Secretary of State Antony Blinken compared Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to Uyghur Muslims forced into Chinese concentration camps in a statement marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday.
His statement read:
As we near the end of the holy month of Ramadan, I wish Muslim communities everywhere Eid Mubarak and join in hopes for a safer and more peaceful world. As families and communities come together, we know they do so at a time when many Muslim communities worldwide are suffering. Our thoughts turn to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, civilians in Syria, women suffering under the Taliban in Afghanistan, Uyghurs in the People’s Republic of China, Rohingya in Burma and Bangladesh, and far too many others.
By implication, Israel — acting in self-defense against Palestinian terrorists who attacked it without provocation on October 7 — is like the Taliban, or the Chinese Communist Party, or governments that are persecuting Muslims.
The Times of Israel appeared to take particular notice of Blinken’s inclusion of Palestinians in the West Bank in his roster of oppressed Muslims. Despite tensions with Israel, West Bank Palestinians are largely self-governing and enjoy a decent quality of life, and have been spared the direct costs of the ongoing war.
Last week, Blinken appeared to compare Israel to the Hamas terrorist group. Earlier this year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken claimed that Palestinians are ready for peace, and that Israelis are not.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
