Another of the demonstrators injured in Israel’s bloody crackdown on Friday’s protests in the Gaza Strip brings the overall death toll to 18. Thousands of others were wounded in the course of the rallies.
The latest death was Fares al-Raqib, who was shot Friday while trying to evacuate people wounded during the protests. Raqib had been hospitalized, but ultimately did not survive his wounds.
Many in Israel are calling this a PR nightmare, with former envoy Michael Oren particularly critical of the foreign ministry’s lack of readiness for the international criticism of Israeli troops shooting unarmed protesters. Israel maintains this was lawful self-defense.
The people in Gaza aren’t walking away from this issue, either. Palestinians continue to indicate that Friday was the first of what is intended to be six weeks of protests, with the next marches planned for next Friday. This next protest is tentatively called the “day of tires.”
Israel pre-deployed snipers at the border before the last protests, intending to kill anyone who got too close to the fence. Israeli officials have suggested that the next protest may be even deadlier, in keeping with their narrative that the demonstrators are all terrorists.
Six weeks of protests? So who’s going to take over for Abbas when his time comes which may be quickly, a hard-liner with Hamas ties? There is a saying… if something hurts a lot, stop doing it. Try something else.
Snipers are most definitely a cowardly and cruel way to deal with peaceful protests, especially of people under illegal occupation from the “only democracy in the Middle East”.
“peaceful” ???
Palestinians were attacking Israelis with rocks & Molotov cocktails.
100 years of residence of two peoples on a narrow strip of land proved that Jews and Arabs can not and should not live in one country. Every nation must live in its own country.
This is the essence of the UN decision on the partition of Palestine.
ALL Jews were expelled from the Gaza Strip and from areas A and B.
It’s time to ALL 6 million Arabs of Palestine to obtain the citizenship of the Palestinian National Autonomy.
Only then will begin economical, political and physical separation between Jews and Arabs.
Without this, peace in Palestine is impossible.
How can shooting defenseless protesters be considered a crime? So they are locked in a cage not allowed to come out to go back home. Is that a crime? To keep millions of people locked away who’ve done no wrong except being a reminder of a great wrong,could that be so wrong? Remember if you disagree with isreal killing unarmed people from outside a fence is anti semitic..
Ghandi!!!!