19 apr 2012
Israel uses holocaust memory to effect own holocaust against Palestinians
By Khalid Amayreh
I wrote this article a few years ago to protest Israel's pornographic exploitation of the holocaust memory in order to to blur, or divert attention from, or extenuate her equally evil crimes in the eyes of humanity. Needless to say, such crimes are tantamount to a slow-combustion holocaust.
On this somber, annual holocaust anniversary, Israel continues to exploit the German holocaust in order to liquidate Palestinian national existence and arrogate more and more lebensraum at the expense of a thoroughly tormented people that had absolutely nothing to do with the original holocaust. Hence, the republication of the article. KA
Writing in the Ha’aretz newspaper on Thursday, 28 January, under the title “holocaust remembrance is a boon for Israeli propaganda,” the noted Israeli journalist Gideon Levy accused Israel of employing the holocaust memory as a Public Relations gimmick to divert attention from the savagery and brutality meted out to the Palestinians.
“When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we’ll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.”
But Levy, like many other conscientious observers, know this won’t help the Israeli goal of making the world forget the Palestinians, or more specifically what Israel has done and is doing to them.
“It won’t help much. International Holocaust Remembrance has passed, the speeches will soon be forgotten, and the depressing everyday reality will remain. Israel will not come out looking good, even after the PR campaign”
To be sure, Levy is not against marking the Holocaust day. In fact, he insists that it is an incomparable event. And it may well be so.
However, he reminds the Israeli establishment that “a thousand speeches against anti-Semitism will not extinguish the flames ignited by Operation Cast Lead, flames that threaten not only Israel but the entire Jewish world.”
He adds: “As long as evil is rampant here at home, neither the world nor we will be able to accept our preaching to others, even if they deserve it.”
This introduction is necessary to understand the Satanic game Zionism and its numerous propaganda outlets are playing in order to divert attention from the genocidal brutality Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people.
Today, Jewish-Zionist circles are leaving no stone unturned in order to immortalize the holocaust, not so much to warn the world against the recurrence of such an abomination, but rather to obtain from the world a tacit permission to destroy the Palestinian people either in one fell swoop or step by step.
What else explains all this propaganda about the holocaust while the Israeli state and its para-military thugs, otherwise known as settlers, keep up tormenting and savaging the Palestinian people, destroying their homes, stealing their land and denying them access to food and work?
In so doing, Israel and its hasbara doctors not only are displaying spasmodic sensitivity toward any comparisons between the German holocaust and the quasi-holocaust being carried out against the Palestinian people, but are also using every opportunity to divert attention from Israeli atrocities in places like the Gaza Strip.
In recent days, the Israeli hasbara machine utilized to the fullest the highly-propagandistic rescue mission Israel sent to Haiti in an effort to make the world forget what Israel did to the people of the Gaza Strip last year.
But that won’t erase the ugliness from Israel’s face.
A child killer’s ugly face will remains ugly even if dressed in a boy-scout’s uniform. An Israeli soldier who murdered babies in Gaza several months ago shall not be transformed into a charitable figure just because he took part in efforts to rescue Haitians from under the quake rubble. A murderer remains a murderer even if he, on his way home, helped an elderly lady mow her lawn.
In the final analysis, honest and intelligent people just wouldn’t take it. A country that uses F-16 fighters to rain death on school children and prevents milk from reaching babies in order to make them die by way of starvation is a criminal country even if it dispatches rescuers to Haiti where the propaganda teams are filmed rescuing a few victims from under the rubble. It is always difficult to thank people for doing a favor which they never meant to do in the first place.
Zionism has two main goals behind its obsession with the holocaust, an obsession that has been elevated to the level of a religion: First, there is the declared goal, namely to keep the memory of the holocaust alive and to remind the world of what happened to European Jewry at the hands of the Third Reich more than 60 years ago.
This is a legitimate goal as humanity must learn from its tragic mistakes in order not to repeat them. We study the day before yesterday in order to understand yesterday and we study yesterday in order not to spoil our tomorrow.
The second but undeclared goal behind this holocaust religion is to justify Zionism, a racist ideology that eventually bred a gigantic crime against humanity called Israel. In the final analysis, Israel embodies an evil desire to annihilate the Palestinian people and steal their ancestral homeland. And when the Palestinians cry out for justice and humanity, we see and hear the shipyard dogs of Zionism shout “holocaust, Auschwitz, Gas chambers, Hitler!!”
Last year, the Israeli army and air force rained death on Gaza for three uninterrupted weeks. Warplanes dropped bombs on unprotected civilians throughout the small enclave. Heavy artillery bombarded homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and public buildings, creating a massive carnage. White Phosphoric fire storms raged over Gaza, incinerating numerous civilians. People fleeing for their lives and carrying white flags were systematically gunned down by Israeli army snipers. This happened as army rabbis were encouraging soldiers to murder men, women and children because this is the way to endear themselves to God.!!
There is no doubt that the massive killings and pornographic destruction in Gaza last year was a genocidal act comparable to what was happening during the holocaust. The world shouldn’t raise its eyebrows when such comparisons are made.
After all, the attempted annihilation of European Jewry didn’t begin with Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. It started much earlier with comparatively innocuous things in the early 1930s. And then in 1938, there was the Kirstallnacht, a pre-taste of which the Palestinian people have been and are experiencing at the hands of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the holocaust victims.
In short, the holocaust started with very much the type of things Israel is doing to the Palestinians these days. The unmitigated attempted killing and starving of Gaza are merely an epitome of a larger picture which shows the systematic Nazi-like savagery and brutality to which most Palestinians are being subjected.
Palestinians are not claiming that Israel is gassing them en mass. However, Israel is occasionally murdering Palestinians en mass by bombing their homes and denying them access to food and essential consumer products. Israel is murdering Palestinians by denying them access to health care abroad or in the West Bank.
Israel denies that its treatment of Palestinians is reaching Nazi proportions. Well, then how can we describe the Gaza Strip which has been morphed into a huge concentration camp?
