WASHINGTON – Hundreds of protesters rallying within sight of the Capitol chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and voiced criticism of the Israeli and American governments as they marked a painful present – the war in Gaza – and past – the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from what is now Israel when the state was created in 1948.
About 400 demonstrators braved steady rains to rally on the National Mall on the 76th anniversary of what is called the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe. In January, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists had gathered in the nation’s capital in one of the larger protests in recent memory.
There were calls in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza. “No peace on stolen land” and “End the killings, stop the crime/Israel out of Palestine,” echoed through the crowd.
Protesters also focused their anger on President Joe Biden, whom they accuse of feigning concern over the death toll in Gaza.
“Biden Biden, you will see/genocide’s your legacy,” they said. The Democratic president was in Atlanta on Saturday.
Reem Lababdi, a George Washington University sophomore who said she was pepper-sprayed by police last week when they broke up an on-campus protest encampment, acknowledged that the rain seemed to hold down the numbers.
“I’m proud of every single person who turned out in this weather to speak their minds and send their message,” she said.
This year’s commemoration was fueled by anger over the ongoing siege of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from his own War Cabinet and his country’s closest ally over postwar plans for Gaza, even as the war with Hamas shows no sign of ending.
On Saturday, Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet and Netanyahu’s main political rival, said he would leave the government on June 8 if it did not formulate a new war plan including an international, Arab and Palestinian administration to handle civilian affairs in Gaza.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the Cabinet, has also called for a plan for Palestinian administration, and said in a speech this week that he wouldn’t agree to Israel governing Gaza itself.
The United States has meanwhile called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza with assistance from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states ahead of eventual statehood. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected to push those plans when he visits Israel on Sunday.
So far, Netanyahu has brushed them all off. But Gantz’ ultimatum could reduce his margin for maneuver.
Netanyahu has ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying he plans to hand civil responsibilities over to local Palestinians unaffiliated with it or Hamas.
But he has also said that it’s impossible to make any such plans until Hamas is defeated because it has threatened anyone who cooperates with Israel.
Netanyahu’s government is also deeply opposed to Palestinian statehood.
In a statement issued after the ultimatum, Netanyahu said Gantz’ conditions would amount to “defeat for Israel, abandoning most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and establishing a Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu added, however, that he still thought the emergency government was important for prosecuting the war, and that he “expects Gantz to clarify his positions to the public.”
Gantz’ departure would leave Netanyahu even more beholden to his far-right coalition allies, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who could more easily bring down the government if he doesn’t meet their demands.
They have called for Israel to reoccupy Gaza, encourage the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the territory and re-establish Jewish settlements that were removed in 2005.
Critics of Netanyahu, including thousands who have joined weekly protests in recent months, accuse him of prolonging the war for his own political survival.
