Pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, DC on Saturday.
Washington, May 30 (RHC)-- Pro-Palestinian groups across the U.S. have sponsored another major protest rally in Washington DC against the Israeli regime’s latest terror campaign against Gaza. At the same time, on Capitol Hill, hawkish American lawmakers introduced yet another bill reiterating support for the occupation.
The massive protest march on Saturday -- sponsored by Islamic, Palestinian, Arab and human rights groups within the United States -- began at the Lincoln Memorial Monument near the State Department and concluded near the U.S. Congress, which has been blocked off by fences and barbed wire since the violent January 6th attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters.
The Saturday rally came days after the latest Israeli onslaught against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and other occupied territories concluded with a ceasefire, and followed numerous similar protests held across the United States and other parts of the globe. The protests condemned repeated atrocities of the U.S.-sponsored Israeli regime.
The marches against Israeli aggression came at the same time that Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, along with 15 other fellow right-wing lawmakers, reintroduced legislation that would impose sanctions on individuals and entities that support the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group or other Palestinian organizations.
"This bill would impose sanctions against foreign individuals, entities, and governments that provide support to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terrorist groups,” a press release issued by Rubio’s office proclaimed on Friday.
The bill -- entitled the "Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act" -- also requires the U.S. president “to submit an assessment to Congress regarding whether other countries are doing enough to counter the fundraising, financing, money laundering, and other forms of support” for Palestinian groups.
Rubio, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, led the bill’s reintroduction, citing the need to hold supporters of such organizations accountable following the encounter between Israeli regime’s forces and Palestinian resistance groups that led to the killing of more than 270 people in Gaza and Jerusalem (al-Quds), including many women and children.