A full bus of Delawarean demonstrators made the trek to Washington, D.C. Wednesday to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
The Islamic Society of Delaware arranged the bus, and attendees had to pay a fee for the ride to the “Surround the Capitol” rally.
ISD board member Faizal Chaudhury said the organization helped facilitate the bus to add more people to the crowd in D.C. protesting Netanyahu’s speech.
“This person is also responsible for the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Chaudhury said. “So, we felt it’s a moral obligation for people of conscience to go to Washington, D.C. to register their protest against the speech in person.”
Chaudhury wanted to look back on this time and be able to say he did what he could by attending the rally and giving other residents of Delaware the same opportunity.
“It’s inconceivable that, A, the United States is not doing anything to stop it,” Chaudhury said. “And B, you could make an argument that we are complicit because we are giving all the weapons that are being used for this genocide.”
Many Democratic members of Congress did not attend Netanyahu’s address, which comes as the death toll in Gaza nears 40,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and ceasefire negotiations have yet to yield a deal.
Israel's military offensive in Gaza was launched following a bloody assault by the Palestinian group Hamas last October that left about 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians dead with another 250 taken hostage.
The address also came just five days after the U.N.’s International Court of Justice called for an end to Israel’s “unlawful” occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan filed applications for warrants of arrest in May for Israeli and Hamas officials, including Netanyahu.
