U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, with “VOTE” printed on her dress, gesture to supporters at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images/TNS)
Opponents to President Joe Biden’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza showed up in Raleigh on Friday to voice their anger as they have in the Triangle and around the country for months.
The protesters represented various groups opposing Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territory but they were unified in their call for Biden to push for a ceasefire and pull the United States’ aid to Israel.
“From Raleigh to Palestine, we are the red line,” the protesters chanted. “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide, Gaza is our red line.”
Nearly 75 protesters with Palestinian flags and banners calling for Biden to “stop arming Israel” gathered outside the North Carolina State Fairgrounds by 12:45 pm, before Biden’s campaign rally.
A handful of demonstrators stood outside Gate 9, where registered rally attenders were entering the fairgrounds. About 30 other pro-Palestinian protesters stood on Trinity Road with flags and signs as they chanted “Free, free Palestine!”
Several cars honked in support as they waited in line to get to the Biden rally.
Farrah Khan was the first protester to arrive on the scene, holding a sign calling for a “ceasefire now.” A Raleigh resident, Khan said she voted for Biden in 2020, but she won’t in 2024. While she will still vote for the next president, she is still deciding who she will cast a ballot for.
“He has lost my vote and he will lose millions of other votes in an election that is so contested right now,” Khan said. “This is not a good strategy for him because this is not what the people want.”
Ruby Sinreich, a Jewish Durham resident and a member of Mothers for Ceasefire present at the protest, said she is concerned by Biden’s support for Israel. Sinreich wants Biden to be the “visionary leader” that ends the United States’ “unconditional support of Israel.”
“No matter what he says, you can see through his actions,” she said. “He’s doing everything possible to go around Congress to fund Israel and I think he’s risking losing the election by supporting Israel so strongly.”
Sinreich said she registered to attend the Biden rally, but she was unable to enter the fairgrounds because she did not have a table on her registration.
Noor Abualhawa, a Palestinian-American native to Raleigh, called on Biden to invest American tax dollars back into the United States rather than providing aid to Israel.
“First, we need an immediate ceasefire. Biden is basically pretending like he doesn’t have that power, but we know that if Biden picked up the phone in a minute, he could end this war,” she said.
The protest was organized by Triangle Jewish Voice for Peace, Mothers for Ceasefire, UNC Students for Justice in Palestine, Demilitarize! Raleigh to Palestine Coalition, Raleigh Party for Socialism and Liberation and Raleigh Palestine Car Convoy.
The organizations planned the protest to demand that Biden “stop arming Israel when it commits genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to a press release.
“Despite widespread condemnation from the international community for Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, in April, the Biden administration approved over $14 billion in military funding and weapons to the Israeli government, giving Netanyahu the greenlight to continue their indiscriminate attacks,” the press release states.
Penny Laprebendere, another protester outside the fairgrounds, was there because she saw a social media post from Triangle Jewish Voice for Peace about the organized pro-Palestinian protest outside the Biden rally, she said.
Laprebendere also voted for Biden in 2020, but is unsure who she will vote for in 2024 because she is unhappy that Biden has not called for a ceasefire in Gaza or paused funds provided to Israel.
“I’m really disappointed with both parties right now and most of my disappointment with the Democratic Party is the way they’re carrying out this war in Gaza,” she said.
A few hundred feet away from the protesters calling on Biden to take action in Gaza, a small number of Trump supporters also gathered to protest outside the Biden rally at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. A few residents in the apartments across Trinity Road flew “Trump 2024” flags.
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