PROTEST | DC | PALESTINE
America Tells Biden: ‘Stop the Genocide’
Photos: DC’s Great March For Gaza, Nov. 4, 2023
Half a million people, by my own estimate, congregated on Pennsylvania Avenue to express their disgust at the Biden Administration’s blatant support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. I share some photos and thoughts.
First observation, the majority of signs were home-made. Words scrawled at the last minute on a piece of cardboard. These are not professional protesters, but ordinary Americans who turned out spontaneously because of how intensely they feel US policy is on the wrong side.
Second, it was big! From the moment I got to the Metro parking lot, I knew it. The train departed from the end of the line with people standing in the cars with kufiyahs and signs. Halfway, the train stopped and waited, delaying us for some 20 minutes. I arrived at the Archives Metro station at 4 PM, two hours after the announced time. By then, some friends I was supposed to meet had left.
Still, people were pouring in. Walking up Pennsylvania Avenue, I got to the edge of the crowd on 11th street. That’s three blocks away from the podium on Freedom Plaza. I have no idea how far the crowd extended in the other direction. A little later, I looked behind me and the crowd had filled another block on Pennsylvania avenue. Then a contingent of protesters suddenly joined us from the side, filling a block on 11th.
From where I stood, it took us half an hour to march to Freedom Plaza. Through there, we continued to the White House in a tour of 14th, K, and 17th Streets. There were no hecklers or counter-protestors. The police left us alone. Entirely peaceful and orderly, and slow-moving from the crowds.
The crowds — that’s the third point — are as diverse as it gets. I didn’t see Qanons or Trump supporters. Rather, I am guessing the vast majority are Biden supporters, people who voted for him or donated to his campaign in 2020. His betrayal of principles on Palestine feels especially personal to them. He stole their vote in 2020, not by rigging the elections, but by lying about his empathy and respect for democracy and human rights.
That spells trouble for him and for Democrats up and down the ticket in 2024.
The last point I make, though I don’t like to admit it, is how old I have become, at least compared to yesterday’s crowd. Yes there were families with children and grandparents, but there were was an overwhelming preponderance of high-school and college-aged kids and young adults. This, I may venture is the Zionists’ worst nightmare.
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With love from an undisclosed location,
– Ramsey Hanhan
