Mohamad Habehh, director of development for American Muslims for Palestine and lead organizer of Saturday’s event, said organizers picked this weekend to mark nearly 100 days of war and to honor the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
“We’re past three months of constant killing,” Habehh said. “We feel that it is important for us to come on this holiday weekend in the spirit of MLK when he said that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ that we stand up against the injustice that’s going on in Gaza right now, and stand up against the atrocities that are being supported and being promoted by our government.”
Organizers anticipate that upward of 25,000 people will attend the event at Freedom Plaza, according to a permit issued by the National Park Service late Thursday. The permit also includes portions of Lafayette Square, across from the White House, where protesters are expected to march following the rally. There are buses coming from states across the country, including Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin, according to the event website.
The rally is the second in support of Gaza in Washington since the Israel-Gaza war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage. In the months that have followed, intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel has left at least 23,708 dead and approximately 60,000 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A rally in support of Israel was held in mid-November on the National Mall, where thousands gathered to express their solidarity with Israel, demonstrate their resolve to combat antisemitism, and demand the release of hostages abducted by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack.
Saturday’s protest comes a day after Israel rejected allegations brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice that it is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel said the growing death toll in Gaza was an unavoidable consequence of its battle against a militant army that has embedded itself in civilian areas and seeks to repeat the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the charge, saying “Today, again, we saw an upside-down world, in which the State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide.”
Speakers announced for the rally include Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, presidential candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein, Ilyasah Shabazz (daughter of Malcolm X), Colorado state Rep. Iman Jodeh (D), Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin and family members of people killed in Gaza.
This story will be updated.
