Activists Plan Protests During Netanyahu’s Washington Visit this Week
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Washington D.C. for a series of meetings with top U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden. However, the trip has already sparked controversy and prompted a wave of protests from various activist groups.
Netanyahu’s visit is expected to focus on discussing key issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Iran’s nuclear program, and regional security concerns. However, many advocacy groups are using the opportunity to highlight what they see as Israel’s human rights abuses and violations of international law.
Among the groups planning protests are CODEPINK, a grassroots organization that aims to end U.S. militarism and promote peace, as well as the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that has been working on Israeli-Palestinian issues for decades. These groups, along with others, will be staging sit-ins, rallies, and other forms of direct action to draw attention to the issues.
"We’re planning to converge on the Israeli embassy and the White House to send a clear message that we will no longer tolerate the U.S. government’s uncritical support for Israel’s illegal settlements, apartheid policies, and violent attacks on Palestinian civilians," said Ariel Gold, the executive director of CODEPINK.
Other groups, including the Palestinian American Congress and the Washington-based advocacy group, Peace Now, are also planning protests and will be holding a press conference on Tuesday to demand that the U.S. government hold Israel accountable for its actions.
One of the key issues that these groups are highlighting is Israel’s policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank. Netanyahu has been criticized for his administration’s decision to approve new settlement units, which many see as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to a two-state solution.
The United States has long maintained that Israeli settlements are a major hindrance to peace and has called for a freeze on construction. However, in recent years, the Trump administration’s shift in policy has been seen as more favorable to Israel, which has been interpreted as a green light for settlement expansion.
"This visit is a reminder that the U.S. government is complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements and that we need to demand action from our elected officials to hold Israel accountable," said Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of the Palestine Center.
Despite the planned protests, Netanyahu’s visit is also expected to be met with significant security measures, including increased surveillance and the deployment of additional law enforcement personnel around key locations.
In a statement, the Israeli Embassy in Washington said that it "looks forward to the meeting with President Biden and the opportunities it presents to strengthen the US-Israel relationship and advance our shared goals of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region."
However, activists remain undeterred, arguing that their actions are necessary to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more broadly.
"We’re not going to be silenced or intimidated by the security measures in place," said Gold. "We will continue to speak out against injustice and demand that our elected officials prioritize human rights and international law over political expediency."