Besides, must the level of Israeli Nazism meted out to the Palestinians be equal to that of German Nazism in order to sound alarm bells and alert the world that Jews are going too wild? And who says that the Palestinian victims of Israeli brutality must reach 6,000,000 in order to grant Palestinians a hearing before the world’s court?
The holocaust was nefarious not because many of the victims were Jewish. (many millions of non-Jews were killed during the WWII). It was diabolical because innocent human beings were killed unjustly. The horrendous killings wouldn’t have been less evil had the victims been non-Jewish and their number a few millions less.
The world must make every conceivable effort to prevent the recurrence of genocides and massacres and destructive wars. And one of the key ways to do that is to prevent Israel from using the Nazi holocaust to bully the world to keep silent in the face of Israel’s genocidal crimes and designs against the Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East.
Yes, the holocaust was evil, but it must never be used as an excuse for tormenting and savaging other people and trying to destroy their national existence which they have earned in spite of a cruel history.
Indeed, if the world allows Israel to strangulate the Palestinians, starve Gaza by transforming it into an updated version of the Warsaw Ghetto, then the world will be effectively transforming itself into a real human jungle, a jungle that is far worse than a real animal jungle.
By Khalid Amayreh
I wrote this article a few years ago to protest Israel's pornographic exploitation of the holocaust memory in order to to blur, or divert attention from, or extenuate her equally evil crimes in the eyes of humanity. Needless to say, such crimes are tantamount to a slow-combustion holocaust.
On this somber, annual holocaust anniversary, Israel continues to exploit the German holocaust in order to liquidate Palestinian national existence and arrogate more and more lebensraum at the expense of a thoroughly tormented people that had absolutely nothing to do with the original holocaust. Hence, the republication of the article. KA
Writing in the Ha’aretz newspaper on Thursday, 28 January, under the title “holocaust remembrance is a boon for Israeli propaganda,” the noted Israeli journalist Gideon Levy accused Israel of employing the holocaust memory as a Public Relations gimmick to divert attention from the savagery and brutality meted out to the Palestinians.
“When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we’ll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.”
But Levy, like many other conscientious observers, know this won’t help the Israeli goal of making the world forget the Palestinians, or more specifically what Israel has done and is doing to them.
“It won’t help much. International Holocaust Remembrance has passed, the speeches will soon be forgotten, and the depressing everyday reality will remain. Israel will not come out looking good, even after the PR campaign”
To be sure, Levy is not against marking the Holocaust day. In fact, he insists that it is an incomparable event. And it may well be so.
However, he reminds the Israeli establishment that “a thousand speeches against anti-Semitism will not extinguish the flames ignited by Operation Cast Lead, flames that threaten not only Israel but the entire Jewish world.”
He adds: “As long as evil is rampant here at home, neither the world nor we will be able to accept our preaching to others, even if they deserve it.”
This introduction is necessary to understand the Satanic game Zionism and its numerous propaganda outlets are playing in order to divert attention from the genocidal brutality Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people.
Today, Jewish-Zionist circles are leaving no stone unturned in order to immortalize the holocaust, not so much to warn the world against the recurrence of such an abomination, but rather to obtain from the world a tacit permission to destroy the Palestinian people either in one fell swoop or step by step.
What else explains all this propaganda about the holocaust while the Israeli state and its para-military thugs, otherwise known as settlers, keep up tormenting and savaging the Palestinian people, destroying their homes, stealing their land and denying them access to food and work?
In so doing, Israel and its hasbara doctors not only are displaying spasmodic sensitivity toward any comparisons between the German holocaust and the quasi-holocaust being carried out against the Palestinian people, but are also using every opportunity to divert attention from Israeli atrocities in places like the Gaza Strip.
In recent days, the Israeli hasbara machine utilized to the fullest the highly-propagandistic rescue mission Israel sent to Haiti in an effort to make the world forget what Israel did to the people of the Gaza Strip last year.
But that won’t erase the ugliness from Israel’s face.
A child killer’s ugly face will remains ugly even if dressed in a boy-scout’s uniform. An Israeli soldier who murdered babies in Gaza several months ago shall not be transformed into a charitable figure just because he took part in efforts to rescue Haitians from under the quake rubble. A murderer remains a murderer even if he, on his way home, helped an elderly lady mow her lawn.
In the final analysis, honest and intelligent people just wouldn’t take it. A country that uses F-16 fighters to rain death on school children and prevents milk from reaching babies in order to make them die by way of starvation is a criminal country even if it dispatches rescuers to Haiti where the propaganda teams are filmed rescuing a few victims from under the rubble. It is always difficult to thank people for doing a favor which they never meant to do in the first place.
Zionism has two main goals behind its obsession with the holocaust, an obsession that has been elevated to the level of a religion: First, there is the declared goal, namely to keep the memory of the holocaust alive and to remind the world of what happened to European Jewry at the hands of the Third Reich more than 60 years ago.
This is a legitimate goal as humanity must learn from its tragic mistakes in order not to repeat them. We study the day before yesterday in order to understand yesterday and we study yesterday in order not to spoil our tomorrow.
The second but undeclared goal behind this holocaust religion is to justify Zionism, a racist ideology that eventually bred a gigantic crime against humanity called Israel. In the final analysis, Israel embodies an evil desire to annihilate the Palestinian people and steal their ancestral homeland. And when the Palestinians cry out for justice and humanity, we see and hear the shipyard dogs of Zionism shout “holocaust, Auschwitz, Gas chambers, Hitler!!”
Last year, the Israeli army and air force rained death on Gaza for three uninterrupted weeks. Warplanes dropped bombs on unprotected civilians throughout the small enclave. Heavy artillery bombarded homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and public buildings, creating a massive carnage. White Phosphoric fire storms raged over Gaza, incinerating numerous civilians. People fleeing for their lives and carrying white flags were systematically gunned down by Israeli army snipers. This happened as army rabbis were encouraging soldiers to murder men, women and children because this is the way to endear themselves to God.!!
