SCRANTON – Protesters interrupted a Democratic campaign in Scranton to draw attention to Israel’s use of U.S. weapons in its ongoing war in Gaza. The small group is pressing both Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s campaigns to address American involvement in the conflict during their teams’ visits to battleground state Pennsylvania ahead of the presidential election.
Law enforcement escorted protesters from the event on Friday four separate times during Walz’s speech, although no arrests were made. Walz did not respond to the protesters’ demand for a U.S. embargo on arms sales to Israel. The U.S. has provided $17.9 billion in military assistance to Israel since the conflict began, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.
“It sickens me to hear candidates on both sides, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, saying that Israel is not breaking international law even though they are,” protester Ariel Haber-Fawcett, 23, said.
Haber-Fawcett, from Easton, Pa., was one of at least four protesters who shouted various statements in favor of Palestine during Walz’s speech. She is part of No Ceasefire No Vote PA, an effort paid for by super PAC Unity and Justice, to encourage Pennsylvanians to withhold their votes over this issue.
Other attendees in the crowd drowned out protesters’ calls with chants of “Coach!” – a nod to the governor’s time as a high school football coach.
“I think it’s awful what’s happening to the Palestinians,” said Scranton resident Patty Hannon, 72, though she isn’t worried about the Israel-Hamas conflict blocking a Harris-Walz win.
Democratic and Republican politicians and activists are descending on swing state Pennsylvania in the home stretch of a toss-up election to win voters’ confidence on issues including inflation, jobs, immigration and reproductive rights. However, neither Harris nor Trump have indicated specific support for an arms embargo.
The presidential race in Pennsylvania is neck and neck, with a polling average of less than half a percentage point between the two candidates. Trump carried the state to victory in 2016, and it went to President Biden in 2020.
“I’ve been voting Democrat, holding my nose and doing it for the longest time, and this is just the final straw for me,” Zachary Koehler, a 38 year-old from Quakertown, Pa., said while protesting outside of Walz’s rally. Koehler plans to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein this election because he’s unsatisfied with the U.S. response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Haber-Fawcett voted for President Biden in 2020 but has no plans to vote for Harris this cycle. “I don’t want my name to be signing off on killing Palestinians in Gaza, so I’m not going to vote for her unless there’s an arms embargo by November 5,” she said.
(Additional reporting by Nino Paoli.)
