American duo put on trial for praying against Gaza genocide

At a prayer service outside the Superior Court-Moultrie Courthouse in Washington, DC, marking the first anniversary of October 7, 2023, one truth has emerged: everyday Americans have found themselves neither free from complicity in genocide nor able to avoid criminalisation for their objections to it.

Members and supporters of the Catholic Worker Movement and Christians for Ceasefire gathered to support Kathy Boylan and Art Laffin. The two activists were put on trial this week for praying at the Russell Senate Office Building rotunda in March for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Before their hearing, nearly 25 friends and fellow proponents of the anti-war cause stood in solidarity with the duo. Among those who joined their prayer circle was Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned over the US government's complicity in Israel's genocide on Gaza.

Paul also agreed to stand as a witness in the defense of Boylan and Laffin alongside Philip Farah, a member of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace.

"Swords into plowshares"

Laffin has been an organiser within faith-based movements for peace for four decades, and Boylan, who is 81 years old, has worked at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker for 31 years. They are both lifelong anti-war activists who were heavily involved in movements against the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

They were arrested on March 21 alongside 11 fellow members of the Christians for Ceasefire movement for holding a pray-in, for which they were charged with blocking and crowding the rotunda of the Russell senate office building.

Boylan told TRT World, “We went there because the senators are the ones who are voting–they're illegally funding the genocide...we are innocent, the government is guilty of genocide.”

Laffin added that they were there "to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US weapons and arms sales and military aid to Israel as it is carrying out its genocidal war in Gaza."

The case that has dragged on

Since Boylan and Laffin were the only two members of the group of 13 who refused to pay a fine for their arrest, the US government decided to prosecute them.

The case has been ongoing since March, and on multiple occasions, the prosecution has failed to arrive at the court hearing with the police witnesses they say support their case against the peace protesters.

Their case was again delayed this week because the government attorney representing the prosecution failed to provide witnesses to their case.

When asked what the experience of being harassed and suppressed on such a prolonged scale of time must feel like, Laffin responded, “It's a very small, very small sacrifice in light of the immeasurable suffering that people are going through right now in Gaza… the best way to honor the victims is to work for the prevention of violence and not to replicate it.”

Palestine: An American issue on all fronts

After the hearing, Paul, told TRT World, "Across America, we've seen activists standing up for the people of Gaza and against American complicity, and yet, in response to those voices of peace… we have seen an American response that seeks to repress those voices, whether on college campuses, or voices like Kathy's in the halls of Congress.”

“I just want to salute the bravery of these protesters who are coming here as people of faith [and] peace…who are seeking justice for Palestinians and are now having to seek justice for themselves."

Paul also highlighted the unique role Palestine has played in exposing the hypocrisy of the American government, prompting Americans to reassess their status quo.