Gaza solidarity camp set up near White House
ProPalestinian protestors set up a Gaza solidarity camp late on Saturday across from the White House.
The encampment in the Ellipse, the 52-acre park directly south of the White House, was established after thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday outside the White House to protest US President Joe Biden’s policy regarding the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip, principally the invasion of Rafah.
Wearing red, the protestors surrounded the building with a two-mile red banner to symbolise Biden’s ‘red line’ concerning Israel’s invasion of Rafah.
Biden previously said an invasion of Rafah would cross a ‘red line’, but senior US officials were quick to backtrack on those remarks, saying the president did not set any ‘red lines’
for Israel as it carries out its deadly offensive.
Police tightened security and put additional safety measures, including anti-scale fencing,
near the White House complex.
“Biden, We Are Your Red Line,” protesters said, urging the president to stop the ‘genocide’ in the besieged enclave.
They also demanded a halt to sending weapons to Israel.
Some of the banners read: ‘Genocide Is Our Red Line’, ‘Biden’s Red Line Was A Lie’, ‘Hands Off Rafah! Stop The Genocide’, ‘End All US Aid to Israel’, ‘Stop Arming Israel’, ‘Lift the Siege on Gaza Now’ and ‘Arms Embargo on Israel’.
Carrying Palestinian flags, the protesters also chanted slogans against the president, saying: “Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”
Biden is currently on a state visit to France. The president has faced a wave of nationwide protests for his handling of the Gaza conflict.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since October 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
More than 36,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.