Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters were arrested on Capitol Hill on Wednesday after illegally demonstrating. The demonstrators were part of a far-left Jewish group that held signs and banners reading “Ceasefire now!” while chanting “Free Palestine.”
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Bethany Mandel and Karol Markowicz, authors of Stolen Youth, to discuss the group behind the demonstration and how the media covered this event compared to January 6.
Anti-Israel Protests on Capitol Hill
On Wednesday, a group called Jewish Voice for Peace – which describes itself as the “largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world” – hosted a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The initial gathering was attended by the likes of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who also acted as a speaker. The congresswoman was seen on camera emotionally recounting the children who were casualties of the explosion at a hospital in Gaza City earlier this week, though she refused to condemn Hamas’ murder of babies and civilians when confronted in the halls of Congress last week.
According to reports, the crowd marched from the National Mall to the U.S. Capitol and, by 2:30pm, 300 to 400 protesters had made their way into the rotunda and balconies of the Cannon House Office Building. While the Cannon building is open to the public, demonstrations are not permitted inside congressional buildings.
Members of the group were clad in black T-shirts that read “Jews Say Ceasefire Now” and held banners and posters demanding a ceasefire. They also shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel chants. “There are guys in prison right now who did less than that on January 6 and have had the book thrown at them,” Megyn noted of the behavior. “But I guess it’s fine if it’s in the name of Palestinian rights.”
At 3pm, U.S. Capitol Police tweeted that it had “warned the protestors to stop demonstrating” and began arresting them when they did not comply. Police departments from nearby Fairfax County, VA, and Montgomery County, MD, sent officers to assist and several roads in the area were closed.
Around 6pm – more than three hours after the protest began – a spokesperson for Capitol Police said “close to 300 people” were in custody. Three people were reportedly charged with assaulting police officers.
The Truth About the Protests
Coverage of the events on Capitol Hill on Wednesday talked about how “Jewish groups” were arrested while peacefully calling for a ceasefire. Megyn noted the irony of the language. “By Democrats definition, there was an insurrection [yesterday] where a group of unruly protesters stormed the Capitol, interfering with legislative business,” she quipped.
Similarly, there are questions about the ideology of Jewish Voice for Peace. In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) criticized the organization and the demonstrators for opposing Israel’s “clear right to defend itself” against Hamas terrorists. “Although they claim to do so, these far-left radical organizations do not represent the overwhelming majority Jewish community,” said ADL D.C. Regional Director Meredith R. Weisel. “Rather, these groups are anti-Zionists that challenge Israel’s very right to exist.”
Mandel also took issue with the media’s labeling of the group. “The description on the [screen] even on Fox News said ‘Jewish groups’ – they were not Jewish,” she said. “They were using holy garments as tokens.” She noted some in the crowd were inappropriately wearing tallit shawls, which are usually reserved for morning prayers, and yarmulkes. “They had to rent them from the local Judaica store because they don’t own them,” she said. “They’re not religious Jews, and they were not representative of the vast vast majority of American Jews.”
It is yet another reason, Mandel said, the events of the last two weeks have awakened many. “So many of my liberal Jewish friends have been completely red pilled seeing [this] stuff,” she concluded. “The wheels are starting to turn a little bit and liberal Jews are starting to realize, ‘Oh, it turns out all these people want me dead.'”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Mandel and Markowicz by tuning in to episode 651 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.