AMP Protest Iftaar Staged in Front of White House Calls for Permanent Ceasefire

On the first night of Ramadan, protestors call Biden’s attention to starving people in Gaza

Washington, D.C. — In front of the White House today on the first day of Ramadan, protestors against the war in Gaza will gather to break fast on dates and water alone while calling for an end to US complicity in the ongoing genocide and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Organized by the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the protest iftar marks 156 days since the start of the Israeli campaign in Gaza which has killed over 31,000 Palestinians and among them over 13,000 children, with tens of thousands more maimed and injured. The uninhibited warfare on the Palestinian people has displaced over 1.9 million who are now also subjected to a forced famine due to the Israeli blockade and bombing of humanitarian aid. While such violence violates the Leahy Law, the Israeli government has been supported with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in unconditional aid for US weapons and ammunition since October, and over $14 billion more in aid was requested by the administration and passed in the Senate last month.

“We are protesting because the White House must comprehensively change American strategy to facilitate lasting peace and stability in the region,” said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, Executive Director of AMP and AJP Action. “A six-week pause is not a ceasefire. The President must impose a permanent end to Israel’s genocide without conditions on the starving people—and especially children—of Gaza.” 

With a sign reading, “Genocide Joe, how many kids have you starved to death?” the protestors call on the Biden Administration to end its complicity in genocide as Israel, with US support, violates every item of the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures. They call for a permanent, unconditional ceasefire and for the Biden Administration to prevent the development of settlements in northern Gaza.

“I’m protesting because as I fast this Ramadan I know Gazans continue to be without adequate food and water. This atrocity is on President Biden’s hands,” said protester Johaer Jilani. “We are demanding the U.S. reinstate aid to UNRWA, condemn food aid traps and massacres, and call for compliance with the ICJ’s measures to prevent a genocide.”

AMP Director of Development Mohamad Habehh said, “This administration has provided billions of dollars in aid for over 65,000 tonnes of bombs dropped on Gaza–equal to more than two nuclear bombs. It has provided some 38,000 meals in recent days to over a million starving Palestinians in Gaza. Our community cannot overlook that hypocrisy this Ramadan.”

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