Major US union to join mass mobilizations against 'war criminal' Netanyahu
Grassroots activists from an array of anti-war, Palestinian, and Jewish groups will travel to Washington to protest Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress on Wednesday
The United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the largest trade unions in the US, will take part in a mass demonstration in Washington on 24 July to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US capital the same day.
The union stated, “This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to come to Congress to ask our government to keep supporting this war [in Gaza]. We reject this insult to all those calling for peace and justice.”
Reuters reported on Tuesday that police expect a “large number of demonstrators” and were making additional security arrangements for Netanyahu’s visit to address a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday.
Netanyahu will also meet US President Joe Biden, who has not appeared publicly since an announcement stating he would withdraw from November’s presidential race.
Pro-Palestinian groups and college students have protested US support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza since October, amid crackdowns by police and college administrators.
A long list of grassroots peace groups participated in organizing the upcoming protest, including the ANSWER Coalition, the Palestinian American Community Center, CodePink, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, and Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
CodePink, a group led by long-time anti-war activist Madea Benjamin, told Reuters organizers had arranged buses for human rights advocates to come to Washington from states nationwide.
The group stated it will “demand Netanyahu be arrested for war crimes including his role in the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through the illegal occupation of Palestine.”
A flyer from the ANSWER Coalition urged the formation of a “People’s Red Line around the Capitol building,” highlighting President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s refusal to draw a red line against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians.
The group stated, “We won’t let a war criminal walk the streets of DC. If Biden and the US administration refuse to draw a real red line against genocide, WE WILL! We are the red line!”
Biden and Blinken have been staunch supporters of Israel, sending billions of dollars in aid and bombs to Israeli troops, who have killed over 39,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, and displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants.