Dozens protest Obama's ME speech at US embassy in TA
Nearly 100 people demonstrate holding banner "Israel won't commit suicide" referring to proposal for negotiations based on 1967 lines.
By MICHAEL OMER-MAN
Nearly 100 protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv Sunday under the banner "Israel won't commit suicide."The protest, taking place at the same time US President Barack Obama was addressing the AIPAC conference in Washington, was billed as a response to the US president's speech Thursday, in which he called for peace negotiations to resume based on 1967 lines.RELATED:Protest against Obama speech to be held at US embassy PM: Disagreement with Obama blown out of proportionRepublicans bash Obama over declaration on ‘67Several speakers addressed the crowd, with one bemoaning, "We expect betrayal from the Arabs, but not from America.""America is telling us to surrender our defensible borders," she yelled to the crowd through a megaphone. "America is telling us that Jerusalem should belong to a people that doesn't even admit there was a temple upon the Temple Mount," a reference to the demand that east Jerusalem be the capital of any future Palestinian state.While many of the protesters expressed their anger with Obama, a sizable number also voiced their opposition to any concessions at all to the Palestinians in peace talks, specifically borders, the division of Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees.Norden, an oleh from South Africa, told The Jerusalem Post that the US president had "taken an immature position" and should understand that a two-state solution is just not practical. Borders based on 1967 lines, he added, "are just ridiculous."Netanyahu, he said, "talks a lot. He says he wants there to be peace, and that is very good, but he must reject Obama's statements outright."Before breaking out into the Israeli national anthem, the crowd waved nooses in the air, chanting, "Obama, Israel won't commit suicide."The protest was organized by My Israel, an organization that describes itself as group of advocates who "defend Israel against its accusers."