Hundreds gather in Washington demanding a cease-fire in Gaza

Washington, US - Hundreds of people on Saturday gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags chanted slogans against President Joe Biden while unfurling banners saying ‘Free Palestine’, ‘Stop The Invasion’, ‘ Hands Of Rafah’, ‘Stop The Genocide’, ‘End All US Aid To Israel’, ‘Jews For Free Palestine’, and ‘End All US Funding Of Israeli Apartheid’.

The protesters remembered the US service member Aaron Bushnell who set himself on fire outside the embassy last week.

Bushnell, 25, an activeduty member of the Air Force, died after self-immolating in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, and he wrote in his will that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in a free Palestine. “I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonisers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal,” he said during a live stream on his mobile phone.

Then he proceeded to douse himself in gasoline, setting himself ablaze. Dressed in military uniform, Bushnell shouted ‘Freedom for Palestine’ repeatedly, until he could no longer speak.

One of the protesters, who is also a director at American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Mohammad Habehh said people are in front of the embassy to give a message to the US administration and to the Israeli government.

“We will not stop, we will not leave the streets until we achieve freedom and an end to this genocide that is being committed by the Israelis and the US government.

“I think the President (Joe Biden) and those who are guilty, are well aware of what is going on in the streets, whether it is this or the disruptions or the many actions that we are taking here in DC and around this country right now,” Habehh said.