WASHINGTON: A charged crowd outside Washington’s Freedom Plaza expressed intense emotions, leaning towards sadness as the walls of the nearbly White House resonated with their impassioned chant, “Free, free Palestine, ceasefire now”.

The protest unfolded at the heart of Washington’s power centre, encompassing iconic locations such as the White House, Freedom Plaza (the mayor’s office), the Treasury, FBI headquarters, and the old Trump Plaza.

Chanting slogans like “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the occupation has to go”, a united crowd gathered in the open spaces among these buildings and spilled into adjoining streets and roads.

As the protesters paused for Asr prayers, their Jewish and Christian supporters formed a line to provide them the space they needed to pray.

Protesters highlighted the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, chanting “no more genocide”.

Another slogan accused US President Joe Biden of permitting genocide during his tenure, with the crowd chanting, “Hey Biden, you are committed to genocide”.

At 2.30pm, it was still too early to provide a crowd estimate, considering the rally commenced at 1.30. The march to the White House had not yet begun, but tens of thousands had already assembled.

A significant portion of the crowd simultaneously called for an intifada, chanting: “There’s only one solution, intifada revolution”, alongside the call for an immediate ceasefire.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024