With the exception of MSNBC, the U.S. mainstream has put a block on any reports of what is happening in Palestine. As of today, Popular Resistance
reports that as of the second week of Palestinian protest, Israeli
forces have killed a total of 29 Palestinians, including the 21 during
and after the March 30 protests, which wounded more than 1600 more.
Eight Palestinians died on Friday, including one who died of earlier
wounds.
Starting
March 30, some 30 to 40 thousand peaceful Palestinians began their
March for the Great Return, a planned demonstration that will continue
to May 15, to commemorate the Nakba of 1948 when some 800,000
Palestinians were forced from their homes, and exiled either to Jordan
or to the bantustans of Gaza and West Bank.
Israel treats Gaza as a combat zone, conflating civilians with terrorists, and framing its March 30 pre-planned
use of live rounds and rubber bullets against peaceful demonstrators
and deploying 100 snipers on the Israeli side of the fence separating
Gaza from “Greater” Israel as “self-defense,” claiming unarmed
Palestinians are a security risