Coalition of local Westchester organizations demonstrates in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, demands he be arrested for prosecution by the ICC
On Wednesday, July 24th, in response to far right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned address to Congress, Westchester locals gathered to demonstrate in White Plains with a simple message: “Arrest Netanyahu!” Netanyahu’s visit comes 8 months into the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip which has killed at least 38,900 (although researchers suggest the true death toll is likely closer to 186,000) and which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found to be a plausible genocide, and 2 months after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Westchester residents of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds who were shocked to learn that Netanyahu had been invited by US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a far right Christian Nationalist, to address Congress, will demonstrate against his visit with a march from the Westchester County Office Building to Renaissance Plaza in White Plains, NY. “In the midst of an ongoing genocide in Gaza, where more bombs have been dropped on a tiny strip of land filled with civilians since October 7 without precedence in human history, it is absolutely unconscionable that our political leaders would invite the man presiding over this carnage to address congress,” said Harry Soloway of Westchester’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, who continued that ‘it’s another sad display of our own politician’s complicity in Israel’s crimes via funding, rhetoric, and diplomatic cover.”
Rally goers made clear that the Gaza genocide was not just a far away foreign affairs issue, but one with a direct local impact. The march began outside the Westchester County Office Building, workplace of Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a conservative Democrat who recently unseated progressive African American Congressman Jamaal Bowman in a bitter and divisive primary, which was the most expensive in history as pro-Israel lobby groups spent heavily to support Latimer. “When Netanyahu comes to Congress he does so to influence our leaders, to convince them to spend more of our tax dollars on war, instead of the housing, healthcare, and jobs that our communities need to live,” said Soloway.
Netanyahu, leader of the rightwing Likud party, is a controversial figure even in Israel, where massive protests against his governing coalition’s refusal to accept a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas have blocked roads and bridges. In May the International Criminal Court issued warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Israel’s ongoing invasion and bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Those crimes include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, murder as a war crime, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, persecution as a crime against humanity, extermination, and other inhumane acts. In addition, the ICJ has found that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza, and has ordered emergency measures, such as as ensuring basic food supplies and halting their Rafah invasion, that Israel’s governing coalition, headed by Netanyahu, has ignored.
“Netanyahu should not be able to set foot freely in the US, let alone address our nation’s Congress,” said Hadil Sarrar of Westchester for Palestine, “the moment he stepped off that plane he should have been arrested for extradition to the Hague for sentencing… or better yet, arrested and charged with genocide, a federal offense in the United States.” Still, participants were clear that while Netanyahu must be held accountable, they were not there to scapegoat him. “In the end though, Netanyahu’s criminal actions and impunity are merely a symptom of Israeli occupation, settler colonialism, and racist Jewish supremacy, not the cause”, said Hadil, “While we want to see him tried for his crimes, we know that courts will never deliver a free Palestine: only an international movement of solidarity in concert with Palestinian resistance can bring about Palestinian liberation!”
Also on Wednesday, thousands of Americans of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and faiths, and from across the political spectrum, assembled in Washington DC to peacefully protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress happening that day, (see video of the mass protest).
