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\u2018No ceasefire\u2019: Israel supporters gather in Washington, DC, amid Gaza war | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n
Washington, DC \u2013<\/strong> Jeers erupted at a pro-Israel rally in Washington, DC, when political analyst Van Jones called for the bombing of Gaza to stop.<\/p>\n Jones had condemned anti-Semitism and voiced support for Israel in his remarks to the March for Israel, a demonstration that brought tens of thousands of protesters on Tuesday to the National Mall, a park in the heart of the United States capital.<\/p>\n But it was Jones\u2019s proclamation that he was a \u201cpeace guy\u201d that drew rumbles from the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cI pray for peace \u2014 no more rockets from Gaza and no more bombs falling down on the people of Gaza. God, protect the children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The initial boos against him quickly turned into chants of \u201cno ceasefire\u201d. The crowd had gathered to back Israel\u2019s war in Gaza and to call for the release of more than 200 captives held by the Palestinian group Hamas.<\/p>\n On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people. In response, Israel has led a military offensive against Gaza, a small, densely-packed Palestinian strip that is home to 2.3 million people. Israeli attacks have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s demonstration follows a major protest by Palestinian rights advocates in Washington, DC, 10 days earlier.<\/p>\n But this march drew top members of the US Congress from both major parties, including the Speaker of the House of Representative Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both of whom addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cThe calls for a ceasefire are outrageous,\u201d Johnson said. His statement was met with more chants of \u201cno ceasefire\u201d, this time approvingly.<\/p>\n Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at the rally as well. So did John Hagee, a right-wing Christian pastor who has been accused of stoking both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.<\/p>\n Hagee came under fire in 2008 after an old sermon resurfaced in which he described Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a \u201chunter\u201d sent by God to push Jewish people to move to Israel.<\/p>\n The administration of President Joe Biden was also represented at the rally by Deborah Lipstadt, the US envoy to combat anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n The broad ideological spectrum at the protest highlighted the US\u2019s bipartisan support for Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cBring them home,\u201d the protesters chanted, referring to the captives in Gaza, as they waved Israeli and American flags.<\/p>\n Leading rights groups have accused Israel of violating international law during the war and attacking civilian targets, including residential neighbourhoods, hospitals and schools housing displaced people. United Nations experts have also warned of the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n When asked about the casualties in Gaza, many demonstrators expressed sympathy for Palestinians, but they blamed Hamas for the violence, accusing the group of using civilians as \u201chuman shields\u201d.<\/p>\n Many held signs proclaiming Israel\u2019s boundary from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The messages aimed to counter the slogan, \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free\u201d \u2014 something Palestinian rights supporters consider an aspirational call for freedom and equality.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera spoke to some of the protesters at Tuesday\u2019s event. Here\u2019s what they had to say:<\/p>\n Stu Weiss, a protester from New Jersey, held a sign saying that the 1,200 Israelis killed on October 7 would amount to 48,000 Americans relative to the size of the population.<\/p>\n Weiss said his message aims to make people think about the scale of the atrocities committed by Hamas. He added that Hamas is also responsible for the Palestinian deaths in Gaza, claiming that the group prevented people from fleeing south.<\/p>\n In reality, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the north of Gaza, and Israel has continued to bomb southern towns where it told residents to go. An estimated one out of every 200 Palestinians in Gaza has died.<\/p>\n Weiss said that, by the end of the conflict, he would like to see \u201cHamas gone and Israelis living in peace with the Palestinian people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re taught to hate Jews and Israel,\u201d he said of Palestinians. Asked whether Israel\u2019s occupation of Gaza contributed to hostility in the conflict, Weiss responded, \u201cWhat occupation?\u201d<\/p>\n James McLaughlin, a demonstrator from Philadelphia, said there can never be a ceasefire until Israel destroys Hamas.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re coming for the Jews. And they\u2019re coming for us next \u2014 all of Western civilisation. So as a bulwark, Western civilisation is the bedrock of my faith. I totally stand with Israel,\u201d McLaughlin told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n He displayed a sign that read, \u201cChristians stand with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Rima, a protester who chose to identify by her first name only, carried a large green placard saying, \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Israel is all you\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael is our indigenous land, and it\u2019s always going to be ours. This is where Jews come from. They were there before Arabs. They were there before anyone else,\u201d Rima told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Evan, a demonstrator who also wanted to be identified by his first name only, waved a large Israeli flag and stressed that Hamas started the war.<\/p>\n He voiced support for what he called Israel\u2019s \u201cright to defend itself\u201d. Still, he expressed a grim outlook for the future as he reflected on what would happen after the current conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine a good outcome, no matter what. Israel has probably created another generation of people who will hate them. And that\u2019s a consequence of war. Anyone who\u2019s lost a parent, a child, a loved one, a cousin \u2014 killed in a thing \u2014 cannot be expected to embrace or forgive,\u201d Evan said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate. But I can\u2019t sit here and say to Israel, \u2018You have to get out now.’\u201d<\/p>\n Minna Shezaf, a demonstrator from Washington, DC, who has lived in Israel, said she was at the rally to express solidarity with Israel and praised Biden\u2019s handling of the crisis as \u201cadmirable\u201d.<\/p>\n Shezaf added that the conflict could take a \u201cterrifying\u201d turn if the armed group Hezbollah gets further involved in the war.<\/p>\n The Lebanese group has been launching attacks on Israeli troops almost daily in support of Gaza. Israel, in turn, has been retaliating by bombing areas across its shared border with Lebanon.<\/p>\n Asked about the mounting death toll in Gaza, Shezaf said, \u201cIt\u2019s terrible what Hamas is doing to the people of Gaza. It\u2019s a human rights violation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>Stu Weiss: \u2018What occupation?\u2019<\/h2>\n
James McLaughlin: \u2018They\u2019re coming for us next\u2019<\/h2>\n
Rima: \u2018Israel is our land\u2019<\/h2>\n
Evan: \u2018Hard to imagine a good outcome\u2019<\/h2>\n
Minna Shezaf: Conflict is \u2018terrifying\u2019<\/h2>\n
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