Jewish Groups Face Arrests as They Protest in Support of Gaza

Approximately 80 Jewish protestors were arrested Friday as they demanded officials in five major U.S. cities to stop Israel aggression toward Palestinians with fears of a "genocide" breaking out in Gaza, according to a press release from Jewish Voice for Peace obtained by Newsweek.

Over 2,000 Jews, including students, rabbis, and descendants of Holocaust survivors, protested in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles, calling for their elected officials to prevent a genocide of Palestinians. The protesters were arrested while blocking the streets outside of the homes and offices of Congress members, according to Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that describes itself as "the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world."

The mass protests come as Israel warned 1.1 million people in northern Gaza on Friday to evacuate within 24 hours as it strengthens its operation in the region, following Hamas' attack last week.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of Saturday, at least 1,300 people had been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli military. More than 1,500 people had been killed and more than 6,600 had been injured in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the AP said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is "at war" and has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza.

Beth Miller, political director for Jewish Voice for Peace Action, told Newsweek via email on Sunday: "Jews understand deeply what is at stake here. We know all too well what happens when elected officials use hateful, vitriolic, dehumanizing language to excuse their support for violence against a group of people. There is no time to sit in grief or mourning, there is only action. American Jews across the country are demanding of Biden and Congress that they immediately demand and facilitate a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance into Gaza. This is a matter of stopping a genocide against Palestinians."

Israel's evacuation deadline expired at 5 a.m. on Saturday, but the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said it would allow the people of northern Gaza to safely evacuate on approved routes between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time on Saturday.

The IDF didn't have any comment on Sunday when Newsweek reached out.

Many protestors who were arrested were gathered outside the home of Senator Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish himself. Thousands met at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn in New York City and marched to his home in Park Slope where 57 people were arrested by police, ABC 7 New York reported. Those detained included Jewish rabbis and state assembly members.

Rabbi Alissa Wise, the former deputy director of Jewish Voice for Peace who was arrested outside Schumer's home, warned that supplying Israel with more weapons will lead to more violence.

"We recognize that for many, the call to unconditionally support Israel, including sending increased military funding, is coming from a place of deep grief, fear, and anxiety, but we know that more weapons will only bring more harm to everyone," she said in Jewish Voice for Peace's press release.

In other cities, hundreds gathered outside Representative Nancy Pelosi's office in San Francisco where police took 15 people into custody. Protestors held signs outside Senator Patty Murray's office in Seattle that read: "Jews against genocide of Palestinians." There were also protests outside the offices of Representative Brad Sherman in Los Angeles and Representative Jan Schakowsky's in Chicago, according to Jewish Voice for Peace.

The Seattle Police Department told Newsweek on October 14 in a phone call that it was not aware of any arrests in or outside Murray's office and that federal protective services would have jurisdiction of the building.

The Los Angeles Police Department told Newsweek on October 20 that "officers monitored the protest and kept the peace," adding that there were "no arrests or issues."

Newsweek reached out for comment from police departments in each of the cities and the individuals whose homes and offices saw protests.

"American Jews are grieving," Asher Kaplan, a volunteer organizer with IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish organization that is staunchly critical of Israel, told Newsweek on Saturday via email. "I am a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, and I am shocked and horrified at the scale of Hamas' unspeakable violence, but we can't lose sight of the fact that our pain is being weaponized by Israeli leaders who are now making explicit calls for a genocide against Palestinians."

Kaplan added: "Yesterday, American Jews gathered outside Congressman Brad Sherman's office to demand that he do everything in his power to advocate for immediate ceasefire—no genocide in our name."

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) has said that a 24-hour evacuation of northern Gaza is "impossible" and that it will have "devastating humanitarian consequences."

Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, spoke out against Israel's warning on Friday, alleging that this sort of mass evacuation is a form of "ethnic cleansing."

"With communications and electricity shut down by Israel, the order cannot be communicated. Roads are bombed and many cars are out of fuel, making fleeing impossible for many," the congresswoman wrote in part on X, formerly Twitter.

While Omar has been a vocal critic of Israel for what she describes as human rights abuses against Palestinians, she also condemned Hamas' attack. "We need to call for deescalation and ceasefire," she wrote on X last week. "I will keep advocating for peace and justice throughout the Middle East."

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