Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed over 41,000 people, according to local health experts, created a starvation crisis, and uprooted the enclave’s 2.3 million residents, have been ongoing for months in the US.
Anti-war activists are calling for an arms embargo on the US ally, citing growing threats of a full-scale battle in the Middle East as justification for protests against US military assistance for Israel in several US cities.
According to the coalition group ANSWER, which stands for “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism,” dozens of demonstrators assembled in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday night. The demonstrators carried banners that read “Hands off Lebanon now” and “no US-Israeli war on Lebanon.”
The US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, previous President Donald Trump, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were all mentioned in the protestors’ chants of “Hands off the Middle East,” “Free Palestine,” and “Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city.”
On a soggy Tuesday night, a smaller demonstration with comparable signs and banners was also observed close to the White House in Washington.
The ANSWER coalition organization claimed in a statement that “the massive amount of bombs, missiles, and warplanes provided by the US government make possible Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza.”
It stated that demonstrations were planned on Tuesday in a number of other cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Antonio.
Despite criticism from both domestic and international quarters, the United States has continued to assist Israel during this war.
The Israeli war on Gaza, which has resulted in nearly 41,000 Palestinian deaths, a hunger crisis, and the displacement of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants, has sparked months of rallies across the US.
According to Tel Aviv, Israel launched its military assault on Gaza in response to the Palestinian resistance group’s lethal October 7 onslaught, which claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 Israelis and left 250 more prisoner.
Since Monday morning, Israel has launched an operation in Lebanon that has resulted in 1,800 injuries and over 560 deaths, including 50 children. Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are the target of strikes by Israel, and the organization claims to have fired rockets at Israeli military installations.
The state of affairs has sparked fears of a regional conflict spreading and possibly destabilizing the Middle East.
Leaders of several United Nations member states met this week in the United States with the situation in the Middle East being top of the agenda.
