FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 8, 2024

Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected] | 228-990-4168

Peace Activists "Jail" War Criminals While Thousands Surround White House for a Free Palestine 

"We see them for what they are - war criminals!"

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  CODEPINK joined the Surround the White House Red Line protest in full theatrics on Saturday by placing Biden and Netanhayu impersonators under arrest for their Genocide in Gaza.

CODEPINK activists put figures of President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in a jail cell in Lafayette Square across from the White House. As the International Criminal Court (ICC) pursues a warrant for Netanyahu's arrest and President Biden supplies the weapons that his government is using to commit the atrocities in question, the group is demanding accountability and an end to U.S. complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Today marks eight months of US-Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people, and it marks the 54th anniversary of the occupation of Gaza. A month ago, Biden said that the invasion of Rafah was a red line. But now, the invasion of Rafah has continued for weeks and has expanded to the entire Gaza Strip, and Biden's red line is nowhere to be seen. Instead of following through and stopping military aid to Israel, Biden has authorized billions more in weapons shipments to be used to kill and massacre Palestinians. 

CODEPINK East Coast organizer Krys Cerisier spoke at the rally. 

"We stand side by side with struggles across the globe to tell everybody in the White House that we can see them. We can see them for what they are, and that is war criminals, war criminals who deserve to be held accountable for the countless genocides, the countless wars, and the countless crimes they have committed against black and brown people across the globe," they told the crowd.

"We say no to war. We say no to bombs. We say no to mines, to planes, to tanks! We say no! We say yes to education! We say yes to food - to care for the community! But we say no to being led by people who only care about funding war," they continued.

Biden refuses to draw the line, so today, over 70,000 came together nationwide to do just that. Surrounding the White House, participants demanded an immediate ceasefire, an immediate end to the siege on Gaza, the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners, and an end to the occupation of Palestine.

CODEPINK joins the movement for Palestinian liberation and steps up from where the administration has failed. On June 8, people all over the country will encircle the White House to show solidarity with Palestine. Wearing red, protesters aim to embody the red line that President Biden has not upheld.

For more information, please contact Melissa at [email protected]. 

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