Hundreds protest against Taiwan’s ties with Israel amid genocide in Gaza

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists on Sunday banged pots and pasted mock banknotes smeared with red dye on Israeli and Taiwanese flags outside Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, accusing Taipei’s envoy to Israel of pledging money to a health center inside an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The latest protests were triggered after Israel Ganz, chairman of an umbrella organization of settlement communities (Yesha Council), shared on social media that Taipei’s representative in Tel Aviv Abby Lee promised last month support to the Nanasi Medical Center, part of the Binyamin Regional Council north of Jerusalem.

“Taiwan loves to say ‘Taiwan Can Help’,” activist Aurora Chang told the demonstrators. “But right now, we are helping a genocidal state!”

Protest leaders demanded the Taiwanese government halt all financial assistance to Israel, which has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, and “admit its complicity in the ongoing famine in Gaza.”

A statement said any funding for the clinic “would be tantamount to legitimizing and maintaining Israel’s system of apartheid—a violation of international law.”

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, however, has denied any pledge.

It said Lee’s July visit was only to “explore medical cooperation” and noted a $500,000 donation Taiwan made last year to Palestinian refugees through Mercy Corps NGO.

Taiwan, which does not recognize Palestine, has deepened ties with Israel since the Gaza war erupted nearly two years ago.

It has launched a parliamentary friendship group, donated $500,000 to Israeli medical patrols, opened a reciprocal working-holiday program, as well as encouraged technology and trade cooperation.

The Taiwan Alliance for a Free Palestine, along with other human rights groups such as the Taiwan Alliance for Human Rights and the Taiwan International Workers Association, say several Taiwanese firms supply components used in American and Israeli weapons systems, a charge officials have not addressed publicly.