Pro-Gaza protesters arrested after disrupting House court hearing

Several pro-Gaza protesters were arrested Wednesday for disrupting a House Judiciary Committee hearing on free speech on college campuses following protests in support of Gaza.

Nearly a dozen protesters, wearing keffiyeh scarves, a symbol of Palestinian liberation, and other paraphernalia, including blood-red paint on their hands and tape over their mouths with the word “GAZA” written on them, sat in the galleries of committee room in the Rayburn House office building Wednesday, waiting to adjourn the hearing, where six witnesses from conservative and Jewish affiliations testified about anti-Semitic rhetoric at universities. After the witnesses were sworn in, protesters began to stand, one by one, during the witnesses’ opening statements, jeers at them and pro-Gaza members of Congress, before being removed by police from the US Capitol, observed the DCNF.

“Students should not be censured. You want to talk about putting money where your mouth is? There are 10,000, over 10,000 Gazans dead and more buried, half of whom are under 18, and you’re going to spend money to talk about that? shouted one protester who stood up to interrupt the testimony, holding a sign that read “Pro-Palestine ≠ Anti-Semitism.” He added: “Where are the anti-Zionists in this room? So you are not offering a plurality of opinion. You are offering partisanship!”

Another protester, shortly before him, stood up to shout: “Palestinian students deserve to speak out about the genocide of their family!” claiming that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

“Stop silencing Palestinian students!” she shouted as Capitol Police led her out of the room, holding a sign that read “Freedom of Speech Includes Palestinians.”

At least five protesters rose sequentially to disrupt the hearing, and Capitol Police initially gave them a warning to stop, or were escorted out of the room and arrested. The DCNF watched as Capitol Police searched them and led them out of the chamber, during which they continued to scream and could faintly be heard from inside the chamber.

Some disruptors were mocked by members of Congress for wearing N-95 masks, which are used to protect against COVID-19, emblazoned with the word “Gaza.” As the protesters rose, others adjacent to them, who were wearing pink bandanas emblazoned with the word “Gaza” and CODEPINK T-shirts, representing a left-wing feminist activist group, raised red-painted hands in support of his rhetoric.

Interruptions are part of a series of the protests in the US Capitol complex and in the Washington, DC area, against lawmakers for their support of Israel in its response to the attacks by Hamas, which killed more than a thousand Israelis in a gruesome manner and that has resulted in a ground invasion of Gaza. the Israeli Defense Forces. Some protests have involved storm of Capitol office buildings by hundreds of people, leading to many arrests.

U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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