Pro-Palestinian demonstrators crashed a high-dollar dinner with the US president as the skies opened up in Washington DC on Wednesday evening. The situation quickly erupted after the president entered a local establishment, bringing media and curious onlookers out on the streets. The demonstrators, who challenged the deeply harmful social consequences of the president’s profoundly neoliberal governance, adopted chants that made their solidarity with Palestine clear.
Just as the administration’s president was making himself comfortable within the venue, a wave of protestors started to chant “Free Palestine.” Their voices carried their presence heavily across the joint. Once they were there, their intensity built quickly. Chants broke out, including the message, “Trump is the Hitler of our time,” as protesters launched a blistering attack against the president. That kind of sharp rhetoric was purposely chosen to make clear their frustration. Beyond that, they were angry at his administration’s approach to a largely hostile Middle East.
Because the commotion affected the ambiance of customers inside the restaurant, there were increased security measures. Restaurant staff and private security acted quickly and dragged the protesters out of the restaurant. And even after their elimination, the protesters kept protesting inside the gym to demand that the for-profit establishment listen to their demands.
The protest reflects a rising anger among many in the environmental and Indigenous communities towards US foreign policy in the region. The demonstrators aimed to draw attention to their cause and express their frustrations with the leadership’s approach to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Witnesses said that the incident received a standing ovation from customers inside the Five Guys. Many seemed supportive of the protesters’ message, but others looked visibly disturbed about the disruption of the big presidential dinner. The incident galvanized the chasm separating domestic Americans, by race and ethnicity, and their sentiments towards global problems and global peoples.