Tens of thousands, some from as far away as Georgia, descend on Washington, DC for pro-Palestinian rally
Katie Hawkinson ,Kenneth Niemeyer
- Tens of thousands of antiwar activists descended on Washington, DC on Saturday.
- Organizers said they expected up to 100,000 people.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Washington, DC, on Saturday in support of Palestinians.
Thousands of protesters came to the city on buses and cars from out of state, including as far away as Georgia.
Washington, DC, is the latest city to see large pro-Palestinian rallies. Hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world have staged demonstrations in the last week, including massive protests in London, Istanbul, and elsewhere. Major cities through the United States have also seen rallies, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and elsewhere.
Several large protests took place last weekend after the Israel Defense Forces launched its ground operation in Gaza.
Hamas militants killed more than 1,400 people and kidnapped an estimated 100-200 people in a series of attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
In response, Israel launched punishing airstrikes and then a ground offensive in the densely populated Gaza Strip, a sliver of land the size of Philadelphia that is home to 2 million people, many of them children.
The Hamas-led Palestinian Health Ministry says that the death toll in Gaza is nearing 10,000 people. Thousands of those fatalities have been children, it says. The median age in Gaza is 18.
As many as 100,000 demonstrators were expected to call for a cease-fire in Washington, DC
About 30,000 people were expected to attend the rally in Washington, DC, on Saturday to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to The Washington Post. The demonstrators planned to march from Freedom Plaza to the White House, then back to Freedom Plaza, according to the outlet. Organizers said that up to 100,000 people could attend by the end of the day.
Protesters are demanding the US stop sending military aid to Israel
Insider spoke to demonstrators who called for the United States to stop sending military aid to Israel.
One man carried a poster that said he was a veteran and that he was shocked that his country "supports hate crimes war crimes with $$$ and arms."
President Joe Biden has asked Congress for $14.3 billion for Israeli aid, $10.6 billion of which would go to the Department of Defense to use for Israeli defense systems and to replenish US munitions going to Israel, Insider previously reported.
The United States has long provided Israel with billions in military funding annually.
Organizers hoped the march would be the largest Palestinian demonstration in US history
Brian Becker, director of the ANSWER Coalition, which helped organize the march, told The Post he hoped the gathering would be "the largest demonstration in support of the Palestinian people in the history of the United States."
40 buses full of demonstrators couldn't get to Freedom Plaza because of road closures, organizers say
Event organizers told USA Today that 40 buses carrying people planning to attend the demonstration could not reach Freedom Plaza due to road closures. The crowd, which had to walk to get as close as possible to the rally, included people using wheelchairs and toddlers. Many protesters wore the keffiya, a traditional scarf worn in Arab regions.
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