Anti-war activists picket congressman’s office in Seattle

Seattle, WA – A dozen-plus anti-war activists rallied and picketed outside U.S. Congressional Representative Adam Smith’s office in Kent on the morning of March 26 to protest his continued support of Israel’s genocidal war in Palestine. The event was organized by Seattle Against War (SAW) as part of the week of action called by the national Anti-War Action Network to honor Land Day, a Palestinian day that marks the ongoing seizure of Arab-owned lands by Israel.

The energy of the event was high despite the early hour. Chants of “Adam Smith, U.S.A., how many kids did you kill today?” and “Adam Smith, you can’t hide, you profit from genocide!” echoed off the walls of the building that houses the congressman’s office as activists picketed up and down the nearby sidewalk.

The rally began with a speech from Rae Lee, a member of Seattle Against War, who emphasized, “We refuse to look away as Adam Smith funnels our money to feed the U.S. war machine, instead of having our taxes go towards things we need like housing and addressing our public health crises.”

“Adam Smith doesn’t represent us so much as the interests of the U.S. war machine,” Lee said. “He has accepted over $1.6 billion from defense contractors and AIPAC during his time as a public servant. He is being paid off to approve nearly $20 billion of our tax dollars to fund the genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023. This means that nearly $45 million of our money as King County taxpayers has been used to bomb children!”

Kay Abbott, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Washington, stated, “As Israel’s genocide reaches new depths of inhumanity and destruction, our institutions like UW and our state officials like Adam Smith continue to facilitate and perpetrate the ongoing violence.”

Abbott also pointed out the clear disconnect between Adam Smith’s actions and the interests of the constituents he is supposed to represent, stating, “Adam Smith continually rants on social media that ‘far-left fascists’ are attacking him by standing up to him and that in reality, not many people in his district care about Palestine. He is wrong.”

“Not only do a majority of those in the 9th Congressional District want a free Palestine,” Abbott said, “we have shown up here today to let him know that he can’t take hundreds of thousands of dollars from AIPAC and weapons manufacturing companies and get away with it,” and pointed out, “Adam Smith will not stop unless we force him to.”

After the speeches, attendees picketed Smith’s office for almost two hours. Lee stated, “Those of us in Adam Smith’s district have a unique opportunity and duty to put pressure on the U.S. government. Let’s make sure they can hear us in his office, that those who work in the same building as him understand that they are sharing space with war criminal!”

Smith is the congressional representative for Washington state’s 9th District. He has held this office consistently since 1997, and in that time, he faced minimal opposition. He is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee , which he also chaired from 2019 to 2022. This committee is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defense, and it has jurisdiction over defense policy more generally, including ongoing military operations.

Seattle Against War, a member of the Anti-War Action Network, held the action as the first step in a long campaign targeting Adam Smith for his longstanding complicity in genocide and war crimes.

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