Numerous pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed the outer perimeter of the White House fence and began chanting “Allahu Akbar” in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
The protesters, many of whom were donning Palestinian flags and keffiyehs, yelled “Allahu Akbar” at least five times in unison, as seen in footage captured by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The protesters had recently disembarked from Freedom Plaza, where a massive anti-Israel protest was held for most of the afternoon.
“Allahu Akbar” translates from Arabic as “God is Great.” After having chanted the phrase numerous times, the crowd shifted to a chant of “Raise your hand, make a fist, Palestine will resist.”
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The activists who converged on the White House fence had come from the earlier protest in Freedom Plaza, in which a crowd of tens of thousands of people protested against Israel’s military operations targeting Hamas, a terrorist organization, as well as President Joe Biden’s support for Israel. Organizations including Code Pink and the National Students For Justice in Palestine organized the protest, according to Code Pink’s promotional website for the event.
After the “Allahu Akbar” chanting, a masked man climbed halfway up the White House fence and waved the Palestinian flag, to the cheering and chanting of the crowd assembled just below him.
During the protest at the Freedom Plaza, much of the assembled crowd participated in chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is often interpreted to be an explicit call for the erasure of Israel and its people, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Biden was not in Washington on Saturday; he was “out-of-town,” per his public schedule.
Neither Code Pink nor the National Students for Justice in Palestine responded immediately to requests for comment.
Nick Pope and Arjun Singh on November 4, 2023
