Hamilton rabbi among hundreds arrested in pro-Palestinian protest in Washington gets fine and released | CBC News

A Hamilton rabbi is back in Ontario this week after being arrested along with other protesters in Washington, D.C., during demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

David Mivasair, who is fifth-generation American Jewish and has been living in Hamilton for 28 years, was among demonstrators who entered the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Oct. 18, wearing shirts that said “not in our name.”

Protest organizer Jewish Voice for Peace said around 500 people were arrested, while The Associated Press reported there were 300 arrests.

“Many, many Jews are in deep pain and anguish about what Israel is doing. We are literally crying,” Mivasair told CBC Hamilton after his arrest and subsequent release.

The rabbi, a controversial voice in the Jewish community, has been outspoken against Israel and is a member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada. 

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says in a statement released on social media that at least 5,791 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, the day the militant group launched its assault on Israel.

According to Israeli officials, more than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas attack. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel’s military has said.

In the interview with CBC, Mivasair said Jewish people have “a responsibility to speak out about” the toll the war is taking on Gaza.

He’s calling for the U.S. to stop providing military aid to Israel and blames Americans for fuelling the war.

Demonstrators held at warehouse

U.S. Capitol Police arrested Mivasair and the other demonstrators around 4 p.m. ET and held them at a large warehouse until they were released around 1:30 a.m., Mivasair said. He was fined $50 US, released and took a flight back to Canada on Thursday morning. 

Police said on X, formerly known as Twitter, last week that a “group of protesters are demonstrating inside the Cannon Rotunda. Demonstrations are not allowed inside Congressional Buildings…. We warned the protesters to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them.”

Mivasair was charged under D.C. Code 22–1307, which Capitol Police said includes crowding, obstructing or incommoding — a routine charge for illegally demonstrating inside the congressional buildings.

Police said three people were also charged with assaulting a police officer.

“We shut down congress to draw mass attention to the U.S. complicity in Israel’s ongoing oppression of Palestinians,” Jewish Voice for Peace said on X. 

U.S. President Joe Biden said last week it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel to succeed in its war against Hamas. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also said Israel has the “right to defend itself in accordance with international law.”

Mivasair said he travelled to D.C. prepared to get arrested, and sang, chanted and prayed while being detained.

“I blew a Shofar, which is a ram’s horn that’s used in our traditions to literally wake up sinners and to be a warning,” he said. 

He said the protest was organized in “less than three days,” indicating “the passion and the commitment of so many of us.” He also said the U.S. had the power to stop what he refers to as a “genocide” of Palestinian people. 

On the same day as the protest, Israel said it would allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

‘He took a risk,’ Jewish activist says of Mivasair

Hamilton Jewish activist Keturah Edwards said Mivasair took a risk when he travelled to Washington to be a part of the demonstration.

“I’m proud of him … he took a risk, and it was a risk that’s an important one. And I’m incredibly inspired and proud to say that he’s my rabbi and that he is doing what little we all can do to spread awareness,” Edwards said.

Like Mivasair, Edwards is calling for a “ceasefire,” adding, “I’m not sure how we can ever make this up to the Palestinian people.”

“I think everyone is guilty of being complicit in this and we need to do our best to call Israel out and to call the U.S. and Canada and Europe out for their complicity,” Edwards said.

Gustavo Rymberg, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Hamilton, told CBC he has “nothing to comment about Mr. Mivasair.”

Other Jewish groups, such as B’nai Brith Canada, have called Mivasair’s views examples of “anti-Zionism” and “antisemitism.”

Rymberg said in an emailed statement that he’d instead like to bring attention to the “acts of brutality” by Hamas on Israelis and called on Canadians to stand with Israel. 

“We must remain united, resilient and steadfast in conveying a unified message… This sense of collective responsibility is more crucial now than ever before.”