Hundreds of people marched to the capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Nov. 4, 2023, to show support for Palestinian people and call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Jeanie Lindsay / Northwest News Network
Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Olympia, Washington, chanting and waving Palestinian flags before rallying on the steps of the capitol building on Saturday.
In a “die-in,” protesters lied down on the capitol building steps while holding pieces of paper with the names of Palestinians who have died in the fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces.
On the same day, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators around the globe — from Washington D.C., to Milan to Paris — took to the streets calling for a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Gabriel Mansour, who is Palestinian and has family in the West Bank, was among those at the rally.
“It’s very hard to cope with the genocide of your race — to see that you’re not looked upon as people,” Mansour said.
Related: Hamas attacked Israel 1 month ago. Where do things stand now?
Liz Arias is part of a Palestinian solidarity network in the South Puget Sound area in Southwest Washington. She and others want Gov. Jay Inslee to show support for Palestinians the way he has for Israel.
Inslee directed the Israeli flag be flown at the capitol building shortly after the Hamas attacks last month. Israel launched an ongoing bombardment of Gaza in response to those attacks.
“We want to see (Inslee) representing, mourning the Palestinian people and restricting any involvement that the state of Washington has in continuing this massacre,” Arias said.
More than 9,480 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military attacks over the last four weeks, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel has tightened its siege on Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the focus of its expanded ground offensive in its stated campaign to defeat Hamas after the militant group carried out attacks on Israeli communities on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,400 people.
Related: As Israel forces workers from Gaza back, thousands more remain stuck in the West Bank
Arias says the protesters are demanding that the U.S. cut economic and military ties to Israel, and for Washington state not to provide any support for Israel either.
Gov. Inslee’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
U.S. officials have so far stopped short of demands for a cease-fire, but pressed Israel on Friday for a “humanitarian pause” in its military offensive to allow more aid to enter Gaza and for the release of the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas.
Israel rejected such a pause, saying any sort of cease-fire is contingent on the release of hostages. Later Friday, an Israeli airstrike had hit an ambulance near Al Shifa, a main hospital in Gaza. Palestinians said more than a dozen people were killed in the strike; Israel’s military said the target of the bombing was Hamas, whose members Israel says have been using sensitive sites for cover.
The U.S. has given billions in military aid to Israel for years. President Biden last month asked Congress for more than $14 billion in military aid for Israel.
Associated Press and NPR contributed to this story.