CNN This Morning Weekend
November 5, 2023
7:20 a.m. Eastern
AMARA WALKER: Across the world, thousands took to the streets to show support for Palestinians and protest Israel's bombardment of Gaza. In Paris, Indonesia, Berlin and Washington, D.C., people gathered, many carrying Palestinian flags and signs calling for the violence to end. Since the start of the war, almost 10,000 people have died in Gaza. That is according to the Hamas-controlled health ministries there. Many of them were civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PROTESTER: Free Palestine!
CHANTING CROWED: Free, free Palestine!
VICTOR BLACKWELL: One of the largest crowds took over Freedom Plaza by the National Mall in Washington -- more than 450 organizations endorsed the march, and multiple organizers directly addressed President Biden. Here's CNN's Gabe Cohen.
GABE COHEN: Well, thousands of protesters marched through Washington and ended up here at the White House after that huge rally just a few blocks away at Freedom Plaza. Hours of speakers who called for an end to the bombings and the ground operations in Gaza but also demanding that the White House and President Joe Biden call for a ceasefire and end its unequivocal support for Israel, saying that could be a serious political issue for the President in 2024 if he does not call for that ceasefire. Here's what some of those protesters told me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PROTESTER #2: My message to President Biden is: I voted for you, and I regret it.
COHEN: Will you vote for him in 2024?
PROTESTER #2: Absolutely not
RIBHI, PROTESTER: Am I going to vote for him? I'm not going to vote for him because he's supporting Israel. He's asking for $13 billion to do more killing of the Palestinian people.
COHEN: Now, organizers told me they hoped this would be the largest Free Palestine rally in U.S. history. And while I can't confirm that, I can tell it's the largest one I have seen here in Washington since the war began last month.