The majority of protesters traveled by bus from various states including New York, Maryland and Ohio. Many families were among the crowd with fathers carrying their toddlers, sons wheeling their handicapped mothers and teenage daughters leading the chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Other popular chants were “free, free Gaza,” “viva, viva Palestina” and, “Where people are occupied, resistance is justified.” Although a large number of protesters were Palestinian, people of other nationalities also came to protest the death of civilians in Gaza. Essma Bergabsia, a 16-year-old Tunisian girl from New Jersey, has been attending other protests for the same cause. Bergabsia said that today’s protest has been the most well-attended so far, with supporters coming from all over the country, including about 200 from Ohio. Several signs demonstrated Filipino solidarity with the Palestinian protesters, reading, “Filipinos Say: End Massacre in Gaza.” Pakistani woman Sadaf Ahmed, 38, travelled from Maryland with her husband and three children to march under a banner reading, “Please protect the children and mothers.” “Up until today, 1600 people have died [in Gaza]—1600 is a big number,” said Ahmed. “Including kids and women, the whole family [has] no place to go. It’s a humanity cause. Their life is as valuable as ours, we have to save their lives.” The march stopped in front of The Washington Post office on 15th Street where criticisms were made of the U.S. media’s portrayal of the current Israel-Palestine conflict. A handicapped Palestinian woman carried a banner depicting bloodied victims from Gaza as her son wheeled her carefully along with the spirited crowd. She insisted that the U.S. media is not telling a complete story of the conflict in Gaza. She asked to be identified solely as Grandma, because she is the grandmother of 27 children. Born in Palestine, Grandma is living with her children in the New Jersey but visits Palestine every year. The family owns a small business in the United States, and the White House’s supply of arms to Israel has shamed her as a U.S. citizen. At 3.52 p.m. EST, as the square before the White House filled up with protesters, a young man climbed a lamp post and was arrested by police officers. The crowd swelled around him, chanting, “Let him go.” Officers on horses approached the crowd and protesters screamed expletives directed at the police and U.S. President Obama, but the anger soon dispersed. The incident was a ripple in an otherwise peaceful protest. “I just wonder what Obama and his family would think if they were there in Gaza,” said Awadh.