Leaders of several Arab-American organizations met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to express concerns over the escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians and demand that Israel’s government be held accountable for it.
More than 29 Palestinians have been killed in the past four weeks and scores have been seriously injured. Several Israeli Jews were killed on Friday, allegedly by a suspected Palestinian gunman.
Blinken is planning to travel to the Middle East today, Sunday, and then scheduled to meet Israeli leaders on Monday and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday. He is the second member of the Biden administration to visit the region in the past two weeks. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was there two weeks ago.
Jim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, one of the leaders attending the briefing with Blinken in Washington D.C., said that the group pressed the secretary to impose “consequences” on Israel’s government for the violent actions targeting Palestinian civilians.
“We were pleased for the opportunity to make our views known to the secretary but the emphasis was on the need for consequences,” Zogby told Arab News.
