US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo – Newstrends
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US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo

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5 months ago

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Progressive Jewish activists call for an arms embargo on Israel during a protest at the Cannon House Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 23 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo

Washington, DC – The rotunda of an office building in the United States Capitol complex filled in minutes with hundreds of people who appeared as if from nowhere, as part of a surprise protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Let Gaza live,” they chanted in unison inside the Cannon House Office Building, removing their outer garments to reveal matching red T-shirts.

One side of the shirt read, “Jews say stop arming Israel.” The other side: “Not in our name.”

Tuesday’s coordinated protest, led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), took Congressional staffers and law enforcement agents aback, as it came together within minutes.

But the crackdown started almost immediately after the protesters assembled. Capitol Police quickly declared the area a closed “zone” and arrested hundreds of demonstrators who refused to leave.

“This is a moment in history where we have to say we stood up for Palestinian freedom. We stood up to end this genocide,” said protester Liv Kunins-Berkowitz.

“For so many of us, we are the descendants who survived ethnic cleansing and genocide. Our ancestors and grandparents taught us that the worst thing to do in these moments is to be a bystander.”

Kunins-Berkowitz added that the protest is part of a tradition of peaceful civil disobedience. “It’s what we have to do when our government refuses to listen to the people,” she told Al Jazeera.

The demonstration on Capitol Hill comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to deliver a speech to Congress at the invitation of top legislators from both major parties.

Netanyahu’s government has overseen more than nine months of death and devastation in Gaza, with experts and rights advocates warning of “genocide” in the Palestinian territory.

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Since the war began, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

Nevertheless, the US government has remained uncompromising with its support for Israel.

The administration of President Joe Biden has authorised more than $14bn in military aid to Israel, while also maintaining a steady flow of weapons and bombs.

In addition, the US has vetoed three United Nations Security Council resolutions that would have called for a ceasefire.

Biden called for an end to the war in May as part of a deal that would see the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, but he has pressed on with support for Israel, as the country’s leaders pledge to continue to fight until “total victory”.

Abby Stein, a rabbi and activist, said that while US officials are paying “lip service” to the ceasefire, protesters are calling for an actual end to the war and an arms embargo against Israel.

“I know that none of us will be safe while the US sends billions of dollars in weapons to Israel,” Stein told Al Jazeera.

“This is one of the worst atrocities we are watching unfold before our eyes. We are here today to make sure that we do everything we can to stop this.”

Progressive Jewish groups have been organising protests across the country, including a similar demonstration on Capitol Hill in October last year, as well as rallies on roads, inside train stations and at political offices.

Asked whether such direct action is effective, Stein was unequivocal: “Yes.”

She argued that protests raise awareness about the situation in Gaza and give exposure to the demands of the demonstrators.

“I think it definitely helps,” Stein added. “The action that happened in October is a good example. It really put us in the media to show that there are tens of thousands of Jews who are opposing what the Israeli government is doing.”

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Activist Tal Frieden said that, as the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, he grew up hearing stories about the importance of ensuring that genocide does not happen again. “I’m here today to demand that the US stop sending weapons to Israel,” he told Al Jazeera.

At the protest on Tuesday, demonstrators held firm and refused to leave as their fellow activists faced arrest.

Law enforcement agents moved in quickly and discarded banners decrying the “genocide” in Gaza.

Then, they started arresting people from the outer edges, making the circle of activists smaller, as if peeling it layer by layer.

For more than an hour, officers steadily detained the activists and led them to an elevator away from the rotunda and to the underground halls of Congress.

Many zip-tied demonstrators continued to chant, “Stop arming Israel” and “Free, free Palestine”, as they were being taken away. But the chants grew fainter and fainter as the last demonstrators were taken out.

“We are arresting a group that is illegally demonstrating inside the Cannon Rotunda. Demonstrations are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings,” Capitol Police said in a statement.

“We told the people, who legally entered, to stop or they would be arrested. They did not stop, so we are arresting them.”

A JVP organiser told Al Jazeera that the group was told the protesters “are being processed and released on their own recognizance with a post and forfeit”, suggesting they will not face charges.

JVP said 400 people were arrested, but Capitol Police has not released official figures.

“For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government has carried out a genocide, armed and funded by the US Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today,” JVP executive director Stefanie Fox said in a statement.

“Instead, our president is preparing to meet with Netanyahu and Congressional leadership has honored him with an invitation to address Congress. Enough is enough. Biden and Congress must listen to the people: We need an arms embargo now to save lives.”

 

US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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Ahmed al-Sharaa

Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.

“Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way,” he said.

Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the rebel alliance, and was previously known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

He said HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organisation. It is designated as one by the UN, US, EU and UK, among many others, as it started as a splinter group of al-Qaeda, which it broke away from in 2016.

Sharaa said HTS was not a terrorist group.

They did not target civilians or civilian areas, he said. In fact, they considered themselves to be victim of the crimes of the Assad regime.

He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

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Sharaa said the countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset.

He said he believed in education for women.

“We’ve had universities in Idlib for more than eight years,” Sharaa said, referring to Syria’s north-western province that has been held by rebels since 2011.

“I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%.”

And when asked whether the consumption of alcohol would be allowed, Sharaa said: “There are many things I just don’t have the right to talk about because they are legal issues.”

He added that there would be a “Syrian committee of legal experts to write a constitution. They will decide. And any ruler or president will have to follow the law”.

Sharaa was relaxed throughout the interview, wearing civilian clothes, and tried to offer reassurance to all those who believe his group has not broken with its extremist past.

Many Syrians do not believe him.

The actions of Syria’s new rulers in the next few months will indicate the kind of country they want Syria to be – and the way they want to rule it.

Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

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Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

JERUSALEM: Israel said Thursday it struck ports and energy infrastructure it alleges are used by Houthi militants, after intercepting a missile fired by the group.

Israel’s military said it “conducted precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen — including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”

The announcement came shortly after Israel said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.

Al-Masira, a media channel belonging to the Houthis, said a series of “aggressive raids” were launched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah.

It reported raids that “targeted two central power plants” in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, while in Hodeidah it said “the enemy launched four aggressive raids targeting the port… and two raids targeting” an oil facility.

The strikes were the second time this week that Israel’s military has intercepted a missile from Yemen.

On Monday, the Houthis claimed a missile launch they said was aimed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa” — a reference to Israel’s Tel Aviv area.

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Also Monday, an Israeli navy missile boat intercepted a drone in the Mediterranean after it was launched from Yemen, the military said.

The Houthi militants have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and pledged Monday to continue operations “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.”

On December 9, a drone claimed by Houthis exploded on the top floor of a residential building in the central Israel city of Yavne, causing no casualties.

In July, a Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting retaliatory strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

The Houthis have also regularly targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets by United States and sometimes British forces.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the group had become a “global threat,” pointing to Iran’s support for the militants.

“We will continue to act against anyone, anyone in the Middle East, that threatens the state of Israel,” he said.

 

Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

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Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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A Palestinian boy looks as others inspect the damage at a tent camp sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al-Mawasi area, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

CAIRO: The United States, joined by Arab mediators, sought on Wednesday to conclude an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt the 14-month-old war in the Gaza Strip where medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians overnight.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations said on Wednesday that mediators had narrowed gaps on most of the agreement’s clauses. He said Israel had introduced conditions which Hamas rejected but would not elaborate.

On Tuesday, sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said an agreement could be signed in coming days on a ceasefire and a release of hostages held in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya while six were killed in separate airstrikes in Gaza City, Nuseirat camp in central areas, and Rafah near the border with Egypt.

In Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said four people were killed in an airstrike on a house. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military spokesman.

Israeli forces have operated in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya as well as the nearby Jabalia camp since October, in a campaign the military said aimed to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.

Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out acts of “ethnic cleansing” to depopulate the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it.

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Hamas does not disclose its casualties, and the Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish in its daily death toll between combatants and non-combatants.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it struck a number of Hamas militants planning an imminent attack against Israeli forces operating in Jabalia.

Later on Wednesday, Muhammad Saleh, director of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, said Israeli shelling in the vicinity damaged the facility, wounding seven medics and one patient inside the hospital.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

In the Central Gaza camp of Bureij, Palestinian families began leaving some districts after the army posted new evacuation orders on X and in written and audio messages to mobile phones of some of the population there, citing new firing of rockets by Palestinian militants from the area.

CEASEFIRE GAINS MOMENTUM

The US administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, has made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the talks before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.

In Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Adam Boehler, US President-elect Donald Trump’s designated envoy for hostage affairs. Trump has threatened that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release its hostages by Jan. 20, the day Trump returns to the White House.

CIA Director William Burns was due in Doha on Wednesday for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on bridging remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, other knowledgeable sources said. The CIA declined to comment.

Israeli negotiators were in Doha on Monday looking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas on a deal Biden outlined in May.

There have been repeated rounds of talks over the past year, all of which have failed, with Israel insisting on retaining a military presence in Gaza and Hamas refusing to release hostages until the troops pulled out.

The war in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw more than 250 abducted as hostages, has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and left Israel isolated internationally.

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.

 

Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

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