ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Outside the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee meeting at the Americus Hotel in Allentown Friday night stood a table of individuals dressed as politicians.
They included President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, feasting upon a dinner of "rubble and blood."
Demonstrators handed out copies of the “The Mourning Call,” reporting on the elections set for November 2024.
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild passed the table, averting her eyes and avoiding responses to the calls of the protesters as she headed toward the hotel.
Inside, committee members themselves sat down to "a grandiose meal," protest organizers said, as the demonstration outside was “meant to underscore the dire consequences of Joe Biden, Bob Casey, and Susan Wild choosing support from pro-Israel super PACs over their constituents.”
“I think it's a bunch of bulls*** from the city council members. In Easton, for example, the mayor went to Israel himself a few years back. A lot of folks on that council know about what's been happening. And Allentown, for example, has a sister city with Israel. So there are ties to Israel, the state itself has Israeli bonds."Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition member Raya Abdelaal
Organized by the Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition, the event was meant to hold up “an exact mirror; a reality mirror,” to the people inside the hotel, said organizer for the Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition Raya Abdelaal.
Others involved included the local Lehigh Valley Muslim community, faith leaders, members of the Jewish Voice for Peace Lehigh Valley, Muslim Youth Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley Democratic Socialists of America, Lehigh Valley Stands Up, Lehigh Valley Artists for Palestine, and student-led groups from local colleges and universities.
They hope the presentation will help politicians recognize demands for a halt to military aid in Israel, a divestment from all Israeli bonds, and an end to the events in Gaza and the occupation of the territory and the West Bank.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7 in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons, who is a member of the Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition, said the event was set up when the group caught wind that the Democrats would be holding their meeting in Allentown.
He said organizers saw it as “an opportunity to talk about the electoral implications and our dissatisfaction with the leadership in the party with regard to the genocide in Gaza.
“We’re timing the event to occur when they're having a reception dinner inside the hotel," said Irons, a Democrat. "And the theater is sort of demonstrating the irony of private dining, and business as usual, while in Gaza, they're dealing with famine and starvation, and obviously, explosions and displacement of people.
“And so the dinner theater will show the results of genocide. We'll see people eating rubble off plates. We'll see bloodstained clothes and tablecloths and that sort of thing and have some other interactive elements as well around that presentation."
Irons said he hopes to push a narrative about the dissatisfaction experienced by Democrats as they see the Biden administration continue to provide support to Israel in Gaza.
On Friday in Washington, Biden urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release the remaining hostages and agree to an extended cease-fire.
He detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the nearly 8-month-old Mideast war.
As pedestrians and drivers passed by the table outside the Americus on Friday night, there were an assortment of honks and shouts of support in addition to more livid and angry calls, said Jeremy Zallen, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace Lehigh Valley.
Abdelaal, who is Palestinian, and her parents have both acted as activists for Palestinians.
She has seen the impact of Gaza on a local level, and how it affects those who have come from the region, in addition to those who support the Palestinian people, she said.
“I came here when I was eight, so I grew up hearing about the Holocaust. And I always wondered, ‘How do people not stop that?” Witnessing this, to me, has explained to me a lot about humanity and how people aren't willing to stand up for what's right,” Abdelaal said.
As groups like Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition and other organizations have staged demonstrations and protests across the area, one question has arisen time and again: What does this have to do with local, or even state, government?
“I think it's a bunch of bulls*** from the city council members. In Easton, for example, the mayor went to Israel himself a few years back. A lot of folks on that council know about what's been happening. And Allentown, for example, has a sister city with Israel. So there are ties to Israel, the state itself has Israeli bonds,” Abdelaal said, adding the bonds between federal, state, and local politicians are apparent.
Irons concurred, noting “this genocide has been enabled by decisions at all levels of American government.”
“It comes from silence at a local level, and this sort of passing the buck and pretending like there's nothing we can do,” Irons said, adding the actions of politicians at the local, state, and federal level have contributed to the chaos, and “if we're not speaking up and doing everything we can to stop it, then we're not doing enough.”
Asked what she hoped would happen as the Democrats at the state committee meeting left the event, Abdelaal offered a simple response.
“I think it would be jarring if I was a politician, and if I was walking outside and I saw someone dressed as me doing that, maybe I would pause and think ‘What the hell am I doing?’" she said. "And if not, at least it's symbolic to the people around us that will see it.”
