In Washington DC, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rally in rain to mark painful past and present

About 400 protesters stood in steady rains to rally on the National Mall on the 76th anniversary of ‘Nakba’, the Arabic word for catastrophe

Protesters focused their anger on President Joe Biden, and the violent crackdown on pro-Palestinian protest camps at universities across the US

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The Dome of the US Capitol Building is visible as Layan Barmil of Virginia stands on a food truck and waves a Palestinian flag. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:32pm, 19 May 2024

Hundreds of protesters rallied within sight of the US Capitol, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and voicing criticism of the Israeli and American governments as they marked a painful present – the war in Gaza – and past – the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from what is now Israel when the state was created in 1948.

About 400 demonstrators braved steady rains to rally on the National Mall on the 76th anniversary of what is called the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe. In January, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists had gathered in the nation’s capital in one of the larger protests in recent memory.

There were calls in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza. “No peace on stolen land” and “End the killings, stop the crime/Israel out of Palestine”, echoed through the crowd.

A pro-Palestinian supporter holds a sign during a protest to mark the Nakba anniversary, on the National Mall in Washington, DC on May 18. Photo: AFP

Protesters also focused their anger on President Joe Biden, whom they accuse of feigning concern over the death toll in Gaza.

“Biden Biden, you will see/genocide’s your legacy,” they said. The Democratic president was in Atlanta on Saturday.

Reem Lababdi, a George Washington University second-year student who said she was pepper-sprayed by police last week when they broke up an on-campus protest encampment, acknowledged that the rain seemed to hold down the numbers.

“I’m proud of every single person who turned out in this weather to speak their minds and send their message,” she said.

This year’s commemoration was fuelled by anger over the ongoing siege of Gaza. The latest Israel-Gaza war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage.