Palestinian Protesters Release Insects at Hotel During Netanyahu Visit

(DailyVantage.com) – Washington DC’s Watergate Hotel had to sanitize a conference room after a group of pro-Hamas protesters dumped piles of worms, maggots, and crickets on the carpeting and a table to protest the Israeli delegation, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was staying at the hotel during his visit to Washington last week.

Videos posted on social media showed the piles of bugs on a table displaying both the Israeli and American flags.

A spokesperson for the hotel confirmed the incident in a statement last Tuesday, describing it as “unfortunate” and saying that the Watergate took “steps to ensure” that the hotel had been sanitized.

The Watergate had contacted authorities following the incident who were “handling the situation,” the spokesperson said.

The Maryland, Virginia, and DC chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement reposted a video showing the maggots. The group claimed that the hotel’s fire alarms were also pulled to ensure that there would be “no rest” before the US Congress and Prime Minister Netanyahu “disgrace themselves in front of the world.”

The invasion of the Watergate Hotel was only one of the actions pro-Hamas protesters took while Netanyahu was in Washington to address a joint session of Congress.

Protesters flooded the Capitol area during the prime minister’s address, burning American flags, vandalizing statues, and fighting with police. Capitol Police deployed pepper spray to contain the demonstrators after the protests grew violent.

Roughly half of the Democrat congressional caucus boycotted last Wednesday’s speech, including former speaker Nancy Pelosi. In total, 28 Senate Democrats and about 100 House members skipped the prime minister’s address.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie also boycotted the speech, saying he refused to be used as a “prop” for Netanyahu.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who ordinarily presides over joint sessions, was also absent, appearing instead at a black sorority event in Indiana.

Squad member Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a Palestinian American, was in attendance for Netanyahu’s speech but wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf around her shoulders while holding a placard reading, “War Criminal.”