Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington on Tuesday for a "March for Israel" to show solidarity with Israel in its war with Hamas and condemn rising antisemitism.
As well as protests, the conflict has sparked a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the United States including violent assaults and online harassment, according to advocacy groups.
Organizers of Tuesday’s demonstration said they estimated 200,000 people were attending to show U.S. support for Israel, demand the release of hostages and condemn antisemitic violence and harassment.
“A ceasefire is a pause that would allow Hamas to rearm,” said Ariel Ben-Chitrit, 33, a federal government worker from Herndon, Virginia, who was carrying a blue and white Israeli flag at Tuesday’s protest.
The Biden administration has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire but has urged Israel to grant pauses in the fighting for civilians to move to safer locations and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Authorities ordered an increased police presence for the demonstration, the House’s Sergeant at Arms said on Monday, but it added there was no specific threat and measures were being taken out of an abundance of caution.
The only counter demonstration witnessed by Reuters correspondents was outside the main crowd enclosure, where several dozen Orthodox Jews from anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta chanted “1, 2, 3, 4, Zionism no more,” and “down, down the state of Israel.”
The original article contains 748 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
As well as protests, the conflict has sparked a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the United States including violent assaults and online harassment, according to advocacy groups.
Organizers of Tuesday’s demonstration said they estimated 200,000 people were attending to show U.S. support for Israel, demand the release of hostages and condemn antisemitic violence and harassment.
“A ceasefire is a pause that would allow Hamas to rearm,” said Ariel Ben-Chitrit, 33, a federal government worker from Herndon, Virginia, who was carrying a blue and white Israeli flag at Tuesday’s protest.
The Biden administration has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire but has urged Israel to grant pauses in the fighting for civilians to move to safer locations and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Authorities ordered an increased police presence for the demonstration, the House’s Sergeant at Arms said on Monday, but it added there was no specific threat and measures were being taken out of an abundance of caution.
The only counter demonstration witnessed by Reuters correspondents was outside the main crowd enclosure, where several dozen Orthodox Jews from anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta chanted “1, 2, 3, 4, Zionism no more,” and “down, down the state of Israel.”
The original article contains 748 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!