Pro-Palestinian protesters showed up near the memorial service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter to engage with President Biden as his motorcade passed.
“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!” the crowd screamed as Biden approached the service, which was held at the Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta.
“End all U.S. aid to Israel” and “Ceasefire now! Stop Israel and Biden’s genocide,” read some of the signs among demonstrators.
The move was widely criticized, especially given former President Jimmy Carter's longstanding support for a two-state solution and peace in the region.
But according to the protest's organizer, the group's focus was Biden, not Carter.
The appearance of Biden at the tribute ceremony drew a small group of demonstrators who gathered along the motorcade route in Atlanta with signs with slogans such as “Free Palestine.” An organizer of the protest said the group is calling for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Palestine and for the American government to stop sending to money to the Israeli government.
“We’re not here to disrupt Rosalynn Carter’s tribute,” said Satya Vati with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which organized the protest. “We’re joining the millions of people across the country that are going wherever Biden is going and protesting him.” (Nebraska Examiner)
I was there. The protest was well down the road from the funeral to protest Biden's motorcade as it passed by. It was not remotely close enough to disrupt the event itself. https://t.co/bCBwVepAI0
— The Socialist Shelf (@SocialistShelf) November 29, 2023
Still, the optics were blasted.
Jimmy Carter has the most pro-Palestinian views of any American President, no other prominent politician in the U.S. has ever stuck up for them the way he has. He even wrote a book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
— Dr. Benjamin Braddock (@GraduatedBen) November 28, 2023
And the activists still protested at his wife’s funeral. Scum. https://t.co/PPC4kjBczz pic.twitter.com/CCDYQHid7Q
Pro-Hamas sympathizers are yelling outside the memorial service for former First Lady Rosalyn Carter.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) November 28, 2023
This is completely inappropriate and disrespectful.