Presidential Hopefuls Join Massive Pro-Palestinian ‘March on Washington’

Longshot 2024 presidential candidates Dr. Jill Stein and Dr. Cornel West joined thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who converged on the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., on Saturday—demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that has devastated Gaza for more than three months.

The large demonstration was scheduled to mark 100 days since the war broke out. On October 7, 2023, Palestinian militant group Hamas killed some 1,200 people in Israel during a surprise attack and took 240 people hostage. Israel responded by cutting off critical supplies and electricity to Gaza, declaring war against Hamas.

In the months since October 7, more than 23,000 Palestinians, or roughly 1 percent of Gaza’s population, have been killed, the Associated Press reported. Thousands more Palestinians remain missing or severely wounded, and an estimated 80 percent of the more than 2 million people residing in Gaza have been displaced.

Newsweek reached out to the Israeli embassy in D.C. and the rally organizers, American Muslim Task Force for Palestine, via email for comment.

“Today marks a significant moment in our ongoing pursuit of truth and justice,” West, who is running for president as an independent, wrote in an X, formerly Twitter, post on Saturday. “We are calling on all people of conscience to join this national rally for Gaza to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to U.S. complicity in the genocide,” he wrote, urging his supporters to join the Saturday march.

In a video posted to X, the presidential hopeful also said that Palestinians in Gaza are undergoing “vicious genocidal assault.”

“I’m at the March on Washington for Gaza because we have to do everything we can to stop this US-backed genocide,” Stein, who is Jewish and is seeking the Green Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, wrote in an X post.

“A landslide majority of US voters want a ceasefire and an end to the genocidal war on Gaza, but the politicians aren’t listening. It’s time to make them listen,” she said.

Newsweek reached out to press representatives for Stein and West via email for comment.

Meanwhile, Israel rejects accusations that its actions amount to “genocide” or “war crimes,” as many critics have alleged. The Israeli government says that it’s defending itself against a violent threat from Hamas, which has called for the destruction of the Israeli state.

“It is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in December during a Cabinet meeting, according to Agence France Presse (AFP). “Hamas would kill us all if it only could.”

President Joe Biden has expressed strong support for Israel, and his administration has defended the nation’s government against accusations of “genocide.” This position has angered many young and minority Americans, who are more likely to be sympathetic toward Palestinians, according to polls. Biden’s polling numbers have plummeted further as he’s continued to back Israel in its war against Hamas.

Protests against Israel’s actions have taken place across the country and around the world since the war broke out. Demonstrators in the United States routinely disrupt major roadways and bridges, rally on college campuses and confront lawmakers at events or government buildings—urging them to back a ceasefire in Gaza. Jewish-led groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, along with Muslim and Palestinian groups, have been key organizers in these protest actions.

The U.S. government was previously credited, along with Egypt and Qatar, in helping negotiate a temporary ceasefire in Gaza that ultimately lasted for a week in late November. During that time, 105 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Critics of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators accuse the movement of being antisemitic. The popular pro-Palestinian chant “from the river to the sea,” which is usually used during the demonstrations, has raised alarms from many Jews and Israel supporters as it is viewed by many as an explicit call for “genocide.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. has seen spikes in antisemitic as well as Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian attacks since October 7.

“It’s beyond appalling that since the 10/7 terror attack, the number of antisemitic incidents in America has skyrocketed. In other words, in response to the worst violence perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, we somehow saw **even more violence.**,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which says it “fights all forms of antisemitism and bias,” wrote on X this week.

“As antisemitic incidents are at an all-time high, it is more important than ever to identify and counter the funding underpinning extremist actors and their bigotry,” he wrote in a Friday post.

Meanwhile, protest signs seen in videos and photos from the Saturday demonstration in Washington, D.C., read: “End the war on Gaza” and “Let Gaza Live.” In a video posted to X, protesters could be heard chanting “End occupation now” in Freedom Plaza. Many marchers wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried Palestinian flags.

Biden has said he is listening to pro-Palestinian activists and has begun to raise concerns about some of Israel’s actions. However, some staff from his own administration have resigned in protest as he continues to back Israel. Many Muslim and young voters, who largely backed Biden in 2020, have said they will not vote for him in 2024 due to his support for Israel.

Biden’s defenders, however, say that these voters will inevitably come around to supporting him. They say that given the choice between the Democratic incumbent and an “extreme” MAGA Republican, young and minority voters will ultimately choose Biden.

Newsweek reached out to press representatives for Biden via email for comment.