No, the Pro-Palestinian Protest on Capitol Hill Was Not an 'Insurrection'

Hundreds of Jewish American protesters entered a congressional building on Wednesday to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, prompting some Republicans to describe their actions as an "insurrection."

Two Jewish anti-Zionist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, staged a sit-in inside the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building on Wednesday, calling on Congress to push for an immediate ceasefire and prevent an expected Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza and cut off supplies. As of Thursday, 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza, the Associated Press reported, citing the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the AP said.

The protesters inside Cannon House wore black shirts bearing the slogans "Not in our name" and "Jews say cease fire now." During their sit-in, they displayed banners calling for a ceasefire and chanted "Let Gaza live."

About 500 Jewish people, including 25 rabbis, gathered in the building, said Sonya Meyerson-Knox, a spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace.

"To the best of our knowledge, they were all arrested," Meyerson-Knox told Newsweek. Photos showed the protesters being restrained with zip-ties and led out of the building by officers.

The U.S. Capitol Police said 305 people were arrested, including three people who were charged with assault on a police officer.

"This was generally a peaceful demonstration with most people choosing to be arrested," a Capitol police spokesperson told Newsweek.

American Jews "held a peaceful, prayerful sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building," Meyerson-Knox added. "Led by over two dozen rabbis, they sang, taught and prayed—demanding that Congress call for an immediate ceasefire.

"An anti-war group of multigenerational Jews calling for a ceasefire is, simply, civil disobedience—following in the long line of civi disobedience protests that progressive causes have undertaken throughout history."

On X, formerly Twitter, the group wrote that the "only path to peace and safety — for everyone — is through ensuring justice and equality for everyone. And that means ending the Israeli government's illegal occupation of Palestine. To end genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, we're demanding a #ceasefirenow."

Demonstrations "are not allowed inside Congressional Buildings," the U.S. Capitol Police had posted on X on Wednesday. "We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them."

Newsweek has contacted If Not Now for comment via email.

Was It an 'Insurrection'?

Some Republican lawmakers quickly likened the protest to the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in a bid to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib of "leading the current insurrection" on Capitol Hill in a post on X and later moved to censure the Michigan Democrat.

Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, addressed thousands of protesters at the rally on Capitol Hill. She has faced calls from Trump supporters to be expelled from Congress and primaried for criticizing Israel.

Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois wrote: "INSURRECTIONISTS are storming the Capitol in support of Hamas. They are interrupting official government proceedings. Will there be federal charges? Solitary confinement? Will FBI raid their homes? Who paid for their buses, signs & t-shirts?"

However, other commenters pointed out that Wednesday's protest did not meet the definition of an insurrection.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary states that the legal definition of an insurrection is "the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government."

"This is NOT an 'Insurrection,'" journalist Brian Krassenstein wrote on X.

"The outrage by Marjorie Taylor Greene & others over a group of Jewish Americans peacefully protesting in the Cannon Rotunda for a 'ceasefire' is nuts," he added.

Krassenstein pointed out that the demonstrators did not break into the building, did not claim to want to interfere in a government proceeding, and did not destroy government property or threaten politicians. There was no major violence reported, he said.

Capitol Police said the protesters "went through security, entering the proper way, through mag screening," NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly wrote on X.

"Unlike on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and bypassed broken windows and blaring alarms, hundreds of these protesters are being arrested on the spot, as anyone who protests in the Capitol should expect to happen," Reilly added.

"This was a planned arrest, the type of thing protesters do to make a point. Zero evidence there were any breaches of Capitol security. They stood in line in an orderly fashion, went through security, and then protested with the purpose of being taken into custody."

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