When my family first planned to go to the Nov. 4 protest for Gaza in Washington, D.C., it was originally just my father and younger sister going there. But once I heard about the event, I begged and begged to come along with them, until they finally relented and added me to the trip.
I wanted to make my voice heard in the nation’s capital. I couldn’t stop seeing and hearing about Gaza being bombed into oblivion while our president provided aid to the aggressors.
I also believed that if President Joe Biden saw the protest outside his current residence, he’d change his mind on supporting Israel and switch to helping the Gazans instead. That was because I thought, as a Democrat, he couldn’t do any serious wrong. I believed in the Democratic party, while I saw the Republicans as selfish, power-seeking slimeballs.
Like many Americans, I was entrenched in my beliefs. One factor behind that is that I’d been following left-wing blogs for about a year by then, which gave me a sense of belonging and meaning.
But turns out, something would happen that would force me to widen my perspective on life, politics and everything else.
The protest was organized by a variety of civil rights, human rights, anti-war and community organizations; it appeared to be the largest ever pro-Palestine protest in U.S. history, according to many of the organizers in their speeches. Participating organizations included the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Jewish Voice for Peace.
More than 30,000 Americans from all states and walks of life showed up, creating a crowd extending multiple city blocks, barely avoiding spilling out into the streets on 34th and 6th . Keep in mind, those routes were 28 blocks apart from each other! The crowd eventually grew so large that organizers asked one portion of the group to move over to make room for another wave from around the corner.
I saw many Arab Americans, of course, but also Jewish Americans, Muslims of all races, and even veterans and socialists. The protesters gathered to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for the U.S. government to stop all aid to Israel.
People chanted slogans such as “Ceasefire now!” “No ceasefire, no votes,” and “In November, we will remember.” Some people carried lists of Palestinians killed in the current violence.
Anger was directed toward Biden, whose support for Israel has damaged his approval ratings amongst Arab and Muslim populations, dropping 17 points since October.
“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” was a popular slogan. I heard some Palestinian Americans say they will no longer vote for Biden due to his support for Israel, and other protesters lament how the Biden administration isn’t recognizing Palestinians’ humanity.
I came to the uncomfortable realization that no one person or group can solve everything. Diverse opinions are a democracy’s lifeline, and political groups are incredibly varied, with good and bad members, opinions and ideas mixed into all of them.
The demonstration stretched over several blocks from Freedom Plaza near the White House eastward to near the Capitol. Protesters began marching in that direction at 2 p.m.
One of the speakers was the singer Macklemore, who said, “In the last three weeks, I have gone back and I have done some research, I’m teachable. I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know that this is a genocide.”
Many police officers and snipers were stationed right next to the rally, even though the event was completely peaceful. When we went to eat at a restaurant later that night, the owner told us that this was the first time in her 25 years there that she had seen such a huge amount of White House police!
Even while walking the streets at night, we saw several Palestinian youths still traveling on bicycles and scooters, carrying their nation’s flag and placing “Free Palestine!” stickers on traffic light poles.
My experience of the protest was intense. While many people feel passionate about their views, I have autism, which means that certain things that wouldn’t be problematic for a normal person end up provoking outbursts from me.
When we got to the main event, we sat down a few yards from the big stage. There were many speeches about the conflict and imperialism, and I felt myself starting to get wound up. The sun was beaming down directly on me, and the noise and crowds definitely weren’t helping things. My mother asked me if we should go back to the hotel, and I told her that I wanted to do at least some of the march after the speeches were finished.
Then one of the speakers said something about both Democratic and Republican politicians failing us on the issue, and that was too much for me. I threw myself on the ground, screaming against politicians and the world, and my outburst forced me and my family to return to our hotel early.
This was a major wake-up call for me, as I had previously believed that Democrats held all the solutions to America’s – and the world’s – problems, while everyone else was a lying scumbag.
I came to the uncomfortable realization that no one person or group can solve everything. Diverse opinions are a democracy’s lifeline, and political groups are incredibly varied, with good and bad members, opinions and ideas mixed into all of them.
I’d been too absorbed into my own side to see how the other groups thought about important things like overseas conflicts. If they didn’t follow my specific views, then in my mind, they were evil or misinformed and needed to be informed of “the truth.” But most times, the truth is very complicated, and sometimes we won’t stop debating the facts until the sun goes out. And just because two people both identify as liberal, or vote for the same candidate, doesn’t mean that they’ll agree on most important things, much less everything concerning politics.
I may have come away with something different than most attendees, but the protest still changed me in an important way.
Maybe as a society, it’s time for us to start seeing the gray areas, however uncomfortable that process might be for us.
Velocity 
Leave a comment