More than a hundred pro-Palestine activists on Thursday rallied at the Colorado state Capitol in Denver, calling for an end to American aid to Israel and chanting, “Ceasefire now.”

“Free Palestine,” one sign said.

“From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free,” said another. 

The Anti-Defamation League and others view the latter slogan as a “clear call for the Jewish state of Israel to be entirely dismantled” and that “calling for the destruction of Israel and its people is unbridled hate and antisemitism in the extreme.” To some, however, the slogan encapsulates the “desire for freedom from oppression across the historical land of Palestine.”

Marchers planned to get inside the Capitol, but the doors were locked, according to Katie Leonard, a rally organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. 

“I really just want to see a ceasefire,” state Rep. Säid Sharbini, a Brighton Democrat, said. “Let’s work towards a peaceful solution because these are real people, real people suffering.”

Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its attack on Hamas in northern Gaza, the White House said Thursday. President Joe Biden has pressed Israelis for a multi-day stoppage in the fighting in a bid to negotiate the release of hostages held by the militant group.

Sharbini, who has Palestinian roots, said his father and other family members are currently in the troubled area as the Israel-Hamas rages on.

“I’m not coming out here saying I hate Israel or anything like that,” he said. “But I think that needs to be addressed in Israel that everybody has the right to resist.”

Hamas militants – the group that governs the Gaza Strip – crossed the border into Israel and killed 1,400 Israelis in early October. The group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, still holds 239 hostages, including children and the elderly. More than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Leonard, one of the protest organizers, said there are “people here who have family members who have died. We are calling for an end to all US aid to Israel.”

Officers detained one protestor and escorted a lone counter-protestor into an adjacent building during the protest. 

Last month, Colorado elected officials, Jewish leaders and hundreds of Israel supporters also rallied at the steps of the state Capitol, where they mourned and prayed.

“This country will make sure that Israel has the resources to fight back,” said U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in a joint statement.

Gov. Jared Polis said “hate for Jews, Muslims, or Christians, for anyone, cannot find a home here in the state of Colorado.”

“These evil acts of terrorism are our greatest fears brought to life,” Polis said.