Leftist Lebanese parties and Palestinian groups staged a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Awkar north of Beirut Sunday, denouncing Israel’s 12-day offensive on Gaza in which more than 400 Palestinians, including children, have been killed.
The protesters, led by Lebanese and Palestinian party officials, raised banners denouncing Israel’s “brutal aggression,” and burned the American and Israeli flags, as they chanted slogans in support of Palestinian armed resistance against Israel.
Lebanese Communist Party leader Khaled Hadadeh praised the “heroic” Palestinian resistance in Gaza, while blasting Arab leaders for their apathy in confronting the new Israeli aggression.
Hadadeh also called on Arab peoples to stand up jointly in support of Gaza’s children and resistance fighters.
For his part, Palestinian leftist leader Ali Faisal stressed that armed resistance against Israeli occupation should be the common strategy of all Palestinian factions, including those who signed treaties and agreements with Israel.
“There is no solution outside a common Palestinian strategy based on resistance and armed struggle on one hand, and on diplomacy which is aimed at joining international bodies for sanctioning Israel on the other,” Faisal said, calling for the abrogation of all treaties restricting the Palestinian people, including the 1993 Oslo Agreement, under which Palestinians, represented by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), acknowledged Israel’s right to exist.
Faisal also lashed out at the international community, which he accused of indifference and indolence.
“The international community should act quickly and not be content with the visit of Ban Ki-moon who is covering up for the shame and equalizing between the victim and the slaughterer,” Faisal told the angry protesters.
