Largest US Palestinian solidarity march to take place in DC on Saturday

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are expected to rally across the United States on Saturday, with the biggest group gathering in the nation’s capital to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war as well as the end to U.S. aid in Israel. 

The march is being billed by Brian Becker, the executive director of the ANSWER Coalition, as the “largest demonstration in support of the Palestinian people in the history of the United States” and comes as similar protests in New York and Los Angeles drew thousands last weekend. 

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Saturday’s event is intended to pressure the Biden administration to stop sending money to Israel.

The Biden administration, led in diplomatic efforts by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has attempted to walk a fine line on the conflict. Blinken, speaking from Tel Aviv on Friday, said the U.S. “[needs] to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.”

But at the same time, he said the U.S. would continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself following the Oct. 7 attacks carried out by Palestinian terror group Hamas. President Joe Biden, as well as Blinken, have expressed a preference for a “humanitarian pause” in hostilities as opposed to a ceasefire.

U.S. officials have said the “humanitarian pauses” would be designed to allow for hostages to be released safely and for aid to be distributed, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected the idea of pauses without the release of hostages first.

The House on Thursday approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package to Israel. Biden said he would veto the bill, which was approved largely along party lines, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the legislation “stunningly unserious” and said it would not pass the upper chamber and only further delay sending help to Israel. Biden himself has pushed for a supplemental worth more than $100 billion, which includes both aid for Israel, but has tied it to aid for Ukraine, something many House Republicans have balked at.

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Biden is also facing pushback from a small faction of his own party, in particular members of the progressive “Squad,” particularly Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Both have criticized his administration’s handling of the war, which they claim does not acknowledge the Palestinian point of view. Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, has been particularly critical and on Friday accused Biden of supporting the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.

Israel is the largest beneficiary of U.S. aid and has received about $150 billion as of last year, according to the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan agency.