From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 25, 2024
US spokesman: Something is seriously wrong when people march through Washington carrying Hamas banners
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller urges participants in yesterday’s anti-Israel protests in Washington to consider what would happen if they tried to protest Hamas in Gaza.
The charge is used frequently by Israeli officials but does not seem to have been used before by a Biden administration official.
“We’ve seen in the past when people have protested Hamas’s rule in Gaza how Hamas has responded. They’ve responded with a brutal crackdown, with arrests, with violent repression,” Miller says during a press briefing.
The State Department spokesperson clarifies that the administration supports Americans’ right to protest, particularly against the government’s policies.
Related: Harris blasts ‘hate-fueled’ anti-Israel protests where US flag and PM effigy burned, Hamas hailed
“Something is seriously wrong when we see people marching through the streets of Washington carrying Hamas banners, carrying Hamas flags, spray-painting on the fountains that ‘Hamas is coming,’ displaying signs calling for the death of Jews and burning American flags,” Miller says.
The protests saw the burning of an American flag and an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he spoke in Congress. They also featured Hamas flags and signs, and a placard urging the “Final Solution” for Zionists.
“It’s despicable, hateful and contrary to values of this country,” he says, while acknowledging that the vast majority of the thousands of protested are patriotic Americans.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby issues his own condemnation. “When [protests] turn violent, and when you burn an American flag… that’s just absolutely unacceptable, and, obviously, we condemn all of that,” he says.
