U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten runs away from pro-Palestine demonstrators

Grand Rapids, MI – On September 20, pro-Palestine protesters confronted Hillary Scholten outside of the Kent County Democratic Party headquarters during a pro-union fundraising event.

Union activist and protester Carsten Forester stated, “The recent general strike in Italy showed that even a brief demonstration of organized labor’s ability to bring the economy to a halt is enough to swiftly change the government’s policy. Unions in the U.S. need to see this and realize the power that we collectively have to pressure our government.”

As the protesters chanted, they outlined why it was important to protest the Democrat Scholten despite the fact she ostensibly opposes Trump. From 2019 to 2024 she has received just under $350,000 from AIPAC and other pro-Israel PACS – money representing the interests of a foreign government actively committing genocide against the Palestinian people. She, along with Senators Peters and Slotkin, and Representatives such as James, Stevens, Thanedar and Rivet are just some of the many Michigan lawmakers bought and paid for by AIPAC and other Zionist PACs like J Street.

“I protested Scholten because I know she’s bought and paid by the Israeli lobby. She is meant to represent me. No one who votes to give money to a rogue state committing genocide can represent me – especially if they’re taking money from that lobby,” stated activist Mary McQuirter. “People need to know what Hilary Scholten is doing with the fruits of their labor.”

“All of the trade unionists who approached me identified it as a genocide and that it needed to stop,” stated Jessica Plichta with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Plichta continued, “As Scholten was speaking we chanted ‘Hillary Hillary we know you, you take money from AIPAC too!’ And because of where we were positioned, Hillary Scholten left the event from the back of the building, and we were told she had to climb over wood piles to leave.”

People all around the country are demanding that our elected officials represent their constituents’ views and put a stop to genocidal Israel. People like Scholten, however, would rather run away than confront their own complicity in the genocide.

Join Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids for the October 7 National Day of Action, called by the Anti-war Action Network, as PSGR protests the military contractor Woodward in Zeeland, Michigan.

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