US military veterans arrested at Capitol after protesting against Israel genocide in Gaza

A group of military veterans in the United States have been arrested after protesting against Israel’s war on and invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Members of About Face, a group which represents US veterans who are against war, this week visited Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office in the Capitol at Washington DC, where they came “to demand to meet, call for an end to the siege on Gaza and for a [ceasefire], according to a post by the group on X. it added, however, that “refused” to meet them and that “police were called” instead.

Following their sit-in at Gillibrand’s office, a video circulating online showed the protestors being arrested outside the Russell Office Building.

Veterans who sat in @SenGillibrand's office demanding #ceasefirenow have been arrested on the eve of #VeteransDay. https://t.co/KEJH9qyohG

— About Face: Veterans Against the War (@VetsAboutFace) November 9, 2023

The protest and arrests came after the group’s members joined Representatives Cori Bush, Summer Lee, Rashida Tlaib, and Delia Ramirez earlier that day to condemn the four-hour “pauses” in Israel’s bombardment of northern Gaza as not being enough to grant humanitarian relief to Gazan civilians and prevent more atrocities from being committed.

As a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, senator Gillibrand is thought to potentially have had significant influence in prevent the US’s further military assistance to Israel and to restrict Washington’s military aid and funding to Tel Aviv amid the occupation’s genocide of Palestinians in besieged Gaza and its refusal to consider a ceasefire.

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