Protestors gathered outside of Vice President Kamala Harris’ closing rally at the Ellipse on Oct. 29 to demand an arms embargo, an end to the Israel-Hamas war and to assert they would not vote for her on Election Day.
The event, organized by the DMV’s chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, was a part of the organization’s Washington, D.C., ‘Week of Action.’
Tamara Taha, a protester who identifies as Palestinian American, said she regrets voting for the Biden-Harris campaign in the 2020 election and will not vote for Harris-Walz in November.
“I do not want Palestine to be erased,” Taha said.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 6, former president Donald Trump won the election with 295 electoral votes to Harris’ 226 votes, according to The New York Times. Harris lost key swing states, including Michigan which has the nation's highest Arab American population, to Trump and also lost the popular vote at 47.6 percent.
Some Democrats withheld support for Harris and her campaign, citing her response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Uncommitted Movement of Pro-Palestinian Democrats pointed to Harris’s actions at the Democratic National Convention where the vice president said she “will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself” and denied the group’s request for a Palestinian American speaker.
“The Biden administration has silenced all people of conscience,” said Miranda Dube, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement.
Dube also noted the United States’ military aid to Israel during the conflict, saying that “the U.S. is not just an observer, but an active perpetrator in this genocide.”
Experts estimate that from the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict until Sept. 30, 2024, the U.S. has spent at least $22.76 billion on military aid to Israel and related U.S. operations in the area. The House of Representatives has also passed the Israel Security Assistance Act, specifying that “no federal funds may be used to withhold, halt, reverse, or cancel the delivery of defense articles or defense services to Israel.”
“I do not agree with my taxes going to bomb children,” said protestor Willie Futurelle, who held a bright yellow and purple sign demanding an embargo.
Futurelle said that although he disagrees with the administration's actions, he still feels that Harris is the better candidate for president.
At 6:15 p.m., protestors began to gather and unfurl banners amid rally goers. Signs demanded an arms embargo now, an end to all U.S. aid to Israel and a free Palestine. Protestors and rally goers populated Constitution Avenue NW between 15th and 17th Street NW.
A campaign video began to play from a large screen on Constitution Avenue at 6:29 p.m., immediately inciting chants and noise from protestors. Demonstrators banged pots and pans, played siren noises from bullhorns and demanded the U.S. reallocate its funds.
“Not a penny, not a dollar; no more money for Israel’s slaughter,” protestors chanted. “Money for health and education, not for bombs and occupation.”
Nila Jeya, a student from Texas who flew in to protest against Harris, said she would not be voting for Harris under any circumstances.
“We want to establish that there will be no business as usual when there is a genocide going on,” Jeya said.
As opening speakers took the stage, protestors masked the sound of speeches completely. Rallygoers began to engage in their own form of protest, yelling at demonstrators to go away. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department began to form a partial encirclement with their bikes around protestors at 6:42 p.m., separating the group from the remainder of the crowd.
Serim Koen, an American University freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said he attended the rally and protest out of curiosity, as he had attended Palestinian protests while living in Turkey.
“What is happening in Gaza is wrong, but I don’t know if this is the best way to stop it,” Koen said about the protest.
As the crowd of attendees expanded to fill the lawn in front of the Washington Monument, protestors waved keffiyehs, played music and rang whistles. Individual rally goers confronted protestors and some asked the group to leave.
Morris Rodenstein, a rally attendee, called the protest “sad and pathetic.” Rodenstein, who wore a shirt with “Bring Them Home” written on the front, referencing Israeli hostages in Gaza, said that he does not support a ceasefire and worries for his daughter and granddaughter who both live in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a rabbi with Neturei Karta International, said “The concept of the [Israeli] occupation [in Gaza] is a fraud.” In attendance with other Orthodox Jewish men and boys who oppose Zionism, Weiss said it was necessary to clarify the conflict being perpetrated in the name of Judaism was a “horrific genocide.”
“My religion is a 3,000-year-old religion to serve God,” Weiss said. “Zionism is a movement that started 100-odd years ago by heretic people who want to transform my religion into nationalism.”
Weiss further said the Zionist movement was illegitimate, and he hoped Harris would hear the protestors’ cries.
Harris took the stage at 7:36 p.m., and protestors greeted her on-screen image with pots and pans, chants, and the middle finger. Demonstrators’ chants for a free Palestine overpowered Harris’ speech and rally attendees who supported Harris began to leave the area to listen to the vice president speak.
The group of protestors grew closer to the White House as they continued to clash with rally goers. While attendees inside the gated portion of the rally chanted for Harris, demonstrators outside drowned out the noise of Harris and her supporters.
Maxwell Longcraine, a freshman at Howard University, said that he originally didn’t come to the rally with the intent to protest but decided to join the protestors in demanding “the bare minimum of an arms embargo.”
At 7:51 p.m., protestors climbed on the screen displaying Harris and waved Palestinian flags in front of the display. MPD removed the demonstrators and tightened their encirclement, forcing demonstrators to move back towards the Washington Monument.
Harris left the podium at 8:07 p.m., and demonstrators began to bang pots and pans to the rhythm of chants for Gaza. MPD began to disperse the protestors at 8:16 p.m., and demonstrators marched past the gated portion of the rally.
“Say it loud and shake the ground,” demonstrators chanted to those inside. “Gaza, you make us proud!”
Demonstrators banged on the fence separating the group from rally attendees, and some inside threw water on protestors. MPD biked alongside the protestors as they marched, and protestors stopped outside the rally’s exit onto 17th Street NW at 8:42 p.m.
Protestors continued their chants and noise-making as attendees exited the rally. At 9 p.m., the gate was cleared. Protestors raised keffiyehs, banners and signs in response while continuing to chant.
“Kamala Harris, you can’t hide,” protestors said. “Arms embargo, draw the line!”
At 9:04 p.m., an organizer reminded protestors of the remaining events for the Week of Action, thanked them for attending and the crowd dispersed.
Tanya Galloway, a Harris rally attendee who supported the protest, said at the end of the day she hopes that the nation can come together despite divisions caused by the Israel-Hamas war.
“I feel like we are all one and equal and we should be treated equally,” Galloway said.
Rabbi Weiss reflected on the power Harris could hold should she assume office, and said she “should save humanity.”
“I hope that something will enter her heart and realize that God blessed her with a lofty position,” Weiss said. “And she should not abuse that blessing God gave her.”
This article was edited by Mackenzie Konjoyan, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Ella Rousseau and Ariana Kavoossi. Fact checking done by Luna Jinks and Hannah Paisley Zoulek.
