Anti-Israel protestors released maggots at Watergate Hotel the night before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a joint address to Congress (left) (Pictures: AFP/Getty Images)
Anti-Israel protestors released maggots at a US hotel and caused chaos as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vigorously defended the Gaza War before American lawmakers.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s joint session address to Congress, the Palestinian Youth Movement’s DMV chapter shared a video showing a pile a squirming mealworms, crickets and maggots on a table at a famed hotel in Washington, DC, where Netanyahu is staying.
‘BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONIST’S WAR TABLE!’ the group captioned the video on social media on Wednesday morning.
‘Palestine protestors manufactured chaos at the Watergate Hotel last night so that Netanyahu, Israeli Mossad agents, and the Secret Service had no peace as they continue to terrorize our people.’
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The Palestinian Youth Movement’s DMV chapter claimed responsibility for releasing maggots, mealworms and crickets at Watergate Hotel (Picture: Getty Images)
Larvae were recorded crawling across a table with water glasses and with the Israeli and American flags in the background. A source told The Washington Post that the footage appeared authentic.
The group claimed responsibility for the stomach-churning act just hours before Netanyahu delivered a forceful defense of the Gaza War and labeled protestors outside the Capitol ‘Tehran’s useful idiots’.
Netanyahu called the war a ‘clash between barbarism and civilization’ and insisted that Israel will win.
‘We will settle for no less,’ he said.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (front) addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday afternoon (Picture: Reuters)
The Prime Minister also called for continued arms from the US: ‘Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.’
Netanyahu made no mention of a cease-fire. However, he brought up a deal between Israel and Hamas and said the conflict could conclude if Hamas surrenders, returns hostages and disarms.
The Prime Minister said ‘a new Gaza could emerge’ after Israel beats Hamas, and that Israel does not plan to ‘resettle’ Gaza.
He received applause when he said that many pro-Palestinian demonstrators ‘choose to stand with evil’ and ‘should be ashamed of themselves’.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday (Picture: AP)
US Capitol Police clash with pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill (Picture: Reuters)
‘For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now, outside this building,’ Netanyahu said.
Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news
Follow us to receive the latest news updates from Metro (Picture: Getty Images)
Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.
In a chaotic scene outside, hundreds of protesters swarmed Union Station and blocked traffic.
‘Palestine will live forever!’ they chanted, as many waved Palestinian flags and some scaled the Christopher Columbus memorial.
Protestors also set fire to an effigy of Netanyahu outside Union Station, sending black smoke into the air. They sprayed graffiti protesting the war on a bell outside the station and raised the Palestine flag on a pole.
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag near a line of US Capitol Police officers with bikes, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill (Picture: Reuters)
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator gets her eyes washed after police used pepper spray (Picture: Reuters)
‘Part of the crowd has started to become violent at First Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line,’ stated Capitol Police.
‘We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line.’
Capitol Police arrested at least three people during the demonstration, NBC News reported. Two men and a woman donning yellow shirts stating, ‘SEAL THE DEAL NOW’ were escorted away in zip-tie cuffs.
An alarm sounded at Watergate Hotel and DC Fire inspectors stationed there ‘at the request of the United States Secret Service’ later ‘determined there was no fire emergency and any fire department response was cancelled’, an agency spokesperson told The Post.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.