Some members of the Palestinian American community who received an invite to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined the invitation over their frustration with Washington’s policy toward the conflict and crisis in Gaza, Reuters reports.
“A meeting of this nature at this moment in time is insulting and performative,” a group of Palestinian American community members said in a statement, adding they represented a majority of those invited.
“They (Blinken and President Joe Biden) show us every day whose lives they value and whose lives they consider disposable. We will not be attending this discussion which can only amount to a box-ticking exercise,” the Palestinian American group said, adding it saw Washington as complicit in Israeli actions.
The humanitarian crisis has left Gaza on the brink of starvation. The United Nations has called for a humanitarian ceasefire, which the US has opposed, saying it would let Hamas regroup.
A US State Department spokesperson told reporters Blinken met with a “number of leaders” from the Palestinian American community, without specifying how many attended.