U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as protestors hold their hands in the air during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine the national security supplemental request, on Capitol Hill, Oct. 31, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Dozens of protesters shouting “Ceasefire now!” repeatedly disrupted a Senate hearing where top Biden Administration officials were seeking emergency wartime assistance funds for Israel and Ukraine.

Sen. Patty Murray, the Washington Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked the Capitol police to remove protesters from the room at least six times.

The protesters waited until Secretary of State Antony Blinken, began his testimony, allowing Murray and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the committee, to deliver their opening remarks without interruption.

Blinken, who is Jewish, appeared to be the main target of the protesters. By the time Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary began his testimony, the protesters appear to have stopped their outcries, although a contingent remained behind, raising hands stained with fake blood.

“Palestinians aren’t animals!” one woman screamed. “Stop funding the genocide!”  Some of the protesters belonged to the Codepink, a woman’s antiwar protest group. In each instance, protesters chanted, “Ceasefire now!”

Another chant was, “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go,” reflecting a bid by some on the progressive left to link the U.S. migrant crisis to Israeli actions on its border with the Gaza Strip.

Invading Hamas terrorists from Gaza killed more than 1,400 people, wounded thousands and abducted at least 240 people on Oct. 7. Israel has pounded Gaza with air strikes since then and in recent days began a ground incursion. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says that more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed, including thousands of children.

Blinken and Austin said the emergency funds were needed to assist two U.S. allied democracies at a time of crisis. Ukraine has been repelling a Russian invasion for more than 18 months.

As he closed his comments, Blinken also nodded toward the concerns of the protesters.

“I also hear very much passion [being] expressed in this room and outside this room,” he said. “All of us are committed to the protection of civilian life. All of us know the suffering that is taking place as we speak. All of us are determined to see it end. But all of us know the imperative of standing up with our allies and partners when their security, when their democracies are threatened. That’s what’s happening now. We stand resolutely with them even as we stand resolutely for the protection of innocent civilians.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount