Jews Defend Palestine

“We must unite, or we perish!” That's how Ghanaian President and Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah famously put it 25 May 1963, at the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Such was the sentiment on 18 October, when about 10,000 pro-Palestine supporters took the streets of Washington, D.C., according to Jewish Voice for Peace, which organised the multi-faceted demonstration. The group demanded the United States push for a ceasefire in the latest escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine that started on 7 October. The group's action also included a sit-in protest of about 200 people inside the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, where an unknown number of people were arrested. About 500 other protesters blocked off Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

Demonstrators chanted, "The world is watching," while wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with messages, "Jews Say Cease Fire Now" and "Not in Our Name."

The action comes after the United States and other Western bloc countries on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted against a Moscow-drafted ceasefire resolution on 16 October. African member-states, like Gabon and Mozambique, were among the countries that voted in favour. Then, on 18 October, the UNSC voted down a second resolution that Brazil drafted, calling for aid delivery to be allowed into the Gaza Strip. Despite claiming to support the Palestinian people, the United States voted down both UNSC resolutions this week.

Israel's 17 October attack on a hospital in Gaza City exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The Zionist state has threatened to target hospitals to root out the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel conducted air strikes on 17 October on the Rafah border crossing in Egypt, where trucks containing aid sent by several countries and the UN await entrance into the Gaza Strip.

The US Capitol has been called a "symbol of democracy.” However, the United States overwhelmingly backs the Israeli military response that has killed about 3,480 Palestinians and displaced an estimated more than 1 million people, or close to half of the Gaza Strip's population. Nothing new here beyond US imperialism. Protesters occupied the Capitol because it symbolises gunboat diplomacy, military conquests, economic attacks and, presently, support for Israel slaughtering innocent adults and children in occupied Palestine.

Let us know what you think of this protest.