Global protests berate Biden for Israel support despite Gaza carnage

A placard depicting US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is held during a pro-Palestinian protest in Amman, Jordan, on October 18, 2023. (Photo/Reuters)

US President Joe Biden, who defended Israel during his visit to Tel Aviv, has become the target of angry demonstrators who are outraged by incessant Israeli bombardment on besieged Gaza including the one on a hospital that killed nearly 500 people and wounded hundreds.

Biden, who delivered a full US backing for Israel in person during a solidarity visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, added to the fury visible on the streets of many countries since Israel began bombarding the tiny Palestinian enclave.

In Amman, a sign hoisted by one protester labelled Biden and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu war criminals, saying: "Partner in Crime."

"Today, the Jordanians declare that the Americans are an enemy, just as the Israeli enemy is," political activist Rania al Nimr said.

"No Zionist embassy on Arab land," demonstrators chanted in the Jordanian capital after noon prayers.

'Joe Biden, shame on you'

At the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el Hilweh in southern Lebanon, protesters set fire to a cardboard cutout of Biden's head with a rope around his neck and blood painted over his mouth.

"America is the devil, the real devil, because it supported Israel, and then all the world is blind. You don't see what happened yesterday?" said Lebanese demonstrator Mohammed Taher.

In Beirut, thousands of people gathered for a protest, waving Hezbollah, Palestinian and Lebanese flags and chanting, "Death to America".

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine told the rally the group was "thousands of times stronger" than before and the US, Israel and "malicious Europeans" should be careful.

In Tokyo, protesters outside the US embassy chanted, "USA, shame on you" and "Joe Biden, shame on you."

Marches were held across Iran, with demonstrators carrying banners that read "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

"Every drop of blood of Palestinians killed in this war, brings the Zionist regime [Israel] closer to its downfall," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a televised speech.

'Down with America'

Large protests also erupted in Tunisia and Morocco, with demonstrators outraged by the Israeli strike on the hospital in Gaza.

Protesters gathered outside the Parliament in Rabat chanting "Down with America" and demanding that Morocco reverse its 2020 decision to normalise relations and deepen security ties with Israel.

In Tunis, protesters gathered outside the US and French embassies to condemn those nations' support for Israel and demand that their ambassadors be expelled from Tunisia.

The demonstrations were among the largest since the Arab Spring more than a decade ago, observers said.

Ezer Imeny, a Tunisian student protesting outside the French embassy, said the war shows rulers worldwide, including Arab ones, lack moral authority.

"Palestine, we are with you to the death," Imeny said. "An eye for an eye."

"They [Palestinians] have no food or water, and they are getting bombed. This is genocide, not war. This is a crime. We must find a solution," demonstrator Ines Laswed said.

Protesters also burned Israeli and American flags and demanded the expulsion of US and French diplomats for what they termed their unconditional support for Israel.

In Iraq, about 300 people from a local militia protested near a bridge which leads to the fortified Green Zone, home to the US embassy and other foreign missions.

"Americans must know that their support to the terrorist Israel will bring them defeat and devastation," militia member Said Ali Akbar said, waving a Palestinian flag.

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Source: TRT