A 58% majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognize Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Some 33% of respondents did not agree that U.N. members should recognize a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer.
The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, was taken within weeks of three countries, close US allies Canada, Britain and France, announcing they intend to recognize the State of Palestine. This ratcheted up pressure on ‘Israel’ as starvation spreads in Gaza.
Britain, Canada, Australia and several of their European allies said last week that the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave has reached “unimaginable levels,” as aid groups warned that Gazans are on the verge of famine.
The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday ‘Israel’ was not letting enough supplies into the Gaza Strip to avert widespread starvation.
A larger majority of the Reuters/Ipsos poll respondents, 65%, said the U.S. should take action in Gaza to help people facing starvation, with 28% disagreeing. The number disagreeing included 41% of President Donald Trump’s Republicans.
On Tuesday, August 19, Houston protesters launched an encampment at the Israeli consulate in Greenway Plaza, demanding an end to the siege and genocide of Gaza. They called for protests at the eight other Israeli embassies in the country.
The protesters set up the Anas Al-Sharif Camp, named after the prominent Al Jazeera journalist who was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike at a press tent outside of Al-Shifa Hospital on August 10. Days before his assassination, the Israeli security cabinet had announced its plans to expand its military occupation to Gaza City—the latest step in what protesters described as
Israel’s war of annihilation against the Palestinian people. In the past 22 months, ‘Israel’ had dropped the equivalent of seven nuclear bombs on Gaza, obliterating entire neighborhoods and cities.
“Our camp was an act of solidarity. ‘Israel’ couldn’t escalate the genocide and invade Gaza City without a response,” one protester said. “That’s why we took action. The people of Houston did not abandon Gaza.”
That week marked five months since ‘Israel’ had allowed food, fuel, or medical supplies into Gaza, forcing thousands of Palestinians into malnutrition and starvation. Since May, over 200 people, including 100 children, had been starved to death. Thousands of Palestinians risked their lives every day trying to secure food at the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s orchestrated killing sites. Over 850 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers and American mercenaries at these GHF sites. The recent aid airdrops over Gaza did nothing to reverse what protesters called Israel’s man-made starvation of Palestinians. While Israel stalled 20,000 aid trucks at the border, complicit governments dropped thousands of tons of rotten food into densely populated areas, often crushing Gazans to death.
Protesters demanded that Houston and the U.S. impose a total arms embargo on ‘Israel’. They claimed that Israel was only able to carry out these war crimes with the military, financial, and media support of the United States. They urged others to take action: “Everyone lived near a port, an office, a manufacturer, an investor, or in this case, an embassy, that played a role in maintaining this genocide. We had to attack Zionism wherever we were.”
Protesters held a peaceful demonstration and made their demands legally and lawfully. However, around midnight, police and law enforcement authorities arrived armed with weapons and equipment and stopped their legal protest by force.
The sit-in, which called for a ceasefire and an end to the war, was disrupted violently. When protesters asserted their legal right to protest, police arrested more than 25 individuals.
In response, demonstrators gathered in front of the police station to demand the immediate release of those arrested. They also called for a nationwide protest in solidarity with Palestine and urged people to mobilize in front of all Israeli embassies across the United States.
“We call on Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Boston: Join us and occupy your local Israeli embassy!” they said. “If we don’t act now, we are turning our backs on Gaza when they need us the most. With our tents and with the people’s support, we will not leave this embassy until they drag our bodies away. Today, we occupy the occupiers!”
Source: Websites
