims. Biden then won by 155,000 votes over Trump. According to various sources, there are about 700,000 Muslims in New York and between 7,000 and 9,000 Palestinians. However, the census could be significantly higher as many are registered according to their country of origin (Israel, Jordan, etc.). This group’s support for Biden began to decline, not only because of the message he sent to the nation on the third day of the war, which was considered in Israel to be more Zionist than that of many other Zionists; also for decisions such as the veto in the UN Security Council of a first attempt at a resolution presented by Brazil to declare “humanitarian pauses” or for the discrediting of the death figures given by the Gaza authorities.
Despite very little mainstream media coverage – at best, brief television connections with the rally in Washington – this Saturday’s marches reflect the constellation of causes and groups long associated with Palestinian politics, including student organizations – which are on the Campuses are very active – unions and anti-war campaigns. In Washington, garbage trucks and police vehicles blocked part of Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks from the White House, as the leader of the demonstration set off from the Museum of the Palestinian People, just over a mile away, to the Plaza of Liberty while the muezzin called for afternoon prayers.
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