Protesters Opposed to War Cause Disruption During Senate Hearing on Israel

Numerous protesters demanding a cease-fire in Gaza repeatedly interrupted the testimony by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, The Hill reported.

Police escorted the demonstrators out of the room one by one after each protester shouted slogans disrupting Blinken.

The secretary of state’s testimony was part of a hearing reviewing the national security supplemental funding request by the Biden administration, $106 billion in aid to bolster the defenses of both Israel and Ukraine in what Blinken said would show “enduring support” for the countries, CBS News reported.

The protesters shouted “stop supporting the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza” and “cease-fire now! Save the children of Gaza!,” among other slogans as additional demonstrators in the audience held red-stained hands in the air to claim that the administration had blood on its hands for its backing of Israel, The Hill reported.

Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., repeatedly called for order, stating that “I do recognize that people feel very passionately, but I ask that we have order in their hearing room and respect our speakers. We will move forward with the hearing and allow the people here and the American people to hear from their witnesses.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also testified at the hearing on the budget request and was also interrupted by demonstrators.

Blinken later addressed the protesters, saying that he could “hear, very much, the passions expressed in this room and outside this room.

“All of us are committed to the protection of civilian life,” he said. “All of us know the suffering that is taking place as we speak. All of us are determined to see it end. But all of us know the imperative of standing up with our allies and partners when their security, when their democracies are threatened.

“That’s what happening now. We stand resolutely with them even as we stand resolutely for the protection of innocent civilians.”