Dallas, TX – On Thursday, March 21, members of Palestinian Youth Movement, DFW Anti-War Committee and other Palestine supporters engaged in a 5:30 a.m. noise demonstration outside President Joe Biden’s lodgings at the Fairmont Hotel, lasting until Biden’s speedy departure at 10:30 a.m.

Demonstrators banged pots and pans, blew whistles, set off air horns, and in one case played a harmonium. The crowd of about 100 chanted, “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace!” and “Wake up Biden! You can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!”

Banners demanding an end to the siege were tied to metal barricades lining the street, and the barricades also served as a loud surface on which to bang pots and pans. The sound of the demonstration bounced off the tall downtown buildings and was audible from several blocks away.

When Biden’s scheduled departure grew nearer, the demonstration shifted from in front of the hotel to an adjacent public street corner along Biden’s planned route. Police initially told protesters they would have to move further down the sidewalk, but the demonstration ultimately remained at the location along Biden’s route. Police responded by lining the street in front of the demonstration with police cars.

Police rearranged themselves and the barricades several times leading up to Biden’s exodus from the hotel, and Biden ultimately left an hour later than his scheduled departure. As his car sped away, the crowd’s shouts of “Shame on you” rang after him.

“Every single place Joe Biden goes, he should be afraid to be confronted by people like us,” said Nidaa Lafi of Palestinian Youth Movement. “He should be afraid to be confronted by people of conscience, people who will stand right in his face and say he is a genocide supporter! He is a child killer!”

In the last 150 days, the Biden administration has used a congressional loophole to make over 100 weapons transfers to Israel without notifying Congress. Two of those deals bypassed Congress when they would have otherwise required its approval. On the day the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must do more to prevent civilian deaths and allow aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza, the Biden administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the UN organization charged with providing such aid. The U.S. has been the sole veto blocking all three United Nations ceasefire resolutions.

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