Protestors 'pressure' US Secretary of State Blinken for cease-fire in Gaza outside his home

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Pro-Palestinians continued Saturday to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as they set up camp across from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s home in the state of Virginia.

Protestors carrying Palestinian flags, chanted against Blinken while unfurling banners that said: "30,000+ Killed By USA and Israel”, “Blinken Supports Israel’s Terror”, “Bloody Blinken”, “Occupy Bliken’s House Let Gaza Live” and “Full Ceasefire in Gaza Now.”

"We are camping in front of the house of the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken because he is complicit in supporting and enabling war crimes and genocide against Palestinian people done by the State of Israel," activist Hazami Barmada told Anadolu.

Barmada said protesters have been camping since early Friday. She said protesters "firmly" believe that the US is not only "complicit" but is "responsible" for supporting Israel in "war crimes and genocide and crimes against humanity", and violating human rights law.

"We will be camping through this entire weekend and into next week to let him know that we are not okay with American taxpayer money being used to commit crimes to kill 13,000 innocent children, to kill over 30,000 innocent civilians, to make children orphaned, amputees, to terrorize people, to make over 90% of Gaza population homeless.

"We are going to continue to put pressure every time he drives in and out, his family drives in and out. We've seen his wife and children drive in and out. They are not only reminded of what they're doing, but they're also reminded that we are going to continue to keep up the pressure, demand the cease-fire and demand an end to the US support of Israel's war crimes," she added.

-'They've not been calling for an end of the cease on Gaza'

A Jewish American protestor said demonstrators have to put "a lot of pressure" on Blinken and every politician since they have not been calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

"They've not been calling for an end to US aid to Israel for military aid. They've not been calling for an end of the cease on Gaza or an end of the occupation.

"So, you know, the very least they can call for is a cease-fire and to stop the genocidal practices going on by the Israeli military against Palestinians right now," Jeremy Levinger told Anadolu.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on Friday to "take all measures within its power" to prevent further bloodshed in Gaza in line with Genocide Convention obligations. The court also demanded the immediate release of all hostages.

South Africa brought the genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in late December and asked it to grant emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza, where more than 26,250 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7.

The court ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.