Betsey Piette, 76, said she wants Fetterman to "stop voting for war funding to Israel." (Emily Neil/WHYY)
From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!
On Friday, dozens of people gathered in front of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office building in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood, marking the 100th peace vigil for Gaza hosted by grassroots advocacy group Fridays at Fetterman’s.
Ahead of a 24-hour encampment, which ended Saturday morning, speakers voiced their demands that Fetterman and other legislators block military funding of Israel and advocate for aid into Gaza.
Fetterman’s office did not respond to WHYY News’ request for comment.
“Numerous people have asked me, ‘What about the ceasefire? Why are you all doing this today?’” said Terry Rumsey, co-coordinator of Fridays at Fetterman’s. “And my answer to that is I’m anxiously waiting for it to happen.”
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinians in bombings since a ceasefire agreement was announced two weeks ago. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to the killing of two Israeli soldiers in Rafah. Hamas, the political organization that governs the Gaza Strip, denied involvement in the attack.
On Friday, Rumsey led supporters in a chant: “Trump, Fetterman, Congress: stop starving Gaza,” and “Not another bomb.”
“We’re being duped into thinking that something ended,” Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, of Jewish Voice for Peace Philly, told the crowd. “Very little ended. The suffering is deep now, and the suffering is ongoing every single day.”
Liebling said stories of imprisoned Palestinians released by Israel as part of the ceasefire negotiations returning home to find destruction and loss are reminiscent of his own parents’ experiences as Holocaust survivors.
“My parents lived in a bunker for the last year of the war, and the day they were freed … they came out, and there was nothing,” he said. “I remember my mother saying they had no place to sleep that night, no place to go. They had to return to the bunker that they lived in for a year, because it was the only place they could find to sleep. Everything had been destroyed. How horrific that what Israel is doing has done the same thing.”
Maynard Seider, 82, a Chestnut Hill resident and retired teacher, said advocates need to continue to pressure politicians to defend the rights of Palestinians and let vital resources into Gaza in order to address the humanitarian crisis there.
“Right now is obviously a crucial time, given the ceasefire not really holding in Gaza, food not getting in as much as it could, medicine not getting in, and all of the rest,” he said.
Seider said he wants Fetterman “to get behind the ban the bomb bill to stop sending offensive weapons to Israel and to be out there really speaking for ending the genocide.”
Betsey Piette, 76, a retired accountant and East Falls resident, didn’t realize it was the 100th vigil for the advocacy group, but said she has been active in raising awareness around Gaza and wanted to join the gathering Friday.
She said her message to Fetterman, who has been outspoken in his support of Israel, is simple.
“Stop voting for war funding to Israel,” Piette said. “I mean, we have sent them in the last two years, I think it’s $30 billion dollars, and we can’t pass a budget … because we’re arguing over, is there enough money for health care and SNAP programs? Programs that people need, but yet we could just keep sending money and money and money and bombs, and, you know, military equipment to Israel, and Fetterman keeps voting for that.”
State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Philadelphia, spoke at Friday’s vigil, and told WHYY News that Fetterman “has shown that he is just a politician when we need more public servants in office.”
“The level of cruelty, derisiveness he has displayed against young people who are on the front lines, risking their lives, risking their educational futures at encampments, people expressing their First Amendment rights, who are doing so nonviolently, that’s unacceptable,” he said. “And it’s even worse when it’s coming from someone whose platforms seem to be congruous with issues around social justice.”
Rabb, who is running for the 3rd congressional district seat, said he is currently working on legislation in the state House to divest from Israel.
“On the state level, there are laws on the books that give Israel special status in terms of contractors, in terms of taxpayer money that supports Israel bonds, investments on behalf of the commonwealth that are not appropriate,” he said.
Around 150 people participated in one or more of the events that took place throughout the 24-hour encampment, said Robin Lasersohn, co-coordinator of Fridays at Fetterman’s, with about 20 people camping out for the night.
“I think as tired as we are today, we’ll all walk away feeling stronger, more determined, more inspired to continue to seek and give birth to a world where peace and justice for all people in Palestine, Israel, the entire Middle East, indeed, the world, will be possible,” she said.