Palestinians Protest Blinken’s Visit Amid Rising Tensions

Date: 01 February 2023 - 21:43

News ID: ۱۱۲۰۱۷

RAMALLAH/GAZA (Xinhua/MEMO) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the West Bank prompted outrage among many Palestinians, who demonstrated to express their opposition to the U.S. diplomat’s presence in the Palestinian territory.
The protesters, both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, raised the Palestinian flags and chanted anti-U.S. slogans, accusing it of being biased toward Israel and all its violations of Palestinian rights.
“The matter is very simple. Blinken came here to pressure the Palestinian leadership to not adopt any decision against the security cooperation with Israel,” said Nael Salama, who took part in a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah carrying a banner of “The U.S. is criminal as long as it supports Israel.”
“We came here to deliver our message to Blinken that he is not welcome in our country as his administration’s full bias towards Israel and its practices against the Palestinian people,” Issam Baker, the coordinator of the national and Islamic forces in Ramallah, told Xinhua.
He emphasized that the U.S. administration used “double standards” in dealing with the Palestinian issue, adding that it will “only lead to further continuation of the cycle of violence.”
Since the start of 2023, Zionist troops have killed at least 35 Palestinians, making January one of the most deadly months in the West Bank in recent years. Most casualties occurred during the occupying regime’s military raids.
Ahmed Abu Dalfa, a protester in the Gaza Strip, told Xinhua that Blinken’s visit will not bring benefits to the Palestinian people because Washington is “abandoning” its promises to Palestine.
Earlier in the day, Blinken held a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Palestinian presidential headquarters in Ramallah after his meetings with Zionist leaders on Monday.
Meanwhile, more than 200 Palestinian protesters started an open ended sit-in at Khan Al-Ahmar, east of Al-Quds, to prevent the occupation forces from demolishing it and displacing its residents. The protesters gathered in solidarity with residents at the entrance of the village to voice their opposition to the Zionist ruling that gave the green light for the demolition to go ahead.
“The Israeli High Court gave an ultimatum for the residents to leave the village,” said Eid al-Jahaleen, a representative of Khan al-Ahmar’s residents. He said that 250 Palestinians, most of them children and women, live in the village, while 180 boys and girls from neighboring villages study at Khan al-Ahmar school slated for demolition by the Zionist occupation.