White House denounces ‘repugnant’ pro-Hamas rhetoric at DC protest against Israel
‘Where is the outrage?’ fumes ADL chief after demonstration outside White House that included calls to kill Zionists — ‘aka the overwhelming majority of American Jews’
The Biden administration on Sunday slammed the “repugnant” rhetoric voiced at an anti-Israel protest outside the White House a day earlier, during which pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah demonstrators called for “jihad” and the killing of Zionists.
“President Biden has always been clear that every American has the right to peacefully express their views. But he has also always been clear that antisemitism, violent rhetoric, and endorsing murderous terrorist organizations like Hamas is repugnant, dangerous and against everything we stand for as a country,” White House deputy spokesperson Andrew Bates tells The Times of Israel.
“Like Jake Sullivan said this morning, ‘The best way to get all of the hostages home and to protect Palestinian civilians is to end this war. And the best way to end this war is for Hamas to say yes to the deal [the] president announced and that Israel has accepted, which lays out a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the return of all hostages,’” Bates added.
During Saturday’s rally, masked demonstrators chanted slogans urging Hamas’s military wing to “kill another soldier now” and calling on Hezbollah to “kill another Zionist now,” according to reports on social media. Protesters also held signs calling for “Intifada,” a reference to periods of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians in the late 1980s and early 1990s and again in the early 2000s.
One video posted to X showed a man with a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine headband burning the American flag, while other protesters appeared to be wearing green Hamas headbands, including one who held aloft a bloody Biden mask.
Images from the protest also showed demonstrators vandalizing statues across from the White House in Lafayette Park, where video showed some of them throwing objects at a park ranger and chanting “f**k you fascist.” No arrests were reported.
#NOW Park Police dances as protesters throw bottles and chant "Fascist!" at him outside of White House DC pic.twitter.com/mXC9CeO4Ed
— Oliya Scootercaster ???? (@ScooterCasterNY) June 8, 2024
The demonstration was called to mark eight months since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas following the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, with statements promoting the protest against the “genocide” in Gaza making no mention of the Hamas-led atrocities that started the war.
“These protests weren’t just marred by antisemitism – it was their defining feature,” Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X. “Chants called to kill Zionists aka the overwhelming majority of American Jews.”
“Yet, the world is silent. Where is the outrage? Where is the pushback?” he continued, calling “to end the bigotry and stop this madness before it’s too late.”
‘Free Palestine’ protestors are demonstrating against the White House, calling for the murder of Zionists (i.e. most Jews).
When you live in a political culture that systematically dehumanizes “Zionists,” the eventual outgrowth of dehumanization is violence. History tells us… pic.twitter.com/g8Knc1MGbc
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 8, 2024
The head of the ADL’s local branch also condemned the demonstration.
“Calling for ‘jihad’ or ‘kill another Zionist now’ or vandalizing statues with hateful messages are not peaceful actions. This is downright disgusting hatred and antisemitism in the US,” said Meredith Weisel in a statement.
The rally came as antisemitism has surged in the US since October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza, with Greenblatt last week reporting a 900 percent rise.
Agencies contributed to this report.
