PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTER SELF-IMMOLATES OUTSIDE THE ISRAELI CONSULATE IN ATLANTA

Sat 02 December 2023:

A protester with a Palestinian flag self-immolated on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, authorities said.

Officials did not identify the demonstrator, but said in a news conference on Friday that the person appeared to be acting alone and that a Palestinian flag was “recovered at the location and was part of the protest.” The fire chief, Roderick M. Smith, said there was evidence of gasoline being used as an accelerant.

A security guard who attempted to intervene was also injured.

The authorities did not offer any other insights into the person’s possible motive for self-immolating. The city’s police chief, Darin Schierbaum, said that officials did not believe there was “any nexus to terrorism.”

“We believe this building remains safe, and we do not see any threat here,” the chief said. “We believe that was an act of extreme political protest.”

A security guard is placed in an ambulance after being injured when a protester set themselves on fire in an apparent “political protest” outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, Dec. 1, 2023.

The protester arrived around 12:17 p.m. at the office building, which houses the consulate as well as several businesses, and used gasoline, police said.

“We are saddened to learn of the self-immolation at the entrance to the office building,” the consul general of Israel to the southeastern U.S., Anat Sultan-Dadon, told ABC News. “It is tragic to see the hate and incitement toward Israel expressed in such a horrific way. The sanctity of life is our highest value.”

A protester is in critical condition after setting themselves on fire in an apparent “political protest” outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, Dec. 1, 2023. WSB

Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on Friday after talks to extend a week-long truce collapsed.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after the militant group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 15,000 Gazans have been killed during Israel’s assault, Palestinian officials say, which has destroyed much of the enclave.

OURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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