Scores gather at White House to condemn Israel’s assault on Lebanon

"From the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East!"

The voices of pro-Palestine activists, protesters, and onlookers echoed through the heart of Washington, DC on Tuesday. Despite a day of heavy rain, hundreds gathered outside the White House demanding that the Israeli government, backed by the Biden administration, halt its brutal incursion into Lebanon and end the genocidal war in Gaza.

Draping a large keffiyeh over her head, Serena stopped by the protest in front of the White House on her way to her next class of the day. A student in the DMV area, she also calls Palestine home.

"I lived my whole life in Palestine. I saw enough suffering…that’s why we’re here. What's happening right now in Lebanon, what has been happening in Gaza for almost a year now. It's unacceptable."

She calls out to all humans of conscience to speak out, attend protests, boycott, and more: she fears it may be "too late", and as it stands, "our voice is not being heard enough."

"This is part of the Dahiya Doctrine," Sarah S., a Palestine Youth Movement organiser, told TRT World.

"They are trying to target the civilian population…to one, give up their cause and their liberation struggle, and two, to make them turn against those who are continuing to resist it.

"Yet, time and again, they fail. Their doctrine never works. After every attack, the people emerge more resolute, with a deeper understanding of their enemy than ever before."

"Criminal movement of Zionism"

Bina Greenspan, a Jewish advocate for Palestinian liberation, spoke with TRT World about her journey to pro-Palestine activism and her fight against the brutalisation of Palestinian and Lebanese people.

"I've been protesting on behalf of Palestinian liberation for about a year now," Greenspan said. She grew up "very Zionist", often hearing "dehumanising things about Arabs…that they want to kill us because they like being evil, when in fact that the provocation came from the US and Israel."

Greenspan continued: "I didn't really think of Palestinians as real, sentient beings like you and I. Now I realise that I was so wrong. I grew up very indoctrinated and racist, and I hope that more Jews will speak out against the genocide against Palestinians and Lebanese people, so that American government will stop funding this."

Rabbi Dovid Feldman, a member of Neturei Karta, an international Jewish anti-Zionist organisation, frequents such protests in support of Palestine–this time, however, he highlighted the plight in the context of its spread to Lebanon.

Speaking with TRT World, Feldman expressed, "We are embarrassed when all of these crimes are being done supposedly in our name, a desecration of God's name."

"We are standing here in Washington DC in front of the White House while we are witnessing this massacre taking place in Lebanon. And this didn't start today or yesterday or the day before. This is after a one year genocide in Gaza and we are witnessing every day masses of innocent men, women and children being mass murdered."