A planned protest at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., amid the Israel-Hamas war has been canceled after facing fierce backlash.
Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), a nonprofit organization aimed at confronting and preventing genocide by uniting health care professionals in action, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to cancel a planned protest at the museum.
On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest airstrikes against Gaza. As of Tuesday, at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli government. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, AP said.
Since then, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests have been seen around the globe as tensions escalate, with many calling for a lasting ceasefire amid the rising death toll, particularly among civilians. Authorities around the globe have been on high alert for violence driven by Islamophobic or antisemitic sentiment, with Muslim and Jewish groups reporting a rise in hateful rhetoric.
Newsweek has reached out to Doctors Against Genocide via email for comment.
Eric BARADAT / AFP/Getty Images
The museum is the United States’ official memorial to the Holocaust and provides documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust history.
The protest was planned for Thursday as the organization calls for a stop to what it calls the genocide in Gaza. Backlash against the protest was quickly seen across social media as some pointed toward the use of the Holocaust museum to protest the current conflict.
Newsweek has reached out to the Holocaust Memorial Museum via email for comment.
“Anti-Israel protesters are preparing a protest the day after tomorrow in front of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. It’s the main institution in the U.S. studying the Holocaust a creating awareness about the genocide. These people are shameless,” Visegrád 24, a news aggregate, wrote on X.
X user Komal wrote: “Protests can be a way for individuals to express their opinions, but the choice of location is crucial, especially when it involves sensitive topics like the Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Museum serves as a place for remembrance and education. Expressing dissenting views is legitimate, but it’s important to consider the appropriateness of the protest location and its impact on the community.”
User Demetrius said: “The audacity! Anti-Israel protesters planning to disrupt the solemnity of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. Such ignorance and disrespect for the victims of the Holocaust.”
User Zaq Rider wrote: “Protesting at a Holocaust Museum: because nothing says ‘righteous cause’ like bad location choices!”
Although it is not known if the museum was aware of the event, the DAG announcement of the protest asked for participants to “obtain free entry tickets.” But DAG has since canceled the event citing misconceptions surrounding it and said that it has been “misrepresented as an antisemitic gathering.”
“The goal of our event was to visit the Holocaust Museum to express our empathy for the horrors of that Genocide,” DAG said in a statement on X. “Additionally, we wanted to bring awareness to the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. Our initial communications did not sufficiently convey this, leading to accusations from parties with ill intentions.
“As DAG we stand against all hate of vulnerable people, whether that hate comes in the form of anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinianism, anti-Black hate, anti-White hat, or any other prejudice.”
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