The head of American diplomacy is strongly criticized for the positions taken by the United States in the war between Israel and Hamas.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/02/14/000-34h227q-65cc587dc7645340183952.jpg)
A black grid and cameras around the big house and, on the other side of the road, tents and Palestinian flags. Around ten people have been camping for almost three weeks in front of the home of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Arlington, Virginia, very close to the capital Washington. They are protesting against the unwavering support of the United States for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Their rallying cry: “Occupy Blinken”.
The head of American diplomacy has visited the Middle East five times since the Hamas attack on October 7. His last visit ended on Thursday February 8, without an agreement between Israel and Hamas. The United States supports a proposal for a new truce to allow the exchange of the 130 hostages still held in Gaza, 29 of whom are dead according to the Jewish state’s count. The truce at the end of November allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis, against 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks his army to prepare an offensive in Rafah.
Horns, flags and fake blood
In Arlington, the Blinken home was renamed the “Kibbutz Blinken”. “His house is now on the map, surely there is a location on Google Maps that says ‘Kibbutz Blinken’ with his address”says Azami, who has been camping here for almost three weeks. “It went from a quiet, quiet life to a busy road with horns, flags and us”, explains the American. According to her, the demonstrators receive “a lot of support, but there are also a lot of people who hate us”.
“There are some who pass by and pretend to shoot at us through the window, who call us racists, terrorists, supporters of Hamas.”
Azami, a protesterat franceinfo
On one sign, Blinken is presented as a war criminal who finances genocide. Another, in the shape of a dove, calls for an immediate ceasefire. Summer, mother of three children and passing through as often as she can, says she has no illusions. “We want a ceasefire, but what we are mainly looking for is to make him more uncomfortable than any human being,” she declares. For her, the Secretary of State “shouldn’t feel privileged to be here, to live in this wonderful house with his children and his wife while people are suffering there”in Gaza.
Joe Biden’s policies disavowed
Some cars honk in support. Cans of red liquid, ready to be thrown on the road, are placed in front of the tents. Jimmy fills them every day by mixing “watercolor paint for children with chocolate syrup”. “We prepare it every morning and we use it every time Mr. Blinken arrives or leaves or his wife, it symbolizes the blood of the Palestinians”he explains.
Among the demonstrators, no one plans to vote for Joe Biden again in November as in 2020. According to polls, almost six out of ten Americans disapprove of the management of the conflict by the White House.