Protesters in favor of the terrorist group Hamas descended on the Capitol this week, burning U.S. flags and defacing national monuments. They timed their destruction with a speech before a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the protesters “Useful Idiots.”
Israel has been locked in a war with Hamas since October when the Islamist military organization crossed from Gaza and killed hundreds of civilians in a massive terrorist attack that shocked the world. The Washington protesters are calling for Netanyahu to cease his effort to root Hamas out of Gaza and free the hostages, some of which are Americans, they took during the October incursion.
The issue is a prickly one for the Biden administration, which has seen its humanitarian relief efforts appropriated by Hamas for its militant operations. The president is also using U.S. military assistance to dictate Israeli policy and force a ceasefire. During his trip to the States, Netanyahu also visited former President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Oval Office opponent, who is seen as soft on the country’s closest Middle East ally.
The Biden administration failed to provide more support to the U.S. Park Police Officers’ Union when it asked for help handling the unruly crowd, which spray painted the Christopher Columbus Monument at Union Station and defaced a replica of the Liberty Bell. U.S. flags were replaced by Palestinian banners. The park police had only 29 officers available during the protests, and they called on Congress to address a staffing crisis at the agency.
The Washington Metropolitan Police arrested more than two dozen protesters and is offering a $1,000 reward for information on a masked man who injured an officer with a hurled object. The Palestinian Youth Movement took credit for releasing maggots, crickets, and other bugs at the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu is staying. House Speaker Mike Johnson called for protesters breaking the law to be “arrested and sent to jail.”
Following their riot at Union Station, the mob headed to the White House to protest Netanyahu’s meeting with President Biden and Harris. The veep kept a cold shoulder to the prime minister, saying that while she "will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah,” she expressed her “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.” She called for an end to the war and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
Following his meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Trump stated: “You are closer to a third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War. We've never been so close because we have incompetent people running the country."
During his speech to Congress, Netanyahu described what he called the worst assault on the Jewish population since the Holocaust. “Three thousand Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel. They butchered 1,200 people from 41 countries, including 39 Americans,” he recounted. “Proportionately, compared to our population size, that’s like 20 9/11s in one day. And these monsters, they raped women, they beheaded men, they burnt babies alive, they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. They dragged 255 people, both living and dead, into the dark dungeons of Gaza.” Israel responded by attacking Gaza and promising to stay there until Hamas is driven out and the hostages freed.
Charging that Iran is sponsoring the pro-Hamas disruptions, Netanyahu added, “I have a message for these protesters: When the Tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.”
Hamas sympathizers have been disrupting life in the U.S. and across the globe for months. Shouting “Death to America,” pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Hall, and other sites across the nation in a coordinated attack on U.S. institutions on Tax Day, April 15. Demonstrators snarled rush hour traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and forced travelers to walk to their terminals at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest.
Police arrested hundreds of demonstrators at New York’s Columbia University, Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, and Sea-Tac Airport in Washington who were part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine” that took place in more than 30 locations in various countries, including Australia, Canada, and Venice.