(NewsNation) — Approximately 200 protesters have been arrested after they gathered in the Cannon Rotunda to protest the Israeli government, according to U.S. Capitol Police.
Organizers of the demonstration say they are from Jewish Voice for Peace, an American anti-Zionist Jewish advocacy organization that is “critical of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories,” according to its website.
Video from the protest shows dozens wearing red shirts sitting in circles in the Cannon House Office Building’s rotunda. The demonstrators wore shirts reading “Stop Arming Israel” and “Not in Our Name.”
The protest comes as President Joe Biden is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, a U.S. official confirmed to NewsNation. Netanyahu will also address Congress during his U.S. visit.
Capitol Police have cleared out all the demonstrators from the rotunda, writing on X that, “We told the people, who legally entered, to stop or they would be arrested. They did not stop, so we are arresting them.”
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