‘Hamas Is Coming’: Anti-Israel, Anti-US Protests Erupt in Washington, DC With Netanyahu in Town
Anti-Israel rallies have erupted across Washington, DC this week in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the...
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US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel rallies have erupted across Washington, DC this week in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the city and speech to a joint session of the US Congress.
Outside of Union Station, rioters vandalized numerous statues and landmarks, including The Freedom Bell, which is a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The phrase “Hamas is coming,” written in all capital letters, was spray-painted on a monument, along with an upside-down red triangle, a symbol used by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas when attacking Israeli targets.
“These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas — a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza — is unacceptable and has no place in our country,” US Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) posted on Twitter/X on Wednesday as images of the protests began to emerge.
These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas – a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza – is unacceptable and has no place in our country. https://t.co/WWf0mwniPJ
— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) July 24, 2024
“F—k Israel” was also spray-painted at various spots in the US capital city.
Meanwhile, video emerged on social media showing rioters attacking police officers and burning American flags. They also tore down the American flag in front of Union Station and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. They subsequently set the American flag on fire.
Anti Israel protesters burn the American flags they removed from flag posts at Union Station in DC https://t.co/C7eeionfhI pic.twitter.com/Q8OcYSHvKO
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) July 24, 2024
On Wednesday night, a group of Republican lawmakers — including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) — visited the spot where the American flag was burned and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
The protests, which were sponsored by more than 15 organizations, had an explicitly pro-Hamas message.
Anti-Israel demonstrators protest, on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of the US Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Seth Herald
Posters handed out by the US Palestinian Community Network read, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied. #AlAqsaFlood,” referring to the name Hamas gave to its Oct. 7 attack, in which it led some 3,000 Palestinian terrorists in murdering 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages during an onslaught across southern Israel. The poster also includes a photo of armed men on a type of military vehicle.
A number of Hamas flags were also seen at the protests. One woman, waving a Hamas flag, dressed as Abu Obeida, the alias of the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, with a red keffiyeh covering her face, a green headband, and a military jacket.
Another person, waving a black flag that has the words of the Islamic creed known as the Shahada on it — traditionally understood to be the flag under which the Muslim prophet Muhammad began his conquests — held a separate sign reading, “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the ‘Final Solution.'” The poster included a large bomb being exploded in the middle of an Israeli flag.
Just seen on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/dGiGxpQufz
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) July 24, 2024
Earlier this week, protesters gathered outside of the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu was staying while in Washington.
Video emerged of one person screaming, “Jewish motherf—kers. We’re gonna kill all of you. We’re gonna burn you. Allahu Akbar. Hamas!” When the same man later saw a person with an Israeli flag, he confronted him, saying, “Jewish coward motherf—ker!”
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) released a video on Instagram saying protesters released maggots and crickets into the hotel where Netanyahu was staying. “BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS REPORTEDLY RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONIST’S WAR TABLE!” it wrote.
“Mealworms and maggots (not talking about Netanyahu) were reportedly left on their banquet tables, and crickets were released on multiple floors of the hotel,” PYM continued. “Fire alarms were triggered for over 30 minutes on multiple floors to ensure that there will be no rest before Netanyahu and Congress disgrace themselves in front of the world for failing to achieve any of their military and political objectives.”
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) lambasted the demonstrators and called on US authorities to do more in response to what appeared to be outright hatred of both Jews and the Jewish state.
“These mobs were not pro anything; they were just filled with violent hate and rage, and many seemed to have a bloodlust for anything Jewish or Israeli,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa said in a statement. “They crossed all lines and now it is the responsibility of the US authorities to clamp down on them and take immediate and forceful action. Yesterday, the true face of terror in the US revealed itself.”
Roytman Dratwa argued the demonstrators’ actions show they are not pro-Palestinian but anti-American and anti-Western, adding, “Writing ‘Hamas is coming’ on an American national monument, is more than an idle threat; it is an aspiration, and they are openly calling for an Oct. 7-style massacre to take place in the US, inciting for genocide against Jews.”
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