Thousands of demonstrators surrounded the perimeter of the White House on June 8 to protest President Joe Biden’s mishandling of the Israel’s war on Gaza. Many held on to a two-mile red banner encircling the perimeter, which bore the names of the more than 36,000 Palestinian casualties, according to the New York Times.
The red banner was a response to Biden’s comments from May, in which he said the U.S. wouldn’t supply offensive weapons to Israel if it crossed a “red line,” and launched an all-out attack on Rafah. However, where exactly that red line exists remains vague in the wake of Israel’s June 7 massacre of Palestinian civilians that killed at least 210 people, and wounded hundreds more—mostly women and children.
“A red line is supposed to mean that there are consequences for the actions of rogue states like Israel. And we’re here as a movement to say that if Biden won’t draw the red line, we will as a people,” Washington radio station WTOP quoted Nas Issa, with the Palestinian Youth Movement, as saying.
She was also quoted by the New York Times, that “There is no world in which I can confidently vote for” Joe Biden. If Biden “doesn’t change course and hold Netanyahu and the Israeli government at large to account, under what circumstances would it be acceptable to any person of conscience to vote for him?” she demanded to know.
The other demonstrators marched around the block of parkland where the White House sits, brandishing signs such as “Stop Funding War Crimes,” “Arms Embargo on Israel,” and “Ceasefire Now!” Many were clad in red or were holding Palestinian flags.
The Secret Service had erected fences prior in anticipation of the demonstration, that was peaceful with no arrests.
