The US Capitol Police arrested about 300 people protesting inside the main rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The rally was organized by Jewish anti-Zionist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and If Not Now.
They first gathered in the National Mall with a banner with red writing that said, "Our blood is the same color."
They waved Palestinian flags and raised posters that read, "My grief is not your weapon," "Never again for anyone," and "Zionism is racism."
Jews participating in the protests wore prayer shawls and kippots, young activists sporting tattoos and nose rings, and people in headscarves and Palestinian checkered black-and-white scarves.
- Genocide survivors
"We are here to say, 'Not in our name,'" Jay Saper said. "We are here as Jews — many descendants of survivors of genocide — to stop a genocide from unfolding in real-time."
Inside the House building, the protesters wore black shirts that said "Not in our name" on the front and "Jews say ceasefire now" on the back as they sang and cheered over police warnings to disperse.
A spokeswoman for JVP Sonya Meyerson-Knox said the crowd inside Cannon included 400 American Jews and 25 rabbis who are against Israeli occupation and are demanding that Congress pass a ceasefire resolution.
The Capitol Police said: "We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating, and when they did not comply, we began arresting them."
They said preliminary information shows about 300 people were arrested, including three on charges of assault on a police officer.
The demonstration comes amid protests across the Middle East following a strike on Tuesday's hospital in Gaza City that killed hundreds of people.
Palestinian and Israeli officials have traded blame for the blast at al-Ahli Hospital, which appeared to be the deadliest single strike on civilians in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began.
President Joe Biden adopted the Israeli accusation and expressed his support for Israel.
In the ten days following the Hamas attack on the Israeli settlements and kibbutzim surrounding Gaza, the Crowd Counting Consortium, an academic project tracking and sharing data on protests across the US, tracked more than 400 US vigils, rallies and protests in response to the war.
Roughly 270 of those events focused on backing Israel, while nearly 200 supported Palestinians.
The demonstration in the Capitol building is the second time this week where Jewish protesters were arrested while demanding a ceasefire.
On Monday, police arrested more than 30 people during a protest that included closing the entrances to the White House.
- "Long live Gaza!"
The protesters on Wednesday pointed to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than 2 million people live, about half of whom are children.
Israel has cut off access to food, water, electricity, and fuel, and as many as 1 million people were ordered to flee south as Israeli forces focused airstrikes on northern Gaza.
Speakers at the rally on the west side of the Capitol called for a ceasefire, while cars honked their horns in support and the crowd chanted, "Long live Gaza!"
From the podium, Democratic Representative Cori Bush said that she and her colleagues were described as "disgraceful" for introducing a ceasefire resolution.
"There is nothing repugnant or disgraceful about saving lives," Bush said.
"Our push for peace is working."
Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib also addressed her speech at Biden, who pledged during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US would continue to support Israel.
"Not all Americans are with you on this one," Tlaib said of Biden, adding, "Americans want a ceasefire. They want it to stop."
