About 150 Mennonites staged a pro-Palestine demonstration Tuesday. They held a sit-in at the Cannon Rotunda. Protesting at the Rotunda is a no-no so they were arrested.
What did the Mennonites want? The usual – a ceasefire in Gaza. They sat on the ground and sang hymns. Some of them held up placards that read “Let Gaza Live” and “Free All Hostages.” All hostages? That’s a nice touch but the let Gaza live slogan is weird. Gaza is a strip of land, not a human being. The Mennonites have chosen a side in the Israel-Hamas war and it’s with Hamas, not Israel. They chanted, “Ceasefire now,” as the were arrested and taken into custody by Capitol Police offficers.
The Mennonites history is that of followers of Christianity. The religion is known as an historic peace church with a commitment to pacifism. Yet, here they were coming down on the side of Palestine. Gaza is ruled by Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization supported by Iran. Hamas launches missiles into Israel almost every day. They regularly violate any ceasefire agreements with Israel, as they did on October 7. That day a ceasefire was in effect yet Hamas crossed into Israel and massacred Jews and Americans and others. The Mennonites weren’t supporting Israel, they were supporting Palestine, which is Hamas.
The Capitol Police released a statement.
“A group of people legally entered the Cannon House Office Building after they went through screening. Demonstrations are not allowed inside Congressional Buildings, so when they started to protest and refused to stop, we began arresting them. Arrests are ongoing,” a U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
There was no reported resistance to arrest. They complied with the officers as they stood and officers put zip-ties on their wrists. Then they were escorted out of the building.
It is reported that the protest was an act of civil disobedience.
The Mennonites posted about their demonstration on X.
The demonstrators held an unannounced hymn sing today, organized by the grassroots organization Mennonite Action, at the Cannon Rotunda on Capitol Hill, to urge federal officials to call for a permanent ceasefire. Pray for their safe release – and that their message was heard! pic.twitter.com/AupZzc5pZu
— Mennonite Church USA (@MennonitesUSA) January 16, 2024
“A group of about 150 Mennonites were arrested today in the Cannon building in an act of peaceful civil disobedience, singing hymns and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza,” Mennonite Action wrote on X, sharing more footage of the demonstration. “As the Capitol Police made arrests, we never stopped singing. #Mennonites4Ceasefire.”
The group added in another X post, “Permanent ceasefire now. Release all hostages. End the occupation of Palestine. Hundreds of Mennonites are taking peaceful action in DC today to lift our voices for these demands.”
“As a group of about 150 Mennonites are getting arrested in an act of peaceful civil disobedience in the Cannon building, a larger group of 200 Mennonites are holding a hymn sing and worship service outside to call for a permanent ceasefire,” Mennonite Action wrote.
There is video of the group singing hymns.
***Breaking***
Hundreds of Mennonites gathered today with @MennoniteAction in DC and about 150 were arrested while singing and praying as they participated in the rich tradition of nonviolent direct action — calling for a ceasefire in the Congress rotunda.Watch the video -… pic.twitter.com/rcVcEGC2ZD
— Shane Claiborne (@ShaneClaiborne) January 16, 2024
The far-left group CodePink has called for demonstrators to meet at the Senate Hart Building every day. It is not clear that these Mennonites were connected to CodePink. The Pinkos boast of their perceived victories in influencing members of Congress. “We have been in the halls of Congress since October 7th. Since then, 64 members of Congress have called for a ceasefire and many interns have exposed their members who were not listening to the calls of the people.”
Also of note, Tuesday was to be the day that White House staff and others in the Biden administration, spanning many federal agencies, went out on a one-day strike to oppose Biden’s support of Israel. The organization called Feds United for Peace organized the strike. Speaker Johnson calls for any federal employee who goes on strike to be fired.That strike has been postponed due to the poor weather conditions in D.C. on Tuesday. The federal employee snowflakes didn’t want to be out in real snowflakes, I guess.
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