Pro-Palestine activists protest outside of House Speaker Johnson visit to Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Protests in support of Palestine are unfolding at a number of college campuses across the country.

Sunday, people gathered in Iowa City to protest an event hosting House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has condemned the student protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Health officials have reported tens of thousands dead in the Gaza Strip, following the October 7th Hamas attack which killed hundreds of Israelis.

The protestors in Iowa City on Sunday said they wanted the U.S. to have no part in any deaths.

“We want our President and our Congress to take concrete steps to stop sending weapons to Israel,” said Newman Abuissa, one of the protestors.

Abuissa said he does not support violence or Hamas.

“We condemn Hamas’ killing of civilians,” he said.

Spencer Morton, another protestor, said he was there to “protest Speaker Mike Johnson, who has categorized these crowds as anti-Semitic and disruptive.”

Johnson made those remarks Wednesday as he called for the resignation of the President of Columbia University, the site of a major Free Palestine protest.

“This is threats and intimidation of violence against Jewish students for who they are,” he said.

Johnson oversaw the passage of a foreign aid package in the House, which was signed by President Biden last week. The bill provides a total of $26 billion for Israel, which does include funding for humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip.

Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who spoke with Johnson at an event in Iowa City Sunday, said it was imperative to continue to support America’s ally, Israel.

“Hamas is a proxy for Iran,” she said. “When America is weak, and we allow a vacuum to exist, we see foreign aggression.”

TV9 asked if she believed the U.S. should support Israel no matter what.

“I am saying that we will continue to push Israel to make sure that they limit any harm to civilians,” said Miller-Meeks. “The IDF is doing all that they can, but even our troops, even American troops, even the United States—when you’re doing urban warfare, it is extraordinarily difficult.”

Like Johnson, Miller-Meeks also voiced opposition to the pro-Palestinian protests.

She said she believed the protestors “don’t even know what the words they espouse mean. It’s one thing to protest, to exercise your right to free speech in support. It’s another thing to espouse hatred and killing of Jews.”

These protestors said killing was the very thing they were fighting against.

“It’s important to support life,” said Morton.

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