Protest at King County Dems Meeting concerning alleged U.S.-backed genocide of Palestinians

By Donald A. Smith

At the Sunday Feb 11 meeting of the King County Democrats in Seattle, a pro-Palestinian protester interrupted a speech by Representative Kim Schrier (D, WA-CD8), accusing her of aiding Israeli genocide of Palestinians.

In the video below -- I apologize for the low quality during parts of the video -- you can see the protester disrupt Rep. Schrier at 0:50. "Cease Fire! Cease Fire now! You are killing innocent Palestinian children."

Two informal security personnel slowly push the protester out of the room.

Starting at 1:55, someone steps to the podium -- this must have been coordinated -- and reads the URGENT RESOLUTION In Support of Continued US Funding of the UN Agency Providing Relief to 1.9 Million Palestinians and a Ceasefire in Gaza to Ease Civilian Suffering, which was passed by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee at their meeting in Bellingham on January 28, 2024. "The Washington Democratic Party supports a ceasefire to immediately ease the suffering of 1.9 million displaced people being cared for by the UNRWA, and strongly urges the US Government to continue funding the UNRWA as it works to provide long-term support on the ground in the region."

Near the end of the video, I take a knee in solidarity with the protest.

Rep. Schrier later resumes her speech and blames Hamas for the war.

Earlier in the meeting, a similar protester briefly disrupted Rep. Adam Smith (D, WA-CD9) during his short speech.

At the meeting Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-CD7) said that she supports a ceasefire in Gaza, and she was applauded for saying so. She voted for H.R. 786 - Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine, but neither Rep. Smith nor Rep. Schrier voted for the resolution.

Both the Hamas invasion and the disproportionate Israeli reprisal were criminal, because they both killed civilians. Both were provoked. Neither was justified. But Israel has been oppressing Palestinians for decades.