Inside the building at about 3 p.m., hundreds of protesters sang “Let Gaza Live” and “Stop the Genocide” and sat in a circle around a banner that read “Nobody’s Free Until Everyone’s Free.” They wore red shirts that read “Jews Say Stop Supplying Weapons to Israel” and clapped while singing “Not in Our Name.” Protesters unfurled banners, including one that read “TIKKUN OLAM = Free Palestine,” Hebrew for repair the world. Some protesters wore handmade prayer shawls bearing the Palestinian national symbol, a poppy, and the words “Never Again for Anyone.”
After about 20 minutes, Capitol Police instructed the protesters to cease demonstration. Some protesters left, but many remained. About 10 minutes later, officers began using zip ties to remove protesters from the Rotunda. As Capitol Police bound the protesters with zip ties, the protesters recited the Shema, a Jewish prayer, and chanted “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza survive.” By about 4:30 PM, police had removed all protesters from the Rotunda.
“Demonstration is prohibited inside the Capitol building,” Capitol Police wrote on X. “Those who entered lawfully have been told to stop or they will be arrested. They have not stopped, and now they are being arrested.”
The demonstrations come at a pivotal time for U.S.-Israeli relations and Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Thousands are expected to rally on the National Mall on Wednesday to protest Netanyahu’s speech and call for an end to the war. Families of the hostages also traveled to Washington this week, meeting with officials, holding press conferences and rallies and attending Netanyahu’s speech in an attempt to persuade him to quickly sign a deal that would guarantee the release of their loved ones.
Many of the demonstrators on Tuesday said they would join Wednesday’s anti-Netanyahu demonstration but wanted to hold their own demonstration focused on Jews who oppose Netanyahu and send weapons to Israel. Demonstrators demanding an immediate ceasefire have been visible in the area for months, protesting in the halls of parliament, in front of the leader’s home, in front of the White House and in the city’s streets.
Among the protesters on Tuesday afternoon was Benjamin Kersten, a 31-year-old doctoral student studying art history at the University of California, Los Angeles, who arrived in the area on a late-night flight Tuesday morning. Kersten, who is Jewish and one of the leaders of a UCLA student camp, said he wanted to make it clear to politicians that Jewish security is not synonymous with arming Israel. Instead, he cited the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the deaths and injuries of civilians, including children, and called Netanyahu a “war criminal.”
“Our security will be achieved when everyone has the resources they need to thrive,” he said. “Our ceasefire call is fundamentally rooted in the belief that every life is precious. Therefore, our ceasefire call is also a call for the safety of hostages and the cessation of hostage activity.”
Rabbi Linda Holtzman, leader of the Philadelphia social justice group Tikun Olam Chavura, said a “mass carnage” is happening in Gaza and believes any path to a ceasefire would include an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Holtzman said a political decision must be made about Israel’s future, and she wants to see it decided together by Palestinians and Israelis.
“It’s very important to me to be here as a rabbi and as a Jew because the sanctity of life is central to Jewish tradition,” Holtzman said. “We can’t just sit back and watch people get killed and not stand up. That seems to me to be a deeply anti-Semitic act.”
The House and Senate offices and the U.S. Capitol were open to the public on Tuesday, as they were most other days, allowing people to enter the buildings and pass through security. Arrests will only be made of people who started protesting and continued to do so after police warned them to disperse, Capitol Police spokesman Tim Barber said.
“We see demonstrations at the Capitol almost every day. Time and time again, people try to demonstrate inside the Capitol, which is unlawful,” Barber said. “The moment they don’t stop their illegal demonstration, we arrest them. This is commonplace, so even in the case of a mass arrest like today, our officers are able to quickly arrest everyone and clear the area.”
During the demonstrations, Rep. Daniel Kildee (D-Mich.) called Capitol Police after protesters outside his office were “disruptive, banging on his office door, yelling and attempting to force entry into his office,” his chief of staff, Mitchell Rivard, said in a statement. Kildee and his staff are safe and have been located.
“As Capitol Police removed protesters from the Rotunda, people continued to sing, chant and make any other noise they could to ensure their elected officials got the message,” Jewish Voice for Peace spokeswoman Myerson-Knox said in a statement. “Congressman Kildee was not the target of this demonstration.”
Hours after the Cannonville demonstration, family members of hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack gathered on the National Mall to demand the release of their loved ones. “Bring them home now,” they chanted, and with their backs to the U.S. Capitol, they held up Israeli and U.S. flags next to a sign that read, “Make a Deal Now.”
“We plead with Bibi Netanyahu: a deal has been presented and you must accept it,” said Aviva Siegel, a former hostage who was released in November.
At the rally, Alon Gat recounted his experience on October 7, when Hamas fighters put him, his wife, Yarden Roman, and their daughter, Geffen, who was three years old at the time, in a car and drove them towards Gaza. The family decided to jump out of the car and escape. Alon Gat remembers running with his daughter, then turning around and seeing his wife hiding behind a tree.
Yarden Roman was recaptured and released under the November agreement, while Alon Gat’s sister, Carmel Gat, was also arrested the same day and remains in Gaza detention.
“We know there is one person who has to decide that this agreement needs to be concluded, and that is Benjamin Netanyahu,” he said. “He needs to decide that this agreement will not be delayed, and we are here to remind him of that.”
Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.
