Last week, May 15th is said to be the bloodiest day of the recent
demonstrations in Gaza. Israel killed almost 50 unarmed Palestinians.
While Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu
were celebrating the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem, just a few miles away,
Palestinians were living in concentration camp like conditions. United Nations
Human Rights Council leader Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein described the living
conditions in Gaza as being:
Caged in a toxic slum from birth to
death; deprived of dignity; de-humanized by the Israeli authorities to such a
point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a
right, as well as every reason to protest.[i]
Of course, Israel calls them “terrorists,” which provides an
excuse to humiliate, and ignore their basic human needs. Human Rights Watch tried to motivate the
Israeli government into acting more responsibly by criticizing its brutal
policies. Instead of hearing the
concerns of Human Right Watch, Israel kicked them out of the country. Problem controlled.
What Israel cannot control are the demonstrations on the
Gaza border. It tries to by shooting into the crowds of people. It would be
comical if it were not so tragic. The IDF, the “most moral army on the globe”
crouched behind earth berms firing into crowds of unarmed protestors across a
fence, killing, at last count, 115 Palestinians and injured 13,190, since March
30th. These numbers include
13 children killed and 2,096 injured, and over a thousand women wounded.[ii]
Why do Palestinians in Gaza continue to risk their lives
to protest? Why? Because:
Gaza is a prison, Gaza is a
concentration camp, Gaza has been blockaded for a decade, Gaza’s occupation is
a perennial crime against humanity, but most of all Gaza is a target. Gaza is a
target because it suits the Israelis to have two million captive Palestinian
men, women, and children (half of them are children) to despise, starve, deny
medical supplies, reduce to inescapable and unlivable conditions, kill, and
then brand as “terrorists” for not surrendering and disappearing from the face
of the earth 70 years ago.[iii]
So, they demonstrate at the border, hoping someone will
notice.
Thomas Are
May 29, 2018
[i] Bob Livingston, Editor,
The Bob Livingston Letter,
[ii] Imemc.org article: Health
Ministry: Israeli Army Killed 112
Palestinians, Injured 13,190 Since March 30th. May 21.
[iii] William Boardman, Israeli Snipers Kill Unarmed, Defenseless
People: Isn’t that Murder? Reader
Supported News, May 21, 2018.
Amen have shared
ReplyDeleteThe moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and the "festivities" connected to it brought worldwide attention to the brutality of Israel on the Palestinians than most previous events have. Even so, WHAT HAS BEEN DONE? In my opinion, it just gives Israel even more encouragement. It gives the Palestinians even more reason to feel abandoned. Words of "condemnation" are meaningless without ACTION...
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