NEW YORK (Dispatches) – Pro-Palestinian protesters in the United States have disrupted a joint rally between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont).
Protesters mobilized by a New York-based pro-Palestine organization, Within Our Lives, disrupted the joint rally led by the U.S. lawmakers on Saturday in support of U.S. President Joe Biden for the upcoming U.S. presidential election scheduled in November.
The three politicians have maintained their support for a second-term Biden presidency.
“Endorsing Biden is endorsing the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Within Our Lifetime wrote in a thread on X promoting the demonstration at the Saturday rally.
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the pro-Biden rally chanting, “Intifada, Intifada”, and “Genocide Joe has got to go.”
“I’m not supposed to fight back? We’re gonna show them who ... we are!” Bowman told the crowd as pro-Palestine protesters attempted to disrupt the rally with chants in a video uploaded to X.
Meanwhile, a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Ghent, Belgium, attracted a significant turnout of over a thousand participants on Saturday, advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and urging for sanctions against Israel.
Protesters brandished flags and maps of Palestine, and carried impactful signs with messages like ‘Student Intifada’ and ‘End bloodshed and dehumanization now.’
Several civil society organizations in Belgium have joined the call to boycott Israel, including prominent groups like 11.11.11, Vrede vzw, and the Ghent Coalition for Palestine, with the notable presence of Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister, Petra De Sutter.
Deputy Prime Minister De Sutter, known for her support of South Africa’s position against Israel, has been vocal in advocating for trade sanctions to be imposed by the Belgian government.
In Berlin, police arrested more than a dozen pro-Palestine demonstrators at a sit-in protest calling for a boycott of Siemens on Saturday.
Around 60 demonstrators had gathered in front of Berlin’s Alexa shopping center, following criticism from Pro-Palestine groups toward Siemens over the German company’s cooperation with Israel on transport projects.
Footage shows the protesters struggling with police and being arrested, while others are searched. The video also shows the protest inside the shopping center, as demonstrators chant and hold placards declaring that ‘Siemens supports genocide’ and calling to ‘Boycott Israeli apartheid, abandon fascism.’
A cardboard model of a washing machine can be seen with white sheets stained with red paint as if smeared with blood.