There appear to be no limits to either Israel’s lust for Palestinian blood or American indifference to an ally’s crimes against humanity.
Of course, the ongoing crime scene is Gaza.
Today alone, Israeli soldiers have killed 58 people, bringing the total death toll thus far to 107. 2,700 people, men, women and children, were seriously wounded today, bringing the total number of crippled and maimed to 12,000.
Not one single Israeli soldier has been injured or killed by these unarmed protesters. In fact, so sleight is the “threat” that for some Israeli civilians, watching Palestinians get shot inside the Gaza fence has become a leisure time activity. Pack up a picnic box and relax for a few hours while cheering for the bravery of “the world’s most moral army.”
Please, let those figures sink in.
107 people dead. 2,700 additional human beings wounded. Why?
Because they want to be treated like human beings. They want freedom of movement; to decide for themselves where they will live; to gain an education and seek employment as they please; to carry themselves with dignity without the constant fear of being shot by an irritated Israeli sniper.
Tomorrow the massacre may become even worse. Tuesday is Nakba Remembrance Day. May 15, 2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes by Israeli military forces in 1948.
I have heard that there may be a plan for the protesters to throw themselves en masse against the prison fence confining them to Gaza.
I have no idea if this is true. Norman Finkelstein reported that he was told by leaders in Gaza that it may be a possibility.
Please pray that this will not happen. Pray that the leaders of these protests will decide against that action, if they haven’t already (if it was ever a real possibility). — (And NO, the Gaza marches have NOT been organized by Hamas, nor is Hamas using them for “terrorism.” This is pure propaganda. The council of organizers for these marches has one Hamas representative, where he is outnumbered by numerous other community representatives.)
Remember that this famous fence that Israel guards so fervently is not a border crossing. It is not an internationally recognized territorial, state or national boundary. It is a prison fence.
The people of Gaza are not a population of illegal aliens hoping to immigrate into Israel. They are 1.8 million prisoners, confined against their will to 141 square miles of territory. Barred from a place they once called home.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated pieces of real estate on the planet. Israel makes life insufferable there.
Gaza is a prison. Israel is the jailer. The precious “fence” keeps Gazans in a cage like animals. Who wouldn’t want out?
If you have absolutely no control over your manner of living, and you have no hope of planning for a better future because everything about your world is controlled by the indiscriminate violence of a heartless occupying power, then maybe dying as a martyr in the cause of winning freedom for the next generation is the best way, the only way, to give your life meaning.
I can understand that.
I bet you could too if you found yourself imprisoned in a place like Gaza.
Remember this when you next hear Israeli and American propagandists demonize the people of Gaza for their “failure to value life.”
