Attendees at the Spring meetings of the WB (World Bank) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) on Tuesday this week while waiting to pass through security before entering the WB headquarters building were greeted by a small group of protesters calling for an end to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing holocaust in Gaza.
What is unusual about this year’s Spring Meetings, however, is that so few protests have taken place as compared to years past. Attendees are normally met with activists raising issues of the institutions financing climate chaos, to finance alternative energy, biodiversity, debt forgiveness, inequality, “usuary loan practices,” endless wars and by characterizing the two monetary institutions as “economic terrorists.”
While small, protesters using a bullhorn spread their message regarding the holocaust in Gaza is of major importance in keeping the issue in the forefront. According to a report by UNICEF from January of this year, since October 7, 2023, more than 15,000 children have been killed and 34,000 injured in the ongoing Israeli military campaign. Since the short-lived so-called ceasefire ended in March, an average of 100 children have been killed or injured daily, while one million children have been displaced repeatably among the 3.3 million impacted by the war and deprived of basic humanitarian aid.
Most notably among the needs of the entire population is that of food security, medical aid, sanitation, shelter and water supplies all of which present a daily struggle for residents. As of this writing more than 51,000 people have been killed with thousands more missing and presumed to be dead and/or buried under the rubble. The UN announced today that Gaza was completely out of food since aid deliveries stopped weeks ago.
Not far from the bank and the funds headquarters, at the White House several individuals have been protesting on their own. Many of the attendees passing through have been greeted with protesters holding signs calling for the removal of Trump from office where a US Navy veteran who has had enough of Trump, held a double-sided sign calling Trump “Putin’s Puppet” and in being “unfit to serve” among other accusations.
In front of the White House a handcuffed “US Citizen” had a sign saying he was standing for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcias who was illegally deported to El Salvador’s notorious mega prison CECOT. That case has raised serious issues of due process, illegal detention, and deportation, all on full display as spring break tourists milled about taking selfies of the building as a backdrop.
Report and photo by Phil Pasquini
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