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WASHINGTON, D.C.— A couple hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the White House Saturday afternoon to protest violence against youth in Palestine and to call for an end to collective punishment.
“We are here to object and say we won’t stand for Israel’s crimes anymore and it’s not going to go silent. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and we want Israel to know they won’t go unaccounted for in their violations of international law,” said Noor Abutaah, a DC resident and one of the organizers of the demonstration.
On July 5th, a United States Department of State spokesperson confirmed that American citizen Tariq Khdeir was brutally beaten by Israeli police. He was detained without charge and denied medical treatment for his injuries for up to seven hours. Tariq has since been released on bail by a Jerusalem court pending investigation.
“I was standing and watching a group of people...and they came from the side of me, and they grabbed me from the side of me...and they hit me, and they kept hitting me and then I fell asleep and then I woke up in the hospital,” Tariq said after he was released.
Tariq Khdeir was the cousin of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy whose burned body was found in a Jerusalem forest. An autopsy found soot in Muhammad’s lungs, suggesting he was tortured and burned while still alive. An Israeli official confirmed today that the six suspects arrested for his murder belong to an extremist Jewish group, confirming the Palestinians belief that this was a revenge killing for the murder of three Israeli teenagers.
“We’re protesting against the sick crimes committed by Israel in the past couple of weeks, especially the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, who was my neighbor in Palestine,” said Raffoul Saadeh, a Palestinian who recently graduated from Georgetown University. “No child should be taken and burned to death, especially for revenge.”
Since the kidnapping and murders of the three Israeli teenagers, Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza have suffered through mass arrests and military raids. “These responses have killed at least five Palestinians, led 400 to be arrested, and disrupted the lives and work of many others,” according to Vox.com.
Tensions continue to rise, as violent clashes between Arab protesters and Israeli security forces continue for the fifth consecutive day. According to the Midde East Eye, Israeli police arrested eight Palestinian youth during protests in Nazareth Sunday and 22 Palestinians were detained Saturday.
Around 250 people joined in on the protests in DC despite the sweltering heat, chanting “No justice, no peace!” Some were holding up signs that called to end the occupation and for the US to stop sending taxpayers money to Israel. Others joined in on the chants and calls for freedom in Palestine.
Also present at the protests were members of Neturei Karta, an international organization of Orthodox Jews who oppose Zionism.
“The Israeli war on Palestine is a war against God,” said Rabbi Dovid Feldman. “Today we see an escalation of violence and people have to wake up and understand that this is not the will of God.”
Dara Elasfar, a Palestinian-American from northern Virginia said the lack of media reporting on Palestine was what brought her out there. “It’s completely immature that the media is focusing on Israel, when everything is happening in Palestine. It angers me that my country is doing nothing about it and many Americans have no idea what is going on there.”
Participants, including Elasfar, said they hope the protests will bring awareness to the situation in Palestine and encourage more people to learn about recent events and stand up against Israel’s violence toward Palestinians.
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