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The rain Saturday did not discourage nearly a thousand protesters from marching in Downtown D.C. to show support for Gaza and the Palestinian people. The crowd from afar was a sea of red, green, black and white鈥� the colors of the Palestinian flag.聽

Demonstrators dawned keffiyehs, flags and traditional Palestinian garb as they chanted 鈥淐ease fire now鈥� and 鈥淔ree free Palestine.鈥澛�

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) organized the march to support the Palestinian people in the wake of the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Taher Herzallah, a member of AMP, helped lead the protesters.聽

鈥淲e gather today under the raindrops as our families in Gaza are enduring the drops of missiles on their homes,鈥� Herzallah said. 鈥淭his act of genocide that we are witnessing in real-time, all green-lit and supported by this White House right here, shame.鈥�

The march started in Lafayette Square and circled the block, marching through the Black Lives Matter Plaza, finishing directly in front of the White House with the crowd chanting 鈥淏iden, Biden you can鈥檛 hide.鈥�

Palestinian militants led by Hamas carried out a cross-border attack on Israel on October 7. Israel retaliated by attacking Gaza with missiles, killing civilians and military targets.聽

Hamas has killed about 1,300 people in Israel as of Saturday, according to Israeli officials. Israel has killed about 2,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Moshe Rosen, a Jewish supporter of Palestine, said that he was there because the Israeli government’s actions did not reflect every Jewish person’s values. He supported Palestinians鈥� grievances with their treatment by the Israeli government.聽

鈥淭here is a build-up of frustration, and it comes to a point where people say we tried a diplomatic way and it鈥檚 not working, and it explodes,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淚n essence, you could call Gaza one of the largest prisons in the world.鈥�

Rosen criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions towards the people in Gaza in response to the initial attack.聽

鈥淭hey just want to go home; they just want to live in peace,鈥� Rosen said. Other Jewish protesters held signs that read, 鈥淯.S. Jews say Netanyahu and his far-right govt. do not represent us,鈥� and 鈥淚srael does not speak for us.

鈥淚n no way of form what鈥檚 going on in Israel reflects on our Jewish values,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淎nti-Zionism is not Anti-Judaism, Israel and Judaism are separate.鈥�

Gaza has faced economic hardships and has lacked necessities like food, water and medical care for about 16 years under an Israeli blockade, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 9 vowed a 鈥渃omplete siege鈥� of Gaza and cut off all the entry of supplies, fuel and humanitarian aid to the 2.3 million people living in the strip.

An Egyptian-American Christian, Ian Tennison, chanted with the demonstrators and said this was a human rights issue. He said he stands with Palestinians who are affected by Israel鈥檚 response.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 out here to show the Palestinians that other Arabs are listening, other Arabs are with you,鈥� Tennison said. 鈥淢any American Jews are on our side because they rightfully acknowledge that genocide, apartheid, settler colonialism are not Jewish values and in reality are things that they have been subjected to for centuries.鈥澛�

Tennison said, 鈥淭his is a war off of occupation, settler colonialism,鈥� and affects all Arabs, not just Palestinians.

Jinan Deena, a D.C. resident, joined the protest to stand in solidarity with her family, who is sheltering in the West Bank.

鈥淚鈥檓 protesting for the freedom and liberation of the Palestinian people and we need an immediate ceasefire, we need humanitarian aid to reach Gaza,鈥� Deena said. 鈥淲e just want people to understand that Palestinians are human, and as much as people are calling for peace, peace can not come without freedom.鈥�

Deena said people not familiar with the history of Palestine need to understand the conflict did not begin just this month.

鈥淧alestinians have been under occupation for 75 years,鈥� Deena said. 鈥淭hey have been brutalized, they have been ethnically cleansed, homes demolished, schools bombed, and I really want people to give humanity to the Palestinian people above all else.鈥�

Israel has ordered the evacuation of roughly one million Palestinians in the northern part of Gaza. This has intensified the already devastating effects on its estimated two million citizens and is a step towards a reported ground invasion by Israeli troops.聽