Thousands of people gathered in Washington DC this week to protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. During his speech, the Israeli prime minister described Israel’s assault on Gaza as “a clash between barbarism and civilisation”, claimed that allegations of war crimes are merely antisemitic propaganda and accused pro-Palestine protesters of “choosing to stand with evil”. He thanked the US for its support, but called for more military funding to finish the job, paraphrasing Winston Churchill, saying “Give us the tools faster and we’ll finish the job faster.”

The backlash wasn’t just limited to pro-Palestine activists. Nancy Pelosi didn’t attend the address and later criticised it as being “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary”. While she made sure to couch her comments in a broader assertion of support for Israel, this was still a surprisingly harsh remark for such a mainstream political figure. On the other hand, the Democrats don’t deserve too much credit for snubbing the event (as over 130 of them did, including Kamala Harris) or criticising Netanyahu’s speech.

For some time now it has been the strategy of the Democratic leadership – and liberal Zionists more broadly – to blame the excesses of Israel’s response entirely on Netanyahu (they still blame the war itself on Palestinians), to position him as an aberration within Israeli politics, and to support an opposition politician named Benny Gantz as his successor (when it comes to the rights of Palestinians, Gantz is just as bad). While it’s better than nothing that the Democrats have become more willing to criticise Netanyahu, this should be taken with a pinch of salt – it doesn’t necessarily indicate a shift in policy that would make any difference to life on the ground for people in either Gaza or the West Bank. For many of them, the ultimate goal in singling out Netanyahu is to preserve the prestige of Israel, rather than to secure freedom for Palestinians.

But at the very least, the clamour of criticism shows that Netayanhu’s standing as an international figure has been badly damaged by the ongoing investigations and legal action against him. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, including the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, murder, extermination, and intentional attacks on civilians. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), more recently, issued an advisory ruling that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and must be brought to an end. Supporting the argument that Israel is an apartheid state, the court also found that Israeli restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied territories constitute “systemic discrimination based on [...] race, religion or ethnic origin”. This ruling is not legally binding, but it is politically significant – and based on the reaction of many Democrats to Netanyahu’s address, it looks like we’re already beginning to see its effects.

The response from protesters to Netayahu’s address was enormous and varied. From paper mache puppets to buckets of maggots, here are some of the ways that people expressed their dissent and demanded an end to the assault on Gaza.

RASHIDA TLAIB PUT HER COLLEAGUES TO SHAME

Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman from Michigan, attended the session wearing a Palestine pin and scarf, and held up signs reading ‘WAR CRIMINAL’ and ‘GUILTY OF GENOCIDE’. While most of her colleagues whooped and cheered as Netanyahu justified the ongoing massacre of her people, Tlaib was a picture of courage, dignity and resistance.

THE WATERGATE HOTEL DESCENDED INTO CHAOS

A giant ‘WANTED’ poster was projected onto the side of the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu was staying, and fire alarms were set off throughout the night before his speech, both of which sound fairly straightforward. But protestors also somehow managed to get past security, enter the building and release a bucket of writhing maggots onto his dining table – it’s hard to believe that such a crazy political incident could happen at the Watergate hotel, of all places. Did they go in disguised as waiters? Did they have an inside man? Did they have to abseil down an elevator shaft or acrobat their way through one of those laser security grids? We need a glitzy, Oceans 11-style heist film about how they pulled this off.

PEOPLE GOT CREATIVE

At the protests on Wednesday, there were all the flags and placards you’d expect, but some people got a bit more crafty with it, reaching for the glue guns and paper mache. Activists carried a huge Netanyahu head puppet, flanked by two blood-stand hands; they held aloft paper poppies; they left behind cardboard coffins bearing the Palestinian flag; one group staged a theatrical performance by inviting people to arrest an actor wearing a Netanyahu mask and dressed as a cartoon prison inmate; and other people burned an effigy of him outside Union Station.

CONGRESS WAS TAKEN OVER

On Tuesday (July 23), 400 Jewish Voice for Peace protesters staged an occupation of the Cannon House Office, which forms part of the US Congress. The group gathered in the rotunda at the centre of the building, wearing red t-shirts which read “Jews say stop arming Israel” and carrying flags which read “let Gaza live.” 200 people were eventually arrested, led away by the police as the defiant crowd clapped and sang.

In a statement released prior to the demonstration, the group’s executive director, Stefanie Fox, said, “For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government has carried out a genocide, armed and funded by the US Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today. Instead, our president is preparing to meet with Netanyahu and Congressional leadership has honored him with an invitation to address Congress. Enough is enough. Biden and Congress must listen to the people: We need an arms embargo now to save lives.”