U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday protests at U.S. universities over U.S.-ally Israel\u2019s war in Gaza are a hallmark of American democracy, but criticized what he called the \u201csilence\u201d about Palestinian militant group Hamas.
\nPolice have clashed with students critical of the war and the Biden administration\u2019s support for Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, with nearly 550 arrests made over the protests in the last week across major U.S. universities, according to a Reuters tally.
\nAsked at a press conference in China whether he was taking on board the protesters\u2019 message, Blinken said he understood the conflict elicited \u201cstrong, passionate feelings\u201d and that the administration was doing it all it could to halt the war.
\n\u201cIn our own country, it\u2019s a hallmark of our democracy that our citizens make known their views, their concerns, their anger, at any given time, and I think that reflects the strength of the country, the strength of democracy,\u201d Blinken said.
\nBut he suggested critics should focus their ire on Hamas militants who sparked the war with their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and some 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
\nIsrael\u2019s military response has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and injured more than 77,000, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
\n\u201cIt is also notable that there is silence about Hamas, as if it wasn\u2019t even part of the story,\u201d Blinken said.
\n\u201cBut as I\u2019ve also said repeatedly, the way Israel goes about ensuring that Oct. 7 never happens again matters profoundly. And we\u2019re working every day to try to minimize the damage that\u2019s done to innocent people and to make sure that they have the assistance and support that they need.\u201d
\nBlinken, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials in Beijing on Friday, said he had discussed how China can play a constructive role in global crises, including in the Middle East, where he said Beijing can discourage Iran and its proxies not to escalate the conflict.
\nBlinken said he spoke to Foreign Minister Wang Yi multiple times this month when tensions spiked between Israel and Tehran. China is the main buyer of oil exported by sanctions-hit Iran.
\n\u201cI think the relationships, again, that China has can be positive in trying to calm tensions, prevent escalation, avoid the spread of the conflict, and we agreed that we\u2019d remain in regular in regular touch on this, and that\u2019s certainly my intention,\u201d Blinken said.
\n(Reuters)Protests. protests, U.S. universities, Hamas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken supports the protests at U.S. universities over the war in Gaza as a hallmark of American democracy. He criticized the “silence” about Palestinian militant group Hamas, urging critics to focus on them as the ones who sparked the conflict. Blinken met with Chinese officials to discuss their role in global crises, including calming tensions in the Middle East and discouraging Iran and its proxies from escalating the conflict. China is the main buyer of oil from Iran, which is under sanctions. They agreed to remain in regular contact on this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,2011,5286,383,492,3397,4453,486,2577,2542,6432,2464,1810,6331,1392,145,298,3272,210,2581,5138,4638,146,299,185,4442,69,7089,3504,5076,345,462,184,4843,577,2061,331,5321,1702,7967,6377,3378,1358,5979,468,8030,1001,380,293,6024,6305,18],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-arrests","tag-assistance","tag-attack","tag-biden","tag-biden-administration","tag-blinken","tag-china","tag-concerns","tag-conference","tag-conflict","tag-damage","tag-democracy","tag-escalation","tag-foreign-minister","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-hamas-militants","tag-health","tag-health-ministry","tag-hostage","tag-injured","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-main","tag-message","tag-middle-east","tag-militant","tag-military","tag-oil","tag-palestine","tag-palestinians","tag-police","tag-president","tag-protests","tag-relationships","tag-sanctions","tag-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken","tag-silence","tag-state","tag-strength","tag-students","tag-support","tag-tehran","tag-tensions","tag-u-s-universities","tag-universities","tag-us","tag-war","tag-war-in-gaza","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n