Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt Pelosi interview with Colbert

Pro-Palestinian protesters twice interrupted a live interview with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday, demanding the U.S. halt sending military aid to Israel. 

As Pelosi was talking about President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race, a woman was shouting from the audience. Colbert then acknowledged the protesters and said the topic would be addressed after a commercial break. 

“Hold on young lady, I can hear you,” he said. “We’re actually at a commercial break, but the subject is on Israel and Palestine, and if you’ll have a seat, we have to go to a commercial break and when we come back, I will ask the next question I had on that subject, if you will listen.”

After the break, the California lawmaker discussed the developments in the Middle East, with Israel accepting the latest Gaza cease-fire deal. Pelosi said she hoped that the Palestinian militant group Hamas would also agree to it. 

“Yes, we’ve had a commitment to Israel,” Pelosi said Tuesday. “It’s been in our security interest to do so. Israel was attacked by a terrorist organization. We want the hostages free, but we don’t want children killed in Gaza, and so we have to come up with a solution.”

“War has no place in a civilized society,” Pelosi said as the protest continued. “We have to learn more about trust and peace and learning about each other rather than to have a conflict by war.”

“As you can see from the continuing protest out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people,” Colbert said, and then asked Pelosi if she would like to respond to the demonstrators. 

“They’ve said the United States should not have any role in supplying Israel with arms to kill the people of Gaza,” Colbert said.

The California Democrat reiterated her support for a two-state solution and said Israel has the right to defend itself. 

“You cannot have peace unless you have a two-state — Israel, a secure Jewish democratic state in the region, and the Palestinians having their own secure country there as well,” she said. “Unless you have a two-state solution, you will not have a resolution of this.”

The segment concluded after Colbert said, “Please don’t interrupt my guests.”

The war in Gaza started following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis, with about 250 more taken hostage. Since then, Israel’s military operation has killed an estimated 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.