Iran Press/Middle East: Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated on Tuesday in protest of the US-led economic conference scheduled to begin in Bahrain on Tuesday.
The protests, organized by the Palestinians, are expected to last for three days. Palestinians gathered in the center of Ramallah chanting slogans against the Zionist regime and the US, reported Iran press.
They carried placards saying “No to the occupation”, “No to the Deal of the Century”, “No to the Bahrain Conference”, “The Bahrain Conference is a conspiracy to steal the rights of our people,” and “Quds is not for sale.”
Some carried black coffins marked with the words “Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation resolutions” – implying that the Bahrain conference contradicts decisions by the two bodies in support of the Palestinians.
Jamal Muheissen, a senior Fatah official, spoke at the rally saying that Palestinians must be united in their effort to thwart the 'deal of shame.' He claimed that the Bahraini people were opposed to the economic conference and were planning to protest against it.
“The US administration is humiliating the Arab leaders,” Muheissen said, noting: “The time has come for the Arabs to rise in order to restore their dignity. This deal will not pass and we will remain loyal to all the martyrs of the Arab nation.”
PLO official Wasel Abu Yusef said the Palestinians were hoping that all the Arabs would boycott the Bahrain conference and that the rulers of Bahrain would refuse to host it in their country.
“The Palestinian people don’t want money and an economy under occupation,” he said, noting: “We want an end to the occupation.”
A Palestinian activist said the Palestinian protests were aimed at sending a message to the world that the 'Deal of the Century' won’t pass. “Palestine and Quds are not for sale,” she said, adding: “We won’t sell our rights in return for billions of dollars.”
In Jenin, Palestinian protesters took to the streets carrying placards that read: “The refugees and Quds are not for sale” and “Palestine is ours and can’t be bought or sold.”
They also carried placards condemning the Arab states that agreed to attend the Bahrain conference, specifically singling out the king of Bahrain.
Similar protests took place in other Palestinian cities in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians also protested against the Bahrain conference by burning photos of Trump and US and the Zionist flags.
Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Qanou said the Bahrain conference was designed to transform the Palestinian cause into a financial and economic issue. “This conference will fail,” he said.
Another Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the conference won’t succeed in achieving its goals. “The future will show that Trump and his team are politically adolescent,” he added.
In a related development, Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip demonstrated against the Bahrain conference and the participation of Israeli journalists in the event.
The protest was held outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City. The journalists carried placards condemning the conference and the invitation to Israeli journalists to enter Bahrain and said they were opposed to 'media normalization' between the Arabs and The Zionist regime.
The Palestinians have gone on the general strike
Hamas and other Palestinian factions have called for a general strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, urging Palestinians to demonstrate in front of the United Nations headquarters in Gaza City. As a result, a general strike started on Tuesday morning in the besieged Gaza Strip in rejection of the Bahrain conference, which deals with the economic portion of the US deal of the century.
Accordingly, Palestinian citizens stopped going to their workplaces, closed businesses. Public transportation also came to a halt, and most of the public and private institutions, including universities, banks, and courts, were shut for the day.
The Follow-up Committee for the National and Islamic Forces had called for a general strike in Gaza to deplore the Bahrain economic conference, urging citizens to raise black flags over homes and in their areas. The Committee said it would hold a national conference at the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center on Tuesday in conjunction with the Manama Conference. Another popular conference will take place on Wednesday in the east of Gaza.
A massive popular march will also be organized on the same day from the western gate of the UNRWA headquarters to the UN offices in Gaza. During the Manama Conference slated for today and tomorrow, June 25-26, US president Donald Trump's Son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner is expected to present the so-called economic plan for the alleged settlement of the Palestinian cause.
The so-called 'deal of the century,' drawn up by the administration of US President Donald Trump, is said to hugely favor the Zionist regime.
Palestinians have already rejected the initiative as 'the slap of the century.' The US is set to unveil the 'economic component' of the deal during a conference in Bahrain to be held on June 25-26, a forum already boycotted by all Palestinian factions.
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