Washington Post’s blackout of Gaza demonstration sparks protests

Protesters braved the frigid weather to demonstrate at the Washington Post building in downtown Washington, D.C.

Demonstrators dump newspapers at the Washington Post building, Washington, D.C., Jan. 16.

The Jan. 16 “Tell The Truth: Dump the Post” demonstration drew attention to the newspaper’s blatantly biased pro-Israeli coverage of the massacres in Gaza, and specifically the Post’s complete lack of coverage of the Jan. 10 national demonstration and march that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets of Washington. On that day, demonstrators coming from cities across the East Coast and Midwest marched past the Washington Post building, making a stop there to denounce its collusion with U.S. and Israeli warmakers.

Protesters chanted while holding signs in support of the people of Gaza. Participants dumped hundreds of copies of the Washington Post at the newspaper’s front door to denounce its self-imposed censorship.

Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), likened the dumping to the return of damaged goods, and demanded that the paper cover the growing protests against the U.S.-backed Israeli attacks on Gaza. Becker noted that other major media had covered the large protest, which was organized in just one week in response to the killing in Gaza.

The demonstration was organized by the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom and the National Council of Arab Americans. Speakers included Becker; Mahdi Bray, executive director, MAS Freedom; Mounzer Sleiman, vice chair, NCA; Muhammad Salim Akhtar, director of organizational affairs and community development, American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Election; and Eugene Puryear, Youth and Student ANSWER.