By Tony Rigopoulos
ATHENS (AA) – More than 4,000 Greeks and Palestinians gathered in central Athens on Friday and marched towards the U.S. embassy to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The protest was called by Palestinian organizations, the Communist Youth of Greece and several other leftist groups.
The initial protest organized by the Communist Youth of Greece, the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece, was addressed by Palestinian Ambassador Marwan Toubassi, who said the “demonstration expresses the conscience of the free people “. Toubassi said the Palestinians will continue the struggle until the creation of an independent Palestinian state and called on the Greek government to say whether it is willing to recognize such a state.
Demonstrators chanted slogans demanding a “Free Palestine” and called Americans “killers of the peoples”.
The protest comes in the wake of Trump’s decision Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his announcement of plans to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city.
“We are protesting against Trump’s decision. We demand an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital city. We also demand that NATO bases be removed from Greece. They are used to facilitate the killing of the people in the Middle East,” one of the protesters told Anadolu Agency.
Demonstrators waived Palestinian flags, traditional keffiyeh scarfs and burned several Israeli and American flags. Sketches depicting Trump were also set alight while gathered Palestinians and Greeks cheered.
The protesters were met by dozens of riot police in full gear at the U.S. embassy, located on one of Athen's busiest boulevards, but the demonstration ended peacefully.
