Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza disrupted testimony by Secretary of State Antony Blinken before a Senate committee on Tuesday. As Blinken tried to make his opening remarks to members of the appropriations panel, a member of the Code Pink antiwar group shouted "Save the children of Gaza!" and "Ceasefire now!" reports the Wall Street Journal. After he was escorted out and Blinken started again, another individual stood and did much the same, per the Hill, which notes that the scenario played out multiple times. Other protesters remained seated throughout the hearing with their hands, which were painted red to symbolize blood, in the air.
"Stop funding this brutal massacre that Israel is doing on the people of Gaza!" one of the protesters who was escorted out shouted. Blinken was there along with defense chief Lloyd Austin to make the case for more US military aid not only to Israel but to Ukraine. Blinken addressed the protesters at one point, saying he could "hear, very much, the passions expressed" by them. "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. ... But all of us know the imperative of standing up with our allies and partners when their security, when their democracies are threatened." (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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