(Toronto) Canadian poet Rupi Kaur declined an invitation from US President Joe Biden’s administration because she opposes his government’s response to the war between Israel and Gaza.
Mme Kaur says in an Instagram post that the administration invited her to Vice President Kamala Harris’ Diwali celebration.
She writes that she will not participate because the American government is financing the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
Kaur says she cannot accept an invitation from “an institution that supports the collective punishment of a trapped civilian population.”
More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The war broke out after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel last month, killing more than 1,400 people.