Posted on 10/03/23
| News Source: JPost
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas charged that “America is occupying Palestine” just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was reportedly planning to visit Israel and the West Bank.
“When Israel says that it is celebrating its independence day, it has gained independence from whom?,” he said during a public speech in Ramallah.
“Who was occupying the State of Israel so that it celebrates the anniversary of its freedom from this occupation, this is a big lie.”
He noted the religious tensions in Israel, pointing to the attack against the Yom Kippur scuffle that broke out in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square when activists tried to enforce gender-segregated prayer.
His attack on the Biden administration and Israel comes amid work on a security arrangement between Washington and Riyadh, including an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal and a possible interim agreement with the Palestinians.
The United States is pushing to include Palestinian issues in the deal and Blinken’s potential trip is seen in part as an opportunity to advance that possibility.