WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Friday afternoon hundreds gathered along the National Mall in D.C. to pray and call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The protest was organized by American Muslims for Palestine.
After prayers, they marched to the front of the White House. Together they chanted "Free Palestine" and "No justice, no peace".
Many held up signs as the crowds marched through the street.
"The reason we are all out here is in support to end the current atrocity going on that is the current war," said Khalid Adnan.
Some in the crowd told WUSA9 they have family in Gaza, but others were just there to show support for Palestinians.
"It doesn't make sense how they're being treated like that when they're human just like everyone else," said one of the participants.
Meanwhile, at his home in Reston, Joe Rauschenberger echoed the same sentiment. His sister, Emilee Abu Hamad, her husband, and their five children are trapped in Gaza he says.
"We wait for her to give us a Viber or WhatsApp thumbs up that they made it through a night of bombing," he said.
He told WUSA9 that his sister is a former school teacher. She taught in D.C. and Baltimore and was an education policy professional. He says she moved to the United Kingdom to help work for the Teach For America program and has dual citizenship there and in the U.S.
According to Rauschenberger, his sister, her husband and their children were visiting family in Gaza when everything began unfolding.
"They're running out of water. They're in an apartment with 27 other people sheltering. They're stuck in a warzone with bombs dropping on their head 12 days in row," said Rauschenberger.
Both he and many of the protestors in D.C. shared the same message, that there need to be a ceasefire.
"We've got to stop war," said Rauschenberger.
"Peace is the only solution it should be done on paper. War is never the answer," said Adnan.
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