Netanyahu is this week in the US. Several American media point out that the visit has ended up in the shadow of the dramatic political upheavals that have recently unfolded in the country – including Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential election campaign. But it has caused some uproar. On the night of Wednesday Norwegian time, several hundred Jewish peace activists entered the Congress building in Washington. It happened before Netanyahu is to speak there on Thursday night. The activists had a clear message for Israel’s prime minister. A policeman strips the hands of four activists who participated in the protest in Congress. Photo: TIERNEY L. CROSS / AFP 200 arrested – In the last nine months we have witnessed countless atrocities in Gaza, committed in our name and paid for by our government, writes the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, which was behind the protest, on X. The protesters demand that the US stop sending weapons to Israel as the Gaza war rages. They were dressed in red t-shorts and carried placards with the words, “Not in our name” and “Jews must say stop arms to Israel”. The demonstration and the arrests went smoothly. Photo: TIERNEY L. CROSS / AFP Around 400 protesters were present, Jewish Voice for Peace estimates on its website. The protesters sat down in a circle and started clapping and shouting slogans. After half an hour, and after several warnings, the police began to arrest them. They were taken out one by one, AP writes. A total of around 200 people were arrested, the police said, writes Reuters. – Never again – I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and I know what the Holocaust was like, said Jane Hirschmann from New York, referring to the Germans’ mass extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II. Hirschmann had brought both of his daughters with him to the protest. All were arrested by the police. – When we say “never again”, we mean never for anyone, she emphasized to AP. The Gaza war broke out after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October, in which over 1,000 Israelis were killed. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Gaza. Israel has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and human rights violations. It wasn’t just peace activists who were out in connection with Netanyahu’s visit. Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza also demonstrated at Congress in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Umit Bektas / Reuters Most American Jews support Israel’s war in Gaza, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. But those in the younger age group, from 18-34, have a more divided view than the rest of the respondents. There, 4 out of 10 believe that Israel’s behavior is unacceptable. A changed landscape Netanyahu arrived in the US on Monday. In addition to speaking in Congress, during the visit he will meet President Joe Biden, Vice President and the Democrats’ presumptive presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former president and the Republicans’ presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump and Netanyahu have had a cool relationship after Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his election victory in 2020. But on Friday they will meet at Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Donald Trump (left) and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017. The two were good friends when Trump was president, but relations have since cooled. Photo: Sebastian Scheiner / AP The visit comes after a few dramatic weeks in the US: Thus Netanyahu landed in an American political landscape that looks very different from when the visit was planned. The visit has also put a spotlight on Harris’s views on Israel, Palestine and the Gaza war. The vice president has previously demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. She has described the situation as a “humanitarian disaster”. It is not expected that she will be present when Netanyahu speaks in Congress on Wednesday, writes The New York Times. Interested in foreign material? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast here: Published 24/07/2024, at 07.12 Updated 24.07.2024, at 07.26
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Jewish activists in Washington protested against Benjamin Netanyahu – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
