TUCSON, Ariz. – An opening celebration of a Democratic field office in Arizona Friday afternoon featuring high-profile politicians was interrupted four times by pro-Palestinian protesters.
The third and fourth disruptions occurred while Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democratic Senate hopeful, spoke at the podium. The fourth protester stood inches away from the congressman, pointed her finger at him and shouted, “You’re taking money from AIPAC.”
The protester then appeared to run into an employee after being shoved by a woman in the front row, and was then forcibly removed from the venue.
After the commotion subsided, Gallego apologized.
“We have a job to do here,” the congressman said. “Let’s not forget: as Democrats, we have a big tent. And we all want a great solution, and a solution for the Middle East,” said Gallego, a Navy veteran who deployed to Iraq.
‘I’m sorry we’re not here. But you have the party that is really looking for something,” he said.
Kirsten Engel, a former state representative running for Congress in Arizona, and Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, were also interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. Sen. Mark KellyD-Ariz., and former Rep. Gabby Giffords also delivered remarks, but their speeches were not interrupted.
Any disruptions were drowned out by chants of “four more years” as about 200 Arizonans stormed the Democratic field office to celebrate its opening.
Ori Green, 52, an Israeli-American protester at the event, told NBC News that protesting was the only way she could feel heard.
“I’ve been calling Kelly’s office and Gallego’s office every day for months and months and months, begging them to speak out for a permanent ceasefire,” said Green, who told NBC News that she is with the Israeli defense served. Forces.
“I am an Israeli citizen. I am Jewish. My mother is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. We care about Israel,” said the Tucson accountant. ‘A lot of my family is there. I love Israel, and what they are doing is bad for Israel. It is. It is bad for Israel, and killing children is never, never, never justifiable.”
Green, like the protester who yelled at Gallego, also cited contributions he and Sen. Mark Kelly received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, as a reason for her frustration with her lawmakers.
The Federal Elelego Commission’s campaign finance disclosures do not show any AIPAC donations to Gallego or Kelly’s campaigns this year or last year. However, recent campaign donations in recent weeks are not yet reflected in the FEC data.
AIPAC donated $5,000 to Kelly’s campaign in 2022, the year he defeated Republican Blake Masters. That same year, AIPAC donated more than $26,000 to Gallego’s campaign, according to FEC records.
Despite Green’s dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, she still plans to vote for the president in November.
“I’ll probably be a baby and a wimp and safely vote for Biden, but I won’t feel good about it,” she said of her November ballot plans.
Hours before the field office event, Biden announced that Israel had proposed a three-part plan that would ultimately lead to a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Asked for comment on the disruptions during the field office opening, a spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign in Arizona told NBC News: “The President shares the goal of an end to violence and a just, lasting peace in the Central -East. He works tirelessly toward that goal.”
Democrats have previously faced demonstrations by pro-Palestinian protesters in Arizona. First lady Jill Biden was interrupted several times during remarks in Tucson in March, and Vice President Kamala Harris was interrupted by a protester about a week later during a stop on her “Fight For Reproductive Freedoms” tour. Earlier this month, eight teachers walked out during the first lady’s speech to the National Education Association in Phoenix in silent protest against the war in Gaza.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
