▲ Pro-Palestinian protesters with an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demonstrate near the White House to condemn US President Joe Biden’s meeting with the Israeli head of state in Washington.Afp Photo

AP, AFP, Reuters and Europa Press

The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, July 26, 2024, p. 25

Washington. Anti-war protesters in Gaza held a rally outside Lafayette Park and the White House yesterday as US President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he pressed to agree to a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Protesters poured red liquid on the street, saying it symbolized the blood of those killed in Gaza. They chanted: Arrest Netanyahu and they carried an effigy of the premier, with his hands stained with blood and dressed in an orange jumpsuit on which was written: Wanted for crimes against humanity.

More than 39,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli army’s offensive. Around 1,200 people were killed and some 250 people taken hostage in Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, which sparked the war.

Outside Washington’s Union Station, a crowd cheered as protesters removed American flags and raised Palestinian flags in their place. They also vandalized a monument to Christopher Columbus with spray paint.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said: “Pro-Hamas graffiti and harangues are abhorrent, and we must not tolerate them in our nation.

I condemn the burning of the American flag, which is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in such a manner.he added.

The number of protesters yesterday was significantly lower than the day before.

Hazami Barmada, who described herself as an activist, noted that Kamala Harris has yet to prove her humanity before gaining the trust of pro-Palestinian voters.

I’m not going to give him my vote until he shows that he shares the ideals that the Democratic Party is supposed to believe in.held.

In that context, Biden pressed Netanyahu to reach soon a ceasefire agreement, in the first face-to-face meeting since the US president traveled to Israel days after the Hamas attack on October 7.

Biden embraced Netanyahu and promised to maintain Washington’s support for Tel Aviv.

The two leaders smiled for the cameras as they met in the Oval Office, four days after Biden, 81, announced he was dropping out of the race for re-election.

Netanyahu thanked Biden for his 50 years of public service and his steadfast support for the State of Israel.

The White House said Biden will continue to push for a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas.

Still trusts in a peace pact

He estimated that Netanyahu is not closed to an agreement despite the fiery speech before Congress on Wednesday, in which he reiterated his promise of a total victory against Islamist insurgents.

Biden insisted that We have to reach an agreement, and it must be soon.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The leaders later met with families of the American hostages held in Gaza, many of whom have called on Netanyahu to reach an immediate ceasefire agreement.

For her part, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed to the Prime Minister her major concern for the victims in the Gaza Strip, asked him to reach a peace agreement and warned him that he would not stay quiet on the suffering in this Palestinian territory.

After meeting with Netanyahu, the vice president said it was time to end the devastating war. What has happened in Gaza in nine months is devastating. Images of dead children and hungry and desperate people fleeing in search of safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.the former attorney general and senator told reporters.

We cannot look the other way in the face of these tragedies. We must not allow ourselves to become insensitive to suffering, and I will not remain silent.added Harris, who has yet to be officially nominated as a presidential candidate at the Democratic Party convention in August.

The Israeli prime minister will travel to Florida today to meet with Donald Trump. The agenda of his meeting with the tycoon was not made public.