There is no doubt that the massive killings and pornographic destruction in Gaza last year was a genocidal act comparable to what was happening during the holocaust. The world shouldn’t raise its eyebrows when such comparisons are made.
After all, the attempted annihilation of European Jewry didn’t begin with Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. It started much earlier with comparatively innocuous things in the early 1930s. And then in 1938, there was the Kirstallnacht, a pre-taste of which the Palestinian people have been and are experiencing at the hands of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the holocaust victims.
In short, the holocaust started with very much the type of things Israel is doing to the Palestinians these days. The unmitigated attempted killing and starving of Gaza are merely an epitome of a larger picture which shows the systematic Nazi-like savagery and brutality to which most Palestinians are being subjected.
Palestinians are not claiming that Israel is gassing them en mass. However, Israel is occasionally murdering Palestinians en mass by bombing their homes and denying them access to food and essential consumer products. Israel is murdering Palestinians by denying them access to health care abroad or in the West Bank.
Israel denies that its treatment of Palestinians is reaching Nazi proportions. Well, then how can we describe the Gaza Strip which has been morphed into a huge concentration camp?
Besides, must the level of Israeli Nazism meted out to the Palestinians be equal to that of German Nazism in order to sound alarm bells and alert the world that Jews are going too wild? And who says that the Palestinian victims of Israeli brutality must reach 6,000,000 in order to grant Palestinians a hearing before the world’s court?
The holocaust was nefarious not because many of the victims were Jewish. (many millions of non-Jews were killed during the WWII). It was diabolical because innocent human beings were killed unjustly. The horrendous killings wouldn’t have been less evil had the victims been non-Jewish and their number a few millions less.
The world must make every conceivable effort to prevent the recurrence of genocides and massacres and destructive wars. And one of the key ways to do that is to prevent Israel from using the Nazi holocaust to bully the world to keep silent in the face of Israel’s genocidal crimes and designs against the Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East.
Yes, the holocaust was evil, but it must never be used as an excuse for tormenting and savaging other people and trying to destroy their national existence which they have earned in spite of a cruel history.
Indeed, if the world allows Israel to strangulate the Palestinians, starve Gaza by transforming it into an updated version of the Warsaw Ghetto, then the world will be effectively transforming itself into a real human jungle, a jungle that is far worse than a real animal jungle.
7 apr 2012
Fadi Zaitoun
Fadi Zaitoun, from the village of Beita, south of Nablus, died late Thursday evening of injuries he sustained when his tractor crashed on its side as he was being chased by Jewish settlers from Yitzhar.
Eyewitnesses said that Zaitoun was on his tractor ploughing village land when settlers from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar started chasing him. As he tried to flee on his tractor, the tractor crashed on its side and he was critically injured. He was taken to Rafidya hospital in Nablus, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Yitzhar is notorious for its extremist settlers. It was a rabbi from Yitzhar who co-authored the "Handbook for the killing of Gentiles" in which he said that it was permissible to kill Palestinian children, so that they do not grow to be “terrorists like their parents.”
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation authorities declared a closure on the West Bank starting midnight Thursday till mid-night Saturday because of the Jewish Passover holiday.
Fadi Zaitoun, from the village of Beita, south of Nablus, died late Thursday evening of injuries he sustained when his tractor crashed on its side as he was being chased by Jewish settlers from Yitzhar.
Eyewitnesses said that Zaitoun was on his tractor ploughing village land when settlers from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar started chasing him. As he tried to flee on his tractor, the tractor crashed on its side and he was critically injured. He was taken to Rafidya hospital in Nablus, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Yitzhar is notorious for its extremist settlers. It was a rabbi from Yitzhar who co-authored the "Handbook for the killing of Gentiles" in which he said that it was permissible to kill Palestinian children, so that they do not grow to be “terrorists like their parents.”
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation authorities declared a closure on the West Bank starting midnight Thursday till mid-night Saturday because of the Jewish Passover holiday.
4 apr 2012
Aseel Mahmoud Ara’ra, 4
A four-year-old Jerusalemite child died on Tuesday of a serious injury sustained more than five months ago at the hands of Israeli army soldiers.
Local sources said that Aseel Mahmoud Ara’ra was hit with a bullet in her neck while playing outside her home in Enata town to the north of occupied Jerusalem on 25/10/2011.
A four-year-old Jerusalemite child died on Tuesday of a serious injury sustained more than five months ago at the hands of Israeli army soldiers.
Local sources said that Aseel Mahmoud Ara’ra was hit with a bullet in her neck while playing outside her home in Enata town to the north of occupied Jerusalem on 25/10/2011.
They said that the child was taken to Makased hospital in occupied Jerusalem then spent the last few months in Ramallah government hospital. Aseel was playing near her family home south of Enata, near to an Israeli army camp, when she was shot and her condition was described as critical since then. The Ara’ra family called for an investigation into the incident after medical reports affirmed that she was hit with a machinegun bullet and not a handgun.
The bullet hit her spinal cord and paralyzed her instantly and kept her in bed until she was pronounced dead on Tuesday.
The bullet hit her spinal cord and paralyzed her instantly and kept her in bed until she was pronounced dead on Tuesday.
MP Hamed Al-Beitawi 70
MP Hamed Al-Beitawi died in Makased hospital in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) refused to allow him travel for medical treatment in Jordan.
Sheikh Beitawi, who is the head of the Palestinian scholars association, has been suffering from heart problems for the past weeks and was in need of an open heart surgery that was difficult in the West Bank in view of his diabetic condition.
The IOA denied him permission to leave for Jordan for the operation and agreed to let him into occupied Jerusalem for the surgery, which he underwent, in the company of his wife alone because she is originally a Jerusalemite.
The Sheikh, 70, has been suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years, his youngest son said, adding that his condition worsened during his administrative detention in Israeli jails without medical care. He had to amputate a number of his toes after his release.
The IOA refused to allow any of his sons into Jerusalem to prepare for their father’s burial.
The Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday stormed Beitawi’s house in Nablus and searched it before taking away his eldest son Fadl.
Beitawi won the biggest number of votes in the general elections in Nablus. He was running on the Hamas list. The Sheikh was one of the founders of Muslim Brotherhood movement in Palestine and was a renowned Islamic propagator.
MP Hamed Al-Beitawi died in Makased hospital in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) refused to allow him travel for medical treatment in Jordan.
Sheikh Beitawi, who is the head of the Palestinian scholars association, has been suffering from heart problems for the past weeks and was in need of an open heart surgery that was difficult in the West Bank in view of his diabetic condition.
The IOA denied him permission to leave for Jordan for the operation and agreed to let him into occupied Jerusalem for the surgery, which he underwent, in the company of his wife alone because she is originally a Jerusalemite.
The Sheikh, 70, has been suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years, his youngest son said, adding that his condition worsened during his administrative detention in Israeli jails without medical care. He had to amputate a number of his toes after his release.
The IOA refused to allow any of his sons into Jerusalem to prepare for their father’s burial.
The Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday stormed Beitawi’s house in Nablus and searched it before taking away his eldest son Fadl.
Beitawi won the biggest number of votes in the general elections in Nablus. He was running on the Hamas list. The Sheikh was one of the founders of Muslim Brotherhood movement in Palestine and was a renowned Islamic propagator.
Hashem Sa'ed 17
On 4 April 2012, a 17-year-old boy walks towards the border fence between Gaza and Israel and is killed after being hit by Israeli tank shells.
Hashem lived in Gaza City with his family. “During the war on Gaza in 2008-2009, our house was bombed,” says Hashem’s older brother, I.S. “Nadia, my 12-year old sister, was killed, and four of my cousins were injured. The incident affected my brother Hashem very much. After that, he was always sad and bitter. He dropped out of school and started working as a tiler.”
According to I.S., Hashem was never able to overcome the trauma of the war, and was always talking about taking revenge for his sister’s death. “The closest Israeli military base to our neighbourhood is the Nahal Oz base. Hashem was convinced that the shell that killed Nadia was fired from there. He always talked about carrying out a military operation inside the base, but I never took him seriously,” says I.S.
On 4 April 2012, a 17-year-old boy walks towards the border fence between Gaza and Israel and is killed after being hit by Israeli tank shells.
Hashem lived in Gaza City with his family. “During the war on Gaza in 2008-2009, our house was bombed,” says Hashem’s older brother, I.S. “Nadia, my 12-year old sister, was killed, and four of my cousins were injured. The incident affected my brother Hashem very much. After that, he was always sad and bitter. He dropped out of school and started working as a tiler.”
According to I.S., Hashem was never able to overcome the trauma of the war, and was always talking about taking revenge for his sister’s death. “The closest Israeli military base to our neighbourhood is the Nahal Oz base. Hashem was convinced that the shell that killed Nadia was fired from there. He always talked about carrying out a military operation inside the base, but I never took him seriously,” says I.S.
Nadia Sa'ed
On 3 April, Hashem left the house at around 7:00 pm. “That was the last time I saw him alive,” says I.S. “We were all sick with worry about him, so I went out to look but I could not find him. Then I heard three explosions caused by Israeli tank shells, and I became even more worried,” recalls I.S. The next morning, I.S. and his father went to their relatives to tell them Hashem was missing. “We were all sitting in the living room and the T.V. was on,” says I.S.. “At around 10:30 am, they said on the news that a body had been found near the cemetery in North Gaza. ‘That's my son Hashem!’ my father screamed.
I.S., his father and uncles rushed to the hospital where the body had been taken. “My uncle entered the morgue first; I stayed outside trying to calm my father, who was screaming, crying and shivering. When my uncle came out his face suggested that it was Hashem. Then I entered and saw his body. His head had shrapnel injuries.” I.S. and his family were told that Hashem’s body had been found about 300 metres from the border fence. “They also found next to him two Molotov cocktails, four lighters, a knife, a screwdriver, and pliers,” says I.S., who adds, “we buried him next to my sister Nadia, whom he loved very much. He was killed wanting to avenge her death.”
Medical teams find body of Palestinian citizen killed by IOF troops
Palestinian medical teams said they found the body of a citizen killed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to the east of Gaza city on Wednesday.
Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for ambulance and emergency in Gaza, said that the man’s identity was not known yet.
The Hebrew radio said that IOF soldiers fired a tank shell at a man to the east of Gaza city while trying to approach the border fence.
It claimed that the man was wounded while two others were arrested while trying to infiltrate the border fence.
6 apr 2012
Medics identify body found east of Gaza City
Medical authorities on Wednesday identified a man found dead after Israeli forces fired near the Gaza Strip border as a teenager from Gaza City.
Gaza medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said the body found earlier Wednesday was Hisham Misbah Saad, 17, from the city's Shujaiyeh neighborhood.
Medics coordinated with the Red Crescent to remove his body from an area near the eastern cemetery hard for Palestinians to reach. He was transferred to Kamal Odwan hospital in northern Gaza, Abu Salmiya said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that forces on the border late Tuesday fired toward a "suspect crawling toward the security fence" in the northern Gaza Strip.
She said explosive devices were found on the border last week.
The shooting occurred hours after Israel returned the body of Bilal Yousef al-Saayed, who was killed Saturday under similar circumstances, medics said.
Palestinian medics received al-Saayed's body at the Erez crossing. The International Committee of the Red Cross coordinated the transfer of the body.
A forensic examination revealed al-Saayed was shot in the upper part of his body. He had suffered injuries to his face, neck and chest, Abu Salmiya said. The body was returned to al-Saayed's family.
Israeli forces took al-Saayed's remains on Sunday after shooting him after dark Saturday in Gaza near the border with Israel, the military said in a statement.
Soldiers suspected the 20-year-old man of trying to plant explosives, the army said, adding that the body was recovered with an AK-47 rifle.
No factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for the alleged incident.
On 3 April, Hashem left the house at around 7:00 pm. “That was the last time I saw him alive,” says I.S. “We were all sick with worry about him, so I went out to look but I could not find him. Then I heard three explosions caused by Israeli tank shells, and I became even more worried,” recalls I.S. The next morning, I.S. and his father went to their relatives to tell them Hashem was missing. “We were all sitting in the living room and the T.V. was on,” says I.S.. “At around 10:30 am, they said on the news that a body had been found near the cemetery in North Gaza. ‘That's my son Hashem!’ my father screamed.
I.S., his father and uncles rushed to the hospital where the body had been taken. “My uncle entered the morgue first; I stayed outside trying to calm my father, who was screaming, crying and shivering. When my uncle came out his face suggested that it was Hashem. Then I entered and saw his body. His head had shrapnel injuries.” I.S. and his family were told that Hashem’s body had been found about 300 metres from the border fence. “They also found next to him two Molotov cocktails, four lighters, a knife, a screwdriver, and pliers,” says I.S., who adds, “we buried him next to my sister Nadia, whom he loved very much. He was killed wanting to avenge her death.”
Medical teams find body of Palestinian citizen killed by IOF troops
Palestinian medical teams said they found the body of a citizen killed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to the east of Gaza city on Wednesday.
Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for ambulance and emergency in Gaza, said that the man’s identity was not known yet.
The Hebrew radio said that IOF soldiers fired a tank shell at a man to the east of Gaza city while trying to approach the border fence.
It claimed that the man was wounded while two others were arrested while trying to infiltrate the border fence.
6 apr 2012
Medics identify body found east of Gaza City
Medical authorities on Wednesday identified a man found dead after Israeli forces fired near the Gaza Strip border as a teenager from Gaza City.
Gaza medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said the body found earlier Wednesday was Hisham Misbah Saad, 17, from the city's Shujaiyeh neighborhood.
Medics coordinated with the Red Crescent to remove his body from an area near the eastern cemetery hard for Palestinians to reach. He was transferred to Kamal Odwan hospital in northern Gaza, Abu Salmiya said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that forces on the border late Tuesday fired toward a "suspect crawling toward the security fence" in the northern Gaza Strip.
She said explosive devices were found on the border last week.
The shooting occurred hours after Israel returned the body of Bilal Yousef al-Saayed, who was killed Saturday under similar circumstances, medics said.
Palestinian medics received al-Saayed's body at the Erez crossing. The International Committee of the Red Cross coordinated the transfer of the body.
A forensic examination revealed al-Saayed was shot in the upper part of his body. He had suffered injuries to his face, neck and chest, Abu Salmiya said. The body was returned to al-Saayed's family.
Israeli forces took al-Saayed's remains on Sunday after shooting him after dark Saturday in Gaza near the border with Israel, the military said in a statement.
Soldiers suspected the 20-year-old man of trying to plant explosives, the army said, adding that the body was recovered with an AK-47 rifle.
No factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for the alleged incident.
3 apr 2012
1. On 22 January 2009, pursuant to article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, Ali Khashan acting as Minister of Justice of the Government of Palestine lodged a declaration accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court for “acts committed on the territory of Palestine since 1 July 2002.”
2. In accordance with article 15 of the Rome Statute, the Office of the Prosecutor initiated a preliminary examination in order to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation. The Office ensured a fair process by giving all those concerned the opportunity to present their arguments.
The Arab League’s Independent Fact Finding Committee on Gaza presented its report during a visit to the Court. The Office provided Palestine with the opportunity to present its views extensively, in both oral and written form.
The Office also considered various reports with opposing views. In July 2011, Palestine confirmed to the Office that it had submitted its principal arguments, subject to the submission of additional supporting documentation.
3. The first stage in any preliminary examination is to determine whether the preconditions to the exercise of jurisdiction under article 12 of the Rome Statute are met.
Only when such criteria are established will the Office proceed to analyse information on alleged crimes as well as other conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction as set out in articles 13 and 53(1).
4. The jurisdiction of the Court is not based on the principle of universal jurisdiction: it requires that the United Nations Security Council (article 13(b)) or a “State” (article 12) provide jurisdiction.
Article 12 establishes that a “State” can confer jurisdiction to the Court by becoming a Party to the Rome Statute (article 12(1)) or by making an ad hoc declaration accepting the Court’s jurisdiction (article 12(3)).
5. The issue that arises, therefore, is who defines what is a “State” for the purpose of article 12 of the Statute?
In accordance with article 125, the Rome Statute is open to accession by “all States”, and any State seeking to become a Party to the Statute must deposit an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In instances where it is controversial or unclear whether an applicant constitutes a “State”, it is the practice of the Secretary-General to follow or seek the General Assembly’s directives on the matter.
This is reflected in General Assembly resolutions which provide indications of whether an applicant is a “State”.
Thus, competence for determining the term “State” within the meaning of article 12 rests, in the first instance, with the United Nations Secretary General who, in case of doubt, will defer to the guidance of General Assembly.
The Assembly of States Parties of the Rome Statute could also in due course decide to address the matter in accordance with article 112(2)(g) of the Statute.
6. In interpreting and applying article 12 of the Rome Statute, the Office has assessed that it is for the relevant bodies at the United Nations or the Assembly of States Parties to make the legal determination whether Palestine qualifies as a State for the purpose of acceding to the Rome Statute and thereby enabling the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court under article 12(1).
The Rome Statute provides no authority for the Office of the Prosecutor to adopt a method to define the term “State” under article 12(3) which would be at variance with that established for the purpose of article 12(1).
7. The Office has been informed that Palestine has been recognised as a State in bilateral relations by more than 130 governments and by certain international organisations, including United Nation bodies.
However, the current status granted to Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly is that of “observer”, not as a “Non-member State”.
The Office understands that on 23 September 2011, Palestine submitted an application for admission to the United Nations as a Member State in accordance with article 4(2) of the United Nations Charter, but the Security Council has not yet made a recommendation in this regard. While this process has no direct link with the declaration lodged by Palestine, it informs the current legal status of Palestine for the interpretation and application of article 12.
8. The Office could in the future consider allegations of crimes committed in Palestine, should competent organs of the United Nations or eventually the Assembly of States Parties resolve the legal issue relevant to an assessment of article 12 or should the Security Council, in accordance with article 13(b), make a referral providing jurisdiction.
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY 3 April 2012
Barhoum: ICC's Decision is a New License to Kill More Palestinians
Hague Court's rejection to criminalize the Zionist occupation's crimes in Gaza, claiming that Palestine is not a state, is a green light for the occupation to commit more crimes and a new license to kill more Palestinians, Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas’s spokesman, stated.
All the UN and international investigation reports confirmed that occupation committed war crimes in Gaza through mass murder, killing children, bombing mosques and houses over their inhabitants, and the murder and maiming of civilians; men, women and children, Barhoum said in a statement on Wednesday on his page on "Facebook".
He considered the court's claim that Palestine is not classified as a state in the United Nations organizations unacceptable "because that UNESCO, the United Nations organization, accepted Palestine as a state in October 2011. So under the United Nations regulations and practices, Palestine must be treated as a state even in the International Criminal Court.
Barhoum asked the ICC to reconsider its decision and not yield to American and Zionist pressure. He also asked the PA to deal with all the concerned parties and the international forums to prosecute the Zionist occupation crimes and to protect and recover the Palestinians rights and to de-legitimize the occupation ending all forms of negotiations with it.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected, on Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority's call filed against the Zionist occupation for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009, claiming that Palestine Authority is only an observer in the UN and not a state.
For its part, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights expressed, in a statement on Wednesday, its disappointment at the ICC's decision saying that it is a "black day for international justice" adding that the ICC Prosecutor failed in dealing with this issue.
The center stressed that the Prosecutor's decision, without referring the matter to the Pre-Trial Chamber, raised doubts about the ICC Prosecutor who was not acting in the interest of justice, but on political considerations.
The center also called the UN organizations especially the General Assembly to work consistently for justice interests and to complete the so-called "Goldstone process" by referring the matter to the Security Council to refer the situation in "Israel" and Palestine to the International Criminal Court.
"Fears Over Justice for Gaza Victims"
A "dangerous" statement by the office of International Criminal Court(ICC) prosecutor that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the 2008-9 Gaza conflict means Palestinian and Israeli victims seem likely to be denied justice, Amnesty International said.
The Office of the Prosecutor said on Tuesday, 3rd April, that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the conflict unless the relevant UN bodies or ICC states parties determine that the Palestinian Authority is a state.
"This dangerous decision opens the ICC to accusations of political bias and is inconsistent with the independence of the ICC. It also breaches the Rome Statute which clearly states that such matters should be considered by the institution's judges," said Marek Marczynski, Head of Amnesty International's International Justice campaign. (PDF)
"For the past three years, the prosecutor has been considering the question of whether the Palestinian Authority is a "state" that comes under the jurisdiction of the ICC and whether the ICC can investigate crimes committed during the 2008-9 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel."
"Now, despite Amnesty International's calls and a very clear requirement in the ICC's statute that the judges should decide on such matters, the Prosecutor has erroneously dodged the question, passing it to other political bodies."
"Amnesty International once again calls on the Prosecutor to follow the procedures established by the Rome Statute by passing the matter to the judges, rather than frustrating efforts to bring justice to Palestinian and Israeli victims of the Gaza conflict."
2. In accordance with article 15 of the Rome Statute, the Office of the Prosecutor initiated a preliminary examination in order to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation. The Office ensured a fair process by giving all those concerned the opportunity to present their arguments.
The Arab League’s Independent Fact Finding Committee on Gaza presented its report during a visit to the Court. The Office provided Palestine with the opportunity to present its views extensively, in both oral and written form.
The Office also considered various reports with opposing views. In July 2011, Palestine confirmed to the Office that it had submitted its principal arguments, subject to the submission of additional supporting documentation.
3. The first stage in any preliminary examination is to determine whether the preconditions to the exercise of jurisdiction under article 12 of the Rome Statute are met.
Only when such criteria are established will the Office proceed to analyse information on alleged crimes as well as other conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction as set out in articles 13 and 53(1).
4. The jurisdiction of the Court is not based on the principle of universal jurisdiction: it requires that the United Nations Security Council (article 13(b)) or a “State” (article 12) provide jurisdiction.
Article 12 establishes that a “State” can confer jurisdiction to the Court by becoming a Party to the Rome Statute (article 12(1)) or by making an ad hoc declaration accepting the Court’s jurisdiction (article 12(3)).
5. The issue that arises, therefore, is who defines what is a “State” for the purpose of article 12 of the Statute?
In accordance with article 125, the Rome Statute is open to accession by “all States”, and any State seeking to become a Party to the Statute must deposit an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In instances where it is controversial or unclear whether an applicant constitutes a “State”, it is the practice of the Secretary-General to follow or seek the General Assembly’s directives on the matter.
This is reflected in General Assembly resolutions which provide indications of whether an applicant is a “State”.
Thus, competence for determining the term “State” within the meaning of article 12 rests, in the first instance, with the United Nations Secretary General who, in case of doubt, will defer to the guidance of General Assembly.
The Assembly of States Parties of the Rome Statute could also in due course decide to address the matter in accordance with article 112(2)(g) of the Statute.
6. In interpreting and applying article 12 of the Rome Statute, the Office has assessed that it is for the relevant bodies at the United Nations or the Assembly of States Parties to make the legal determination whether Palestine qualifies as a State for the purpose of acceding to the Rome Statute and thereby enabling the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court under article 12(1).
The Rome Statute provides no authority for the Office of the Prosecutor to adopt a method to define the term “State” under article 12(3) which would be at variance with that established for the purpose of article 12(1).
7. The Office has been informed that Palestine has been recognised as a State in bilateral relations by more than 130 governments and by certain international organisations, including United Nation bodies.
However, the current status granted to Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly is that of “observer”, not as a “Non-member State”.
The Office understands that on 23 September 2011, Palestine submitted an application for admission to the United Nations as a Member State in accordance with article 4(2) of the United Nations Charter, but the Security Council has not yet made a recommendation in this regard. While this process has no direct link with the declaration lodged by Palestine, it informs the current legal status of Palestine for the interpretation and application of article 12.
8. The Office could in the future consider allegations of crimes committed in Palestine, should competent organs of the United Nations or eventually the Assembly of States Parties resolve the legal issue relevant to an assessment of article 12 or should the Security Council, in accordance with article 13(b), make a referral providing jurisdiction.
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY 3 April 2012
Barhoum: ICC's Decision is a New License to Kill More Palestinians
Hague Court's rejection to criminalize the Zionist occupation's crimes in Gaza, claiming that Palestine is not a state, is a green light for the occupation to commit more crimes and a new license to kill more Palestinians, Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas’s spokesman, stated.
All the UN and international investigation reports confirmed that occupation committed war crimes in Gaza through mass murder, killing children, bombing mosques and houses over their inhabitants, and the murder and maiming of civilians; men, women and children, Barhoum said in a statement on Wednesday on his page on "Facebook".
He considered the court's claim that Palestine is not classified as a state in the United Nations organizations unacceptable "because that UNESCO, the United Nations organization, accepted Palestine as a state in October 2011. So under the United Nations regulations and practices, Palestine must be treated as a state even in the International Criminal Court.
Barhoum asked the ICC to reconsider its decision and not yield to American and Zionist pressure. He also asked the PA to deal with all the concerned parties and the international forums to prosecute the Zionist occupation crimes and to protect and recover the Palestinians rights and to de-legitimize the occupation ending all forms of negotiations with it.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected, on Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority's call filed against the Zionist occupation for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009, claiming that Palestine Authority is only an observer in the UN and not a state.
For its part, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights expressed, in a statement on Wednesday, its disappointment at the ICC's decision saying that it is a "black day for international justice" adding that the ICC Prosecutor failed in dealing with this issue.
The center stressed that the Prosecutor's decision, without referring the matter to the Pre-Trial Chamber, raised doubts about the ICC Prosecutor who was not acting in the interest of justice, but on political considerations.
The center also called the UN organizations especially the General Assembly to work consistently for justice interests and to complete the so-called "Goldstone process" by referring the matter to the Security Council to refer the situation in "Israel" and Palestine to the International Criminal Court.
"Fears Over Justice for Gaza Victims"
A "dangerous" statement by the office of International Criminal Court(ICC) prosecutor that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the 2008-9 Gaza conflict means Palestinian and Israeli victims seem likely to be denied justice, Amnesty International said.
The Office of the Prosecutor said on Tuesday, 3rd April, that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the conflict unless the relevant UN bodies or ICC states parties determine that the Palestinian Authority is a state.
"This dangerous decision opens the ICC to accusations of political bias and is inconsistent with the independence of the ICC. It also breaches the Rome Statute which clearly states that such matters should be considered by the institution's judges," said Marek Marczynski, Head of Amnesty International's International Justice campaign. (PDF)
"For the past three years, the prosecutor has been considering the question of whether the Palestinian Authority is a "state" that comes under the jurisdiction of the ICC and whether the ICC can investigate crimes committed during the 2008-9 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel."
"Now, despite Amnesty International's calls and a very clear requirement in the ICC's statute that the judges should decide on such matters, the Prosecutor has erroneously dodged the question, passing it to other political bodies."
"Amnesty International once again calls on the Prosecutor to follow the procedures established by the Rome Statute by passing the matter to the judges, rather than frustrating efforts to bring justice to Palestinian and Israeli victims of the Gaza conflict."
2 apr 2012
Rashad Theib Shoukha, 28
A young Palestinian man died on Monday morning from wounds suffered in an Israeli raid on his village near Ramallah last week, his family told Ma'an.
Rashad Theib Shoukha, 28, was critically injured by a gunshot to the chest during a dawn raid on Rammun village on Tuesday. His brothers Anwar and Akram were also injured in the raid.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said at the time that an Israeli soldier "was stabbed during routine activity (...) the soldiers responded to the attackers in self defense, and three were injured."
The military said on Monday the circumstances of the incident were still being reviewed.
Relatives said forces did not permit a Palestinian ambulance to evacuate the men, and they bled for hours before being taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. The army said the brothers received medical care at the scene.
Rashad's brothers suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and thigh, villagers said.
A young Palestinian man died on Monday morning from wounds suffered in an Israeli raid on his village near Ramallah last week, his family told Ma'an.
Rashad Theib Shoukha, 28, was critically injured by a gunshot to the chest during a dawn raid on Rammun village on Tuesday. His brothers Anwar and Akram were also injured in the raid.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said at the time that an Israeli soldier "was stabbed during routine activity (...) the soldiers responded to the attackers in self defense, and three were injured."
The military said on Monday the circumstances of the incident were still being reviewed.
Relatives said forces did not permit a Palestinian ambulance to evacuate the men, and they bled for hours before being taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. The army said the brothers received medical care at the scene.
Rashad's brothers suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and thigh, villagers said.
1 apr 2012
Bilal Yousef al-Saayed 20
Israel on Tuesday returned the body of Bilal Yousef al-Saayed to Gaza, three days after he was shot dead by Israeli forces, medics said.
Palestinian medics received al-Saayed's body at the Erez crossing, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma'an.
The International Committee of the Red Cross coordinated the transfer of the body, which was taken to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, he added.
A forensic examination revealed al-Saayed was shot in the upper part of his body. He had suffered injuries to his face, neck and chest, Abu Salmiya said. The body was later taken to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah to be returned to al-Saayed's family.
Israeli forces took al-Saayed's remains on Sunday after shooting him after dark Saturday in Gaza near the border with Israel, the military said in a statement.
Soldiers suspected the 20-year-old man of trying to plant explosives, the army said, adding that the body was recovered with an AK-47 rifle.
No factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for the alleged incident.
Israel on Tuesday returned the body of Bilal Yousef al-Saayed to Gaza, three days after he was shot dead by Israeli forces, medics said.
Palestinian medics received al-Saayed's body at the Erez crossing, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma'an.
The International Committee of the Red Cross coordinated the transfer of the body, which was taken to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, he added.
A forensic examination revealed al-Saayed was shot in the upper part of his body. He had suffered injuries to his face, neck and chest, Abu Salmiya said. The body was later taken to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah to be returned to al-Saayed's family.
Israeli forces took al-Saayed's remains on Sunday after shooting him after dark Saturday in Gaza near the border with Israel, the military said in a statement.
Soldiers suspected the 20-year-old man of trying to plant explosives, the army said, adding that the body was recovered with an AK-47 rifle.
No factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for the alleged incident.
31 mar 2012
Bilal Yousef Ibrahim al-Sa’aida 17
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian they suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said Sunday.
Soldiers on Sunday recovered the remains of the Palestinian alongside an assault rifle, a statement from the Israeli military spokesperson's office said. "Following a search, conducted this morning, the body was found with an AK-47 rifle," a statement said.
"It should be noted that during the past week, IDF soldiers uncovered three explosive devices adjacent to the security fence in the Gaza Strip. All three devices were diffused in a controlled manner."
None of the armed groups in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for the purported incident on Saturday, which Israel said occurred after dark.
The frontier had been relatively quiet since a truce silenced a violent outbreak last month when Israel killed 25 Palestinians, most of them armed, while groups in Gaza fired dozens of rockets that hurt Israeli civilians.
The killing of the unidentified Palestinian on Saturday came a day after troops at the border shot dead one person and injured over 30 others as Palestinians marked the annual Land Day anniversary.
Mahmoud Zakot, 20, was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, a medical official said. Thirty-one others were injured in that incident and in Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized.
Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching the border.
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian they suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said Sunday.
Soldiers on Sunday recovered the remains of the Palestinian alongside an assault rifle, a statement from the Israeli military spokesperson's office said. "Following a search, conducted this morning, the body was found with an AK-47 rifle," a statement said.
"It should be noted that during the past week, IDF soldiers uncovered three explosive devices adjacent to the security fence in the Gaza Strip. All three devices were diffused in a controlled manner."
None of the armed groups in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for the purported incident on Saturday, which Israel said occurred after dark.
The frontier had been relatively quiet since a truce silenced a violent outbreak last month when Israel killed 25 Palestinians, most of them armed, while groups in Gaza fired dozens of rockets that hurt Israeli civilians.
The killing of the unidentified Palestinian on Saturday came a day after troops at the border shot dead one person and injured over 30 others as Palestinians marked the annual Land Day anniversary.
Mahmoud Zakot, 20, was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, a medical official said. Thirty-one others were injured in that incident and in Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized.
Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching the border.
30 mar 2012
Palestinian youth killed and dozens, including journalist injured in Gaza
Mahmoud Mohammed Zaqqout 19
A young Palestinian man was killed on Friday afternoon after participating in the Global March to Jerusalem at the Gaza borders near the Beith Hanoun crossing into 1948 occupied Palestine.
Dozens of Palestinian young men managed to draw close to the border fence at the Beit Hanoun border crossing in the north and Kissufim military post in the south and threw stones at IOF soldiers stationed at the two positions. The IOF troops responded by firing live bullets.
Adham Abu Selmeyyah, spokesman for Emergency Services, said that Mahmoud Zakout, 20 years, was killed by IOF fire at the Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.
He added that the number of wounded people rose to 37, mostly from the northern Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses also said that amongst the wounded is journalist Yousef Hammad, who works as a correspondent for al-Watan local radio station, And who was wounded in his foot as he covered the events at Beit Hanoun crossing.
A young Palestinian man was killed on Friday afternoon after participating in the Global March to Jerusalem at the Gaza borders near the Beith Hanoun crossing into 1948 occupied Palestine.
Dozens of Palestinian young men managed to draw close to the border fence at the Beit Hanoun border crossing in the north and Kissufim military post in the south and threw stones at IOF soldiers stationed at the two positions. The IOF troops responded by firing live bullets.
Adham Abu Selmeyyah, spokesman for Emergency Services, said that Mahmoud Zakout, 20 years, was killed by IOF fire at the Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.
He added that the number of wounded people rose to 37, mostly from the northern Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses also said that amongst the wounded is journalist Yousef Hammad, who works as a correspondent for al-Watan local radio station, And who was wounded in his foot as he covered the events at Beit Hanoun crossing.
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20 year old youth was killed, 37 injured, among them a journalist when Israeli troops opened fire at Palestinian protesters marking land day in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian sources reported that soldiers opened fire at protesters who marched up to the borders with Israel near Gaza city killing Mohamed Zakout, 20, and injuring 37 others. Among those injured were 3 in critical conditions and a local journalist. In the West Bank Israeli troops injured 100 civilians including an American activist who marked land day in different parts of the West Bank today Marking the 36th anniversary of land day today Palestinians and their supporters marched for Jerusalem demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of the city. |
Protests were organized near the Israeli Lebanese borders as well as the borders with Jordan.
The Land day commemoration started in 1976, when Palestinian residents of the Galilee to the Negev protested Israel’s plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes. Israeli military and police attacked the protests leaving 6 killed, hundreds injured.
The Land day commemoration started in 1976, when Palestinian residents of the Galilee to the Negev protested Israel’s plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes. Israeli military and police attacked the protests leaving 6 killed, hundreds injured.
