Palestinians clash with police at
US Embassy in Lebanon
NEWS / ISRAELI–PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
READ MORE
Tense scenes as unrest
over US Jerusalem
move continues
READ MORE
Arab League condemns
US Jerusalem move
Lebanon Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Middle East United States Palestine
Security forces responded by firing tear gas
canisters and using water canon to disperse the
protesters [Wael Hamzeh/EPA]
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas
at protesters near the US Embassy in
Lebanon during a demonstration
against President Donald Trump's
decision to recognise Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel.
Protesters threw stones at security
forces who had barricaded the main
road leading to the US Embassy in the
Awkar area, north of Beirut, on Sunday.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting
from Awkar, said several hundred
Palestinians clashed with the security
forces.
"There is a lot of anger here. What
they're chanting is "Palestine forgive us,
they closed the door on us", clearly in
reference to Arab leaders," Khodr said.
"The anger is not just directed at the
United States for it decision to
recognise Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel. The protesters here feel Arab
leaders have just been talking but not
taking any action. What people here are
calling for is a new intifada [uprising]
and on the Palestinian Authority to end
the peace process," she added.
Security forces responded by firing tear gas
canisters and using water canon to disperse the
protesters [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
Security forces cordoned off the area
around the embassy and deployed
water cannon, stopping people about
3km away from the embassy building.
Demonstrators were trying to remove
the barbed wire and climb over the
barricade.
Security forces responded by firing tear
gas canisters to disperse the protesters.
The Lebanese government has called on
the protesters not to damage property
in the area.
Since 1947, Palestinians fleeing Israel
have settled across Lebanon in 12
refugee camps. Official figures show
there are about 450,000 Palestinians in
Lebanon, but over the years the
number has decreased.
"Many of them
have given up
hope of
returning to
Palestine, and
have moved to
Europe, to
Canada. They find any route out of
Lebanon, because they are denied
many right here," Khodr said, adding
that this was not the first protest of its
kind since Trump announced his
decision on Jerusalem.
"Protests have been taking place across
Lebanon since Wednesday. Tomorrow
[Monday] we are expecting a mass rally
in the southern suburbs of Beirut,
called for by Hezbollah."
International condemnation
Trump's embassy move has inflamed
the Israel-Palestine conflict, in which
the status of Jerusalem is a key issue.
The Palestinians see occupied East
Jerusalem as the capital of their future
state.
On Sunday, violence erupted for a
fourth day in the occupied Palestinian
territories in response to Trump's
announcement. Witnesses said Israeli
forces fired tear gas canisters at groups
of rallying youth in the Aida refugee
camp in Bethlehem.
The protests came after Israeli air raids
killed two Palestinians in Gaza on
Saturday after fighters reportedly fired
rockets from Gaza into Israel on Friday.
Other protests have taken place in the
Indonesia capital, Jakarta, where about
10,000 people rallied on Sunday outside
the US Embassy to denounce Trump's
decision.
The head of the
Arab League
called the
decision
"dangerous and
unacceptable"
and a "flagrant attack on a political
solution" to the Israeli- Palestinian
conflict.
The statement by Ahmed Aboul-Gheit,
the regional bloc's secretary-general,
came after an emergency meeting of
foreign ministers from 22 Arab states in
Egypt's capital, Cairo, on Saturday.
Aboul-Gheit said Trump's decision was
"against international law and raises
questions over American efforts to
support peace" between Palestine and
Israel.
The shift in US policy "undermines Arab
confidence" in the Trump
administration and "amounts to the
legalisation" of the Israeli occupation of
Palestine, he added.
Leaders from across the globe made
similar remarks in the days before and
after Trump's announcement on
Wednesday. The US president also
ordered the US embassy be moved
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Why are British Muslim marriages unprotected by law? FEATURE / ISLAM MUSLIM MARRIAGE IN THE UK 60 percent Muslim marriages religious-only, unregistered 28 percent do not realise Islamic ceremony not legally recognised 66 percent know union has no legal status 50 percent do not intend to have marriage legalised - Source: Channel 4 survey Aina Khan Aina Khan is a journalist focusing on race, faith and identity. She's reading a masters in religion in politics at SOAS. @ ainajkhan United Kingdom Islam Europe, Maureen, right, was not entitled to financial support after her husband Rashid - the father of her child - passed away [Courtesy: Maureen] London, England - When Maureen wed her husband Rashid in a Muslim ceremony in 1973 in Bradford, she knew that should the relationship fall apart, she would not be entitled to share his assets. Her marriage was sanctified in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of the state it was "unregistered", not legal, and so financial protection...
Comments