Washington, DC – Hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the United States Capitol to deliver a speech to Congress, a woman with a blue scarf concealing her face sat alone on a park bench and waved a Palestinian flag near Union Station in Washington, DC.
“We will fight for freedom wherever it’s being denied all over the world. We connect with the Palestinians because we are freedom fighters here in America,” the lone protester, who asked to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
She was one of the thousands of protesters who would ultimately gather across the capital city to demonstrate against the Israeli prime minister’s speech.
As US legislators clapped for Netanyahu inside the domed edifice, activists outside called for him to be tried for abuses linked to Israel’s war in Gaza. Many argued that Netanyahu is a war criminal who belongs in jail, not in the halls of Congress.
The demonstrators held effigies of a blood-stained Netanyahu, waved Palestinian flags and chanted “free Palestine” as the Israeli prime minister spoke.
Top Republican and Democratic legislators in both the Senate and House of Representatives invited Netanyahu to speak before the joint session of Congress.
But despite the bipartisan show of support, dozens of lawmakers boycotted the address on Wednesday, echoing concerns voiced by the demonstrators.
Irene Ippolito, a protester draped in a red keffiyeh, described the congressional leadership as a “bunch of sycophants” for bringing Netanyahu to Congress.
“We need to be out here. We need to say, ‘Not in our name’,” Ippolito told Al Jazeera. “As American citizens, we have to realise that this could not be taking place without our taxpayer dollars sending tonnes of weapons to Israel as it slaughters men, women and children in Gaza.”
She added that the atrocities in Gaza are the “most documented genocide in human history”.
Security measures
Protesters like Ippolito braved searing summer heat, blocked roads and a heavy police presence as they descended on the site of the demonstration, just west of the Capitol. Some even arrived from across the country.
As the protest continued, organisers led a march east through the Capitol Hill neighbourhood.
Law enforcement agents had cordoned off the Capitol with a metal fence earlier this week.
But on Wednesday morning, they enlarged the security perimeter, turning away vehicles and pedestrians that approached the building. Clusters of heavily armed officers and security agents in riot gear could be seen all around the area.
Capitol Police said they deployed pepper spray towards activists who had “become violent” without providing further details.
Al Jazeera did witness exchanges of harsh words between officers and demonstrators, but no clashes or physical violence.
Adam Abusalah, an Arab American activist from Dearborn, Michigan, said it is a “shame” that Netanyahu was invited to speak to Congress.
“It’s a disgrace that members from both parties have invited him to speak here. It’s a disgrace that Kamala Harris, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, will meet with him,” Abusalah told Al Jazeera at an anti-Netanyahu protest near the Capitol.
“We are here to say enough is enough. As Americans, we will not stand for that.”
Harris — who, as vice president, has the ceremonial role of presiding over the Senate — was at an event in Indianapolis and did not attend Netanyahu’s address at the Capitol.
But she is set to meet with him later this week.
The vice president is now the likely nominee of the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
The Biden administration has authorised more than $14bn in military aid to Israel to help fund the war effort while offering the US ally diplomatic cover at international forums.
‘He has no right to be here’
Some of the protesters’ anger on Wednesday was directed at the US president. “Biden, Biden you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” they chanted.
Karim, a Palestinian American protester who wished to be identified by his first name only, said he would not support Harris for the presidency after she had served as Biden’s vice president.
Instead, he said he would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who spoke at the demonstration.
Karim arrived in Washington, DC, on a bus with dozens of demonstrators on Wednesday, and he expressed bewilderment that Netanyahu was invited to speak at the Capitol.
“He has no right to be here,” he told Al Jazeera. “We don’t support criminals of war. We don’t support genocidal maniacs.”
In his remarks to US lawmakers, Netanyahu defended the Israeli war, which has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, displaced more than 80 percent of Gaza’s population and brought the territory to the verge of famine.
He also pledged to fight until “total victory” despite US-led efforts to secure a ceasefire deal.
The Israeli prime minister hit out at antiwar protesters in the US, accusing them of siding with Hamas.
“These protesters that stand with them, they should be ashamed of themselves,” Netanyahu said.
He also called the protesters outside the Capitol “Iran’s useful idiots”, earning a standing ovation from US legislators.
‘Hitler number two’
On the streets of Washington, DC, the demonstrators had nothing but contempt for the Israeli leader. Several posters compared him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Protester Sarah Bowls said the top legislators who invited Netanyahu to the US Capitol should be “ashamed” of themselves.
“We should be boycotting him. He should be arrested. He should be at The Hague,” she said, referring to the Dutch city where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is based.
ICC prosecutors are seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Bowls added that she is “sick” of her government continuing to fund and enable “genocide” against Palestinians.
Jenny Bennett, who travelled from Dayton, Ohio, to join the demonstration, also admonished Netanyahu.
“He is Hitler number two,” Bennett told Al Jazeera. “This is not OK. We are all equal. This is a genocide, and it needs to end — now.”