Thousands across US cities rally in solidarity with Gaza, seek shutdown of American aid to Israel

Demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/AFP

Tens of thousands of demonstrators crowded the streets of American cities on Saturday to denounce Israel's bombardment and military campaign in Gaza that has left over ten thousand dead, mostly children and women.

The day's protests, within sight of the seats of American power in Washington but also in places like New York, Nashville, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and even Orono, Maine, extended and amplified demands for a cease-fire and an end to the siege in Gaza, The New York Times reported. The demonstrations came a week after vast protests in Asian and European capitals, and a day after the Israeli government appeared to rebuff the United States' call for "humanitarian pauses" in the bombardment.

But Saturday's demonstrators demanded far more than that, their chants in Washington thundering along Pennsylvania Avenue, their protest signs filled with messages like "Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living" and "Let Gaza live!" Beyond a swift end to the siege that is exacting a swelling human toll, they also sought a shutdown of American aid to Israel, blending policy demands with anguish and ambition.

Some of the chants, most especially "From the river to the sea!" have been condemned as an antisemitic call for Israel's destruction, though many protesters have defended the slogan as a cry for freedom.

The protests in the American capital and elsewhere unfolded as public opinion surveys show support for Israel in its military campaign against Hamas, which the United States government considers a terrorist organization, but rising concern for Palestinian civilians. Roughly 1,400 Israelis were killed in the attack by Hamas, and more than 9,000 Gazans have been killed in Israel's bombing campaign, The Times report said.

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The streets in the capital Washington swelled with demonstrators, and the crowd was dense. Some protesters sat on a ledge outside the White House Visitor Center, their message to President Biden clear. "Stop U.S. military aid to Israel" and "You lost my vote," their signs read.

Thousands of protesters, many of them union members, including teachers and health care workers, filled Civic Center Plaza in front of City Hall in San Francisco. Many waved Palestinian flags and left mementos and flowers at an altar spread on the pavement to honor the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who have been killed in the ongoing war.

The group of more than 200 demonstrators that gathered in front of the Provo City Library comprised a wide range of races, including Muslims, Arab Americans and immigrants. Many of them dressed in the green, white and red colors of the Palestinian flag.

In Provo, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are prominent, and many of them took part in the protest.