Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Palestinians burn effigies of Trump and Pence in Bethlehem



Palestinians held a public mock trial of United States President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence last Saturday, the Middle East Media Research Institute reported on Monday.


The mock trial, which involved placing effigies of the two leaders in nooses and setting them ablaze, occurred in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.



Palestinians at the protest, which also focused on the proposed US cut in aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency, brought signs purporting the US and Israel represent “real terrorism,” and one sign read, “Zionism = Nazism = fascism. USA = ISIS = Terror,” according to MEMRI.



The event was later posted on Fatah’s official social media accounts, including its Facebook page.


Trump announced in mid-January a cut to UNRWA, which has provided social services— education, health, social welfare and other services— to Palestinians since 1947. The Trump administration announced it would deliver only $60 million of a $125 million contribution because the Palestinians would not return to the negotiating table with Israel.


Relations between the Trump administration and Palestinian leadership have strained since the UNRWA funds were cut, as Palestinian leadership declined to host Pence during his visit to Israel in mid-January. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 26, Trump did not hide his anger toward the Palestinians for snubbing Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to Israel, saying the US will withhold aid funds to them until they return to negotiations.


The Palestinians, Trump said, “disrespected us” by not “allowing our great vice president to see them, and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid support.”




Article source: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.834358

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