WASHINGTON (RNS) — Hundreds of Jewish demonstrators descended on Capitol Hill on Tuesday (July 23) to call on the U.S. to stop sending arms to Israel, insisting Israeli forces are perpetrating a genocide against the Palestinian people as a monthslong military assault into the Gaza Strip continues.
The demonstrators, organized by the anti-Zionist activist group Jewish Voice for Peace, staged the surprise afternoon protest in the Capitol complex’s Cannon Building. The demonstration came the day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to address a joint session of Congress and two days ahead of his scheduled meeting with President Joe Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned members of Congress that any disruption of the speech could result in arrests.
The protesters, including rabbis and organizers of recent pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel.” They gathered despite barricades being raised around the Capitol and the surrounding buildings in expectation of Netanyahu’s address. They appeared to surprise both media and police as they gathered suddenly in the rotunda, unfurling banners that read “no one is free until everyone is free” AND “Jews say: Permanent ceasefire now.”
Sometimes singing in Hebrew, they also chanted slogans such as “stop arming Israel now!” and “Free Palestine!”
“Let Gaza live!” they chanted in unison as police began to encircle the group, slowly arresting them one by one. They continued to chant and sing as they were led out of the building, many in handcuffs.
Capitol police were still arresting demonstrators at press time, and unable to offer a total number of arrests.
In conversations with Religion News Service, participants in the protest cited the calamitous death toll of the conflict: In addition to the what the Israeli government says were nearly 1,200 Israelis killed on October 7 in the initial Hamas-led attack on Southern Israel and the hundreds taken captive, the ensuing Israeli assault into Gaza has claimed more than 39,000 lives, according to the Hamas-led health agency.
It was the second time JVP and similar organizations have staged a major pro-Palestinian protest in the building. The group, in partnership with If Not Now, had previously demonstrated in October of last year, days after the Hamas-led attack on Southern Israel, insisting Israeli forces embrace a cease-fire. Over the past few months, JVP and others have also staged multiple protests at the White House, as well as massive demonstrations in major cities such as New York and Philadelphia as well as various state capitols cross the country.
In the spring, a vibrant student protest movement that erupted on college campuses, led by organizers such Benjamin Kersten, an art history graduate student and Jewish educator who helped organize the encampment at University of California of Los Angeles.
“My faith-based experiences have shown me there’s such a rich lineage of Jewish people who have taken brave stands in solidarity with the oppressed, and taken brave stands against state violence and militarism,” Kersten, who participated in Tuesday’s protest in Washington, told RNS in an interview. “So it’s that history, that lineage that I feel like I have in my mind, in my body.”
Kersten added he is driven by his belief in the sanctity of all life as well as a desire to reclaim Jewish traditions in order to create a “faith that is inclusive, that is justice based, that is communal and participatory” — and, he noted, not synonymous with Zionism.
He was echoed by Rabbi Linda Holtzman of Philadelphia, where she leads the Tikkun Olam Chavurah community. She derided Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and said she found it “deplorable that he was invited to come to speak to Congress at all.”
But Netanyahu, she argued, is “a symbol of a much larger problem than the way that Israel is currently structured” — namely, an “apartheid state” where “the Jewish people have more rights than Palestinian people.”
Holtzman said she is inspired to speak out because of her Jewish faith, citing her belief that “never again does mean never again for anyone.” She also referenced pikuach nefesh, the Jewish principle of saving a soul or life, as well as the belief that all human beings are created in the image of God.
“That means that all human beings absolutely need and deserve a decent, safe, and free life, and if I see that being violated in my name, as an American and as a Jew, it’s my obligation to stand up and say something about it,” said Holtzman, who also serves on Jewish Voice for Peace’s Rabbinical Council.
Several participants brandished bespoke talitot, or traditional Jewish garments, crafted specifically for the protest and adorned with the axiom “never again for anyone” — a reference to the Holocaust. Rabbi Rachel Kipnes, a recently ordained Reconstructionist rabbi, said they were created by queer Jews according to a very specific process.
It “hearkens to these really important narratives of Jewish suffering that we don’t want anyone else to experience ever,” Kipnes said.
Kipnes was one of several demonstrators who argued that while the months-long protest criticizing Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip has been focused on activism, it has also forged a community — and, for Jews like herself, a particular religious community.
“It’s actually a commitment to a Judaism that’s so far into the future that we’re still figuring out what our words are to describe it,” she said. “But it’s flourishing, and it’s beautiful, and everyone is welcome.”
More demonstrations from other groups are also planned for Wednesday, when Netanyahu will address Congress.
