“Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed” - Israeli military
The head of international press freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) accused Israel of "deliberate shootings" of journalists.
"Palestinian photographer Yasser Mourtaja wore a vest marked "Press": he was obviously the victim of an intentional shot," Christopher Deloire wrote. "RSF condemns with indignation the deliberate shootings of the Israeli army against journalists."
The European Union said that the death and injury of journalists "raises serious questions about the proportionate use of force which must be addressed."
The head of international press freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) accused Israel of "deliberate shootings" of journalists.
"Palestinian photographer Yasser Mourtaja wore a vest marked "Press": he was obviously the victim of an intentional shot," Christopher Deloire wrote. "RSF condemns with indignation the deliberate shootings of the Israeli army against journalists."
The European Union said that the death and injury of journalists "raises serious questions about the proportionate use of force which must be addressed."
Israeli government spokesman, David Keyes, rebuked CNN for using the word “protest” when “what actually happened is that Hamas engineered an event where they wanted thousands of people to swarm into Israel, to crush Israel, to commit acts of terror. Indeed, we have captured on camera pictures of people shooting guns, people placing bombs, people shooting rockets.”
Israel's defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israeli soldiers had “warded off Hamas military branch operatives capably and resolutely ... They have my full backing.”
Human Rights Watch said that it “could find no evidence of any protester using firearms”. It added that footage published by the Israeli army showing two men shooting at Israeli troops turned out not to have been filmed at the protest. Human Rights Watch says the demonstrators pose no threat to an all-powerful Israeli military machine – a point reinforced by the fact that all the dead and wounded are Palestinian.
The underlying trigger is the Palestinian population in Gaza has reached the point where there is nothing more to lose. Gazans are on the brink of one of the worst humanitarian disasters. Over 60% of under-25s are unemployed. 70% living in Gaza are registered refugees. Two-thirds of Palestinians in Gaza are descendants of 1948 refugees, and the emphasis by so many demonstrators on the “right of return” is part of what has alarmed Israel.
The original idea for an unarmed non-violent protest – with a conscious nod to Gandhi and Martin Luther King – appears to have originated on social media with a group of young Palestinian intellectuals and students. It was then endorsed by all the factions, including Hamas and also Fatah.
"Socialists are always spontaneously on the side of the oppressed against the oppressors and the massive use of overwhelming force by the state of Israel clearly exposes it as the oppressor. But just because we sympathise with the victims of Israeli oppression does not mean that we favour the solutions popular amongst them." Socialist Standard editorial, August 2006
"The underlying trigger is the Palestinian population in Gaza has reached the point where there is nothing more to lose."
ReplyDelete"The original idea for an unarmed non-violent protest – with a conscious nod to Gandhi and Martin Luther King – appears to have originated on social media with a group of young Palestinian intellectuals and students. It was then endorsed by all the factions, including Hamas and also Fatah."
Which one is it? A spontaneous outpouring of rage at the inhuman conditions that Palestinian workers have to suffer or, the brainwave of the Palestinian middle classes?
As to having nothing to lose: not so, nothing has been gained by this sacrifice to Palestinian nationalism and many have much to bemoan.
ReplyDeleteThe idea may have originated from the educated elite and then gained the approval of the political parties but it struck a chord within the minds of many Palestinians who have willingly participated in the protests.
As our observation from 2006 makes clear, we can sympathise with the daily tribulations suffered by our fellow workers and feel anger at the brutal and mortal suppression of their expressions of resistance but we cannot endorse or support their perceived solutions to their problems. So the SOYMB blog thought our socialist position was made clear but your comment helpfully emphasises the distinction we make compared with the left-wing and liberal stances
"The idea may have originated from the educated elite and then gained the approval of the political parties but it struck a chord within the minds of many Palestinians who have willingly participated in the protests."
ReplyDeleteTherefore, the opposite dynamic of the uprisings of December 1987 and September 2000: top down, not bottom up.
Whatever the origins of the proposal - the March of Return - we should not accept the Israeli government's propaganda that it is a stunt by Hamas as a cover to carry out military attacks. So far we cannot be sure if this is the beginnings of another Intifada. The West Bank so far remains uninvolved directly.
ReplyDeleteThe shooting and killing of unarmed protesters is not being described as massacre and murder but as clashes as if a Palestinian teenager in a tee-shirt firing a catapult equals a heavily protected soldier firing with a high-powered rifle. The media have been showing ample footage of youths throwing stones, yet where is the film of the Israeli soldiers...where is the Israeli evidence that their troops are in mortal danger that requires killing protestors including a journalist?
The Peace March in Derry 1972 was by NICRA, and i hope the murder of its participants isn't being dismissed because the march organisers were from a civil rights organisation. If in 2003 soldiers of the British Army opened fire on those protesting the coming Iraq war, i would be less concerned that the march was planned and organised by an aspiring Trotskyist vanguard. I'm hoping i am miscontruing and misinterpreting the tone of your comments.
Our position is expounded here:
ReplyDeletehttps://libcom.org/library/worldwide-intifada-issue-1-summer-1992-price-50-pence
For the worldwide intifada