Protesters burned flags of the United States and Israel, set fire to tires in the street, broke through separating barbed wire and threw projectiles at security personnel near the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, according to an Anadolu Agency report.
Lebanon, which hosts approximately 450,000 Palestinian, has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Lebanese forces fired tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrations, who gathered to express displeasure with Wednesday’s announcement from the U.S. head of state.
URGENT: #Lebanon urges Arab League to sanction #US over Jerusalem decision https://t.co/8hZXs07liu
— RT (@RT_com) December 9, 2017
Lebanese Communist Party’s Hanna Gharib said the United States was “the enemy of Palestine” and its embassy “a symbol of imperialist aggression” that must be closed.
The Arab world and Western allies are angered by Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In a recent meeting, Arab foreign ministers urged the United States to abandon its decision, citing the president’s announcement as a threat to peace in the region.
Israel has laid claim to the entire Jerusalem being its capital, while Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future independent state. Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory.
Palestinians clash with police at US embassy in Lebanon https://t.co/2IyxRoXN8x pic.twitter.com/5OuE1sMSK9
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 10, 2017
On Thursday, Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah, called for a Palestinian intifada in response to the U.S.
The group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, urge for a protest against the decision in Beirut stronghold on Monday.
(teleSUR, PC, Social Media)
