WASHINGTON — Thousands of people from cities across the country gathered outside the White House on Saturday to protest the Biden administration’s policies toward the Israel-Hamas war, many dressed in keffiyehs and red clothes to symbolize what they say is a red line that Israel crossed.
Hundreds of protesters held a red banner that stretched around the White House, urging President Joe Biden to change his approach to the war in Gaza.
“Biden, Biden you can’t hide, we are your red line,” protesters chanted.
“The intention is to draw a red line where Biden won’t draw one when it comes to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and say we as the people are drawing the red line today to say enough is enough,” said Nas Issa, a protester from the Palestinian Youth Movement. “It’s time for an arms embargo, and it’s time to end this.”
Later, protesters bearing tents set up an encampment in the Ellipse, the 52-acre park directly south of the White House. Some protesters told NBC News that student community organizers led the move to start an encampment.
Some of the protesters boarded buses to the protest from cities including New York City, Philadelphia and Boston, according to one of the organizing groups’ posts on the social media site X.
“Sometimes it feels a little helpless because everyone talks about the fact that it started Oct. 7. Meanwhile, there’s been decades of oppression, illegal detentions, illegal occupations, illegal settlements,” said Ibrahim Dabdoub, who drove to D.C. from Nashville, Tennessee.
Dabdoub attended the protest with his two sisters. The three siblings of Palestinian descent traveled from Canada, Tennessee and North Carolina for the protest.
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