Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gather in Washington to mark a painful present and past

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered within sight of the Capitol chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and expressed criticism of the Israeli and U.S. governments as they marked a painful present — the war in Gaza — and in beyond – the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced to leave what is now Israel when the state was established in 1948.

About 400 protesters braved steady rain to gather on the National Mall on the 76th anniversary of the so-called the Nakba, the Arabic word for disaster. In January, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists gathered in the national capital in one of the largest protests in recent memory.

There have been calls for Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza. “No peace on stolen lands” and “End the killing, stop the crime/Israel out of Palestine” echoed through the crowd.

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

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

Reem Lababdi, a sophomore at George Washington University, who said she was pepper-sprayed by police last week when they broke up a protest camp on campusacknowledged that rain seemed to be dampening the numbers.

“I am proud of every person who came out in this weather to express their opinion and send their message,” she said.

This year’s commemoration was fueled by anger over the ongoing siege of Gaza. The last Israel-Hamas War began when Hamas and other militants broke into southern Israel. October 7, murder approximately 1,200 people and took an additional 250 hostages. Palestinian militants still hold around 100 prisoners and the Israeli army has killed more than 35,000 people in Gazaaccording to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Anger is also widespread over the violent crackdown on several pro-Palestinian protest camps at universities across the country. In recent weeks, long-term camps have been dismantled by police in more than 60 schools.

In addition to pressuring Israel and the Biden administration to immediately end hostilities in Gaza, activists have long demanded the right of return for Palestinian refugees — an Israeli red line over decades of relentless negotiations.

After the Arab-Israeli War that followed the creation of Israel, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within Israeli borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that today numbers some 6 million people, most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the occupied West Bank. by Israel. In Gaza, refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population.

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Associated Press writer Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem contributed to this report.