Outside White House, hundreds protest attack on Iran, urge end to conflict [View all]

Source: msn/Washington Post

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Ermiya Fanaeian has lived in the United States since she was 1, but still has family in her home country of Iran. On Saturday, as word spread of attacks there by Israel and the U.S., she grew concerned about her relatives and other Iranians. She decided to protest the military action. “It hits close to home,” Fanaeian, a 25-year-old PhD candidate in political science at Howard University, said. “I also know that the people in Iran are the ones who are going to experience the most, the biggest consequences from these attacks.”

Fanaeian was among hundreds of demonstrators who gathered near the White House and other D.C. sites Saturday afternoon to protest the strikes targeting the Iranian government and the country’s missile and nuclear program. Some protesters held signs that read, “No bombs on Iran” and “No New US War in the Middle East.”

Less than a half-mile away, near the World War I Memorial, a group of people waving American and Israeli flags chanted, “Thank you Trump,” appearing to celebrate the strikes. Earlier in the day, the president told The Washington Post the strikes were an effort to bring “freedom for the people” in Iran. The protests in the nation’s capital joined demonstrations that erupted in New York, Chicago, Denver and other U.S. cities, as well as abroad.

In New York City, where several hundred people marched through Midtown Manhattan, organizers described the demonstration as just the start of a sustained movement to push back against the attack on Iran. “I’m sick to my stomach about us going into another war,” said Aisha Jukaku, 41, an Indian American who is also Muslim. Fanaeian, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, helped coordinate the protest near the White House with leaders from other groups, including 50501 DC and Code Pink.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/outside-white-house-hundreds-protest-attack-on-iran-urge-end-to-conflict/ar-AA1XhBrI