In Washington, DC: Celebrating Ramadan, protesting Israel’s siege of Gaza
Al Jazeera
Protesters say iftar at long-haul demonstration is a chance to connect, show depths of outrage over Gaza war.
Washington, DC – Forty-eight folding chairs, but will it be enough?
“It’s OK, some of us will stand,” said 60-year-old Haitham Arafat, a soft-spoken, bespectacled man in a keffiyeh and a canary yellow shirt.
But soon, more chairs arrived, and were quickly lined up along 40 metres (131 feet) of table that stretched along a street facing the Israeli embassy in the northwest corner of this US capital city. A row of Ramadan lanterns lit the place settings ahead of the iftar meal.
“We break fast here every day,” said Arafat, who has been coming to the embassy for the last 21 days as part of a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week protest. “But today is special.”
The long-haul demonstration began 35 days ago, inspired by a sister demonstration outside the Virginia home of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. That protest – dubbed Kibbutz Blinken – has been going for 68 consecutive days.
