Palestinian protesters throw eggs at US politicians visiting Ramallah

Palestinian demonstrators have pelted a group of US politicians visiting the occupied West Bank with eggs to show their anger at Washington’s hostile policies against their nation and in favor of the Israeli regime.

On Thursday, dozens of Palestinians gathered outside a research and polling center near Ramallah, where an American delegation, including New York City Council members and civil society groups, was visiting.

“America is the head of the snake” and “Americans are not welcome in Palestine,” the protesters chanted as they tried to force their way into the offices of the center. Others chanted, “Jerusalem (al-Quds) is the capital of Palestine.”

Upon leaving the venue, the visitors were pelted with eggs and vegetables by the crowd of protesters, who also chased their bus. The delegation had to be evacuated from the city by Palestinian police forces.

The demonstrators were waving Palestinian flags and holding anti-American signs that read, “The US is part of the problem, not the solution.”

Other banners called for the removal of Israeli settlements from occupied territories and used the slogan “#HandsOffJerusalem.”

Palestinians are angry at a US decision last December to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of Israel.

Since then, Ramallah-based Palestinian officials have been refusing to meet with representatives of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump’s pro-Israel policy shift on Jerusalem al-Quds also promoted President Mahmoud Abbas to officially announce that Palestinians would no longer accept Washington as an honest mediator in any future Israeli-Palestinian talks on a so-called two-state solution to their decades-long conflict.

One of the protesters, Salah al-Khawaja, said he had come to show his opposition to Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem al-Quds.

“Today there was a reaction from the Palestinian people and popular activists, a reaction to this dishonorable and awful reception” by the polling company, Khawaja said.

Jamal Juma’ah, one of the organizers, also said the rally is meant to send a message to the Americans that they are “unwelcome in Palestine.”

He slammed the US administration for “publicly endorsing the Zionist project,” stressing, “There’s no place for Americans in Palestine.”

A similar incident occurred in Bethlehem last month, in which demonstrators disrupted a meeting between US diplomats and the chamber of commerce in the city of Bethlehem.

Palestinian police control demonstrators during a visit by members of the New York City council and civil society in the West Bank city of Ramallah on February 22, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Demonstrators protesting Trump’s policy on Jerusalem al-Quds threw tomatoes at the representatives of the US consulate in Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds during the Six-Day War in 1967. In a move not recognized by the international community, the regime later annexed East Jerusalem al-Quds, which is sought by Palestinians as the capital of their future state.

Palestinians want the resolution of the conflict with Tel Aviv based on the so-called two-state solution along the pre-1967 boundaries.

Several rounds of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians have collapsed mainly due to Israel’s refusal to end the occupation and its continued settlement expansion on occupied lands.