Nearly 50 pro-Palestine protesters who swarmed the Senate building were arrested Monday, Fox News reported. The unruly protesters were there in support of a cease-fire in the conflict that erupted after Hamas attacked Israel.
A Capitol spokesperson said that the protesters swarmed the Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill just after 10 a.m. One person was seen climbing on a statue in the atrium of the building.
The demonstration was not authorized, and police arrested 49 people. Some were restrained by officers using zip ties as they were escorted out of the building.
U.S. Park Police issued 18 citations as protesters were cleared from the area. Earlier that same day, a separate protest in favor of Hamas occurred at the White House.
A group of 18 Jewish elders chained themselves to the gate outside President Joe Biden's residence ahead of the White House's annual Hanukkah party. The group posed about it on X, formerly Twitter, as they took sides against the Israelis.
"As elders, our hearts are shattered watching the Israeli military murder thousands of Palestinians, destroying families and lives. Everyone should be able to grow old like we have," the Jewish Voice for Peace group posted on X.
"We chained ourselves to the White House to demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza now," the post added. They contend that Israel's defense amounts to a genocide in Gaza.
A shocking number of protests have erupted in favor of the Palestinian side of the conflict despite the fact that Israel was attacked and Hamas was the aggressor. Some of those in the highest echelons of academia have brazenly supported the terrorist state, though at least one is paying dearly for it.
University of Pennsylvania President M. Elizabeth Magill resigned from her post Saturday after sparking outrage over her defense of antisemitism, the New York Times reported. Her evasive answers during a Congressional hearing indicated that she couldn't answer whether she thought students who publicly call for a Jewish genocide should be punished.
Magill had already found herself on thin ice for her statements following the attacks on Oct. 7. However, her reputation crumbled after questioning by New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik about whether she was okay with students who were calling for a Jewish genocide.
"Calling for the genocide of Jews -- does that constitute bullying or harassment?" Stefanik pointedly asked Magill. The university president replied, "If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment."
"So the answer is yes," Stefanik said. Magill clarified that it would be "a context-dependent decision" at the university.
"That’s your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context?" Stefanik pushed.
It's encouraging that Magill was run out of the university for this opinion. However, it's troubling that this interpretation of the facts exists at all, whether by protesters in Washington, D.C., or those at the highest levels in academia.
