Thousands of participants gathered in front of the White House to protest “one year of genocide” in Gaza and commemorate “one year of resistance” on Oct. 5, marking one year since start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The demonstration was a part of a nationwide initiative sponsored by various organizations with events scheduled in over 50 cities on both Oct. 5 and 6.
Oct. 7 marked one year since the war began, the deadliest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs says more than 1,200 have been killed in Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry reports the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 42,000.
After a year of war, expansive conflict in the Middle East is inducing fear of a potential regional war involving Hezbollah, Israel and the Iranian-backed Houthis.
From the demonstrators’ perspectives
Dalia Haydar and Nadar El Seblani said they had been supporting Palestine since the war in Gaza began, but the recent Israeli conflict with other nations brought them to protest once more.
“Our countries, our cities, our houses are being bombed down to the ground,” Haydar said.
Both Haydar and El Seblani are from Lebanon, and Haydar’s parents fled Lebanon following Israel’s ground strikes and invasions in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.
“They were extremely lucky to be able to make it here and to flee, but so many other people are not as lucky and they are dying. They are under the rubble,” Haydar said.
Conflict has expanded to Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Lebanese people to abandon Hezbollah to avoid “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
The Israeli Defense Forces have killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and his successor. Israeli invasions have expanded into southwest Lebanon, and Lebanese officials say Israeli strikes and other attacks have killed 1,400 and displaced 1.2 million.
El Seblani said the United States was deviating from its foundational principles of freedom and respect for its people.
“What the current administration is basically doing is the complete opposite,” El Seblani said. “That’s by supporting the genocide that was clearly defined, stated and pointed at by the whole world, including the International Court of Justice.”
The International Court of Justice has declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory to be unlawful under international law.
El Seblani said he wanted his children to see that, despite politicians’ claims, there are people who oppose the war.
“These are the people who are against what’s going on, but unfortunately, the media and the politicians are not reflecting these peoples’ opinion and what they want to do for establishing peace,” El Seblani said.
Steve France said he wanted to protest in support of the “tens of thousands” lives lost.
“The world is being set on fire,” France said. “The United States is going to go down in history as a close accomplice to genocide and with an insanely senseless policy.”
France carried a poster depicting a mother and child in Gaza, titled “Madonna in Gaza.” The photo depicts a woman cradling a crying child, both covered in blood and ash.
“[My wife] said we have to make that into a poster to show people this is what it’s all about, times tens of thousands,” France said.
Medea Benjamin attended the protest alongside CODEPINK, a feminist anti-war organization. Benjamin said CODEPINK has been involved in “trying to stop the wanton killing of the people in Gaza” for the past year.
“Here in the White House, they keep giving more and more weapons to Israel, and we feel like they’re not listening to the people who, overwhelmingly in the opinion polls, say they don't want to keep supporting this,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin criticized former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’s responses to the war, accusing the two of competing to be the biggest supporter of Israel as opposed to trying to bring forth peace.
Despite this, Benjamin encouraged protestors to continue to vocalize their beliefs.
“I think of how tired people are in Gaza, how tired people are in Lebanon right now, how afraid they are, and that we've got to really bring ourselves up and come together,” Benjamin said.
Speaking out one year later
Rafiki Morris, an organizer for the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, cautioned attendees from trusting the government’s perspective of removing Gaza from the center of conversation.
“They will have you think that the genocide in Gaza is over,” Morris said to the crowd. “They will have you think that the only thing that matters now is what is happening in Lebanon. They will have you think that each one of these little things are separate incidents that are not related to one another.”
Morris further criticized the publicity of the war, accusing the government of desensitization and normalization of tragedy.
“They want you to feel like this is an everyday thing so when they drop bombs in Lebanon, you wouldn't say nothing,” Morris said. “But you can’t desensitize us because those are our children dying.”
As Morris faced the White House, he informed protestors their goal was not to influence President Joe Biden, Harris or Congress, but rather to demand the restoration of power to the people.
Sean Blackmon, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, echoed Morris’s distrust and anger towards the U.S. government. Blackmon condemned the United States’ allocation of funds to Israel and its prioritization of the military.
“There is not a country on this earth that spends anywhere near as much on militarization and repression as the United States,” Blackmon said. “But do they spend all this on the military because the U.S. government feels so deeply about the human rights of other people in other countries? Certainly not.”
Pointing to connections between struggles within the U.S. and the struggle in Palestine, Blackmon criticized the Memorandum of Understanding with Israel. The MOU dictates that from 2019 to 2028, the U.S. gives Israel $3.8 billion annually. This funding is equally dispersed into $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million in missile defense funding for the duration of the understanding.
“This is the material connection between war abroad, suffering at home and political repression here in the United States, and that is why we must continue to organize,” Blackmon said.
Inside the crowd
As speakers continued to conduct the crowd, participants in the crowd took part in their own forms of protest.
Malikat Al Dabke, meaning “queens of dabke” in Arabic, performed a coordinated dance routine while onlookers clapped and celebrated. Dabke is a traditional Levantine folk dance, popular in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Organizers displayed art and media from Palestinian sources, including Walid Daqqa, one of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Protestors read about author Bassel al-Araj, poet Refaat Alareer and Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
At 5:54 p.m., the protest escalated when journalist Samuel Mena Jr. removed themself from the crowd and set themself on fire.
Micah Warnock-Estrada, a friend of Mena’s, identified Mena over livestream and said Mena uses they/them pronouns.
Protestors and police doused Mena in water before they were extinguished and taken to the hospital. Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police, Pamela A. Smith, said in a statement that Mena’s injuries were treated and not life-threatening.
Prior to the event, Mena posted a piece titled “Palestine” on their personal website. According to their writing, Mena was protesting their role and guilt as a journalist in the Israel-Hamas war.
“To the 10 thousand children in Gaza that have lost a limb in this conflict, I give my left arm to you. I pray my voice was able to raise up yours, and that your smiles never disappear,” Mena wrote.
Protestors take to the streets
Led by protestors carrying banners, the group began to march down H Street. The group made their way down Vermont Avenue before turning at Thomas Circle Northwest and going up 14th Street NW.
Organizers turned protestors to K Street NW where they rallied outside The Washington Post office.
A Palestinian journalist addressed the crowd and criticized the western media’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
“When western media lies, a child in Gaza dies,” the crowd chanted. “When western media lies, a child in Lebanon dies.”
The group concluded their demonstration outside the office and walked up 13th Street NW and on to New York Avenue, returning to the White House.
This article was edited by Mackenzie Konjoyan, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Charlie Mennuti and Sabine Kanter-Huchting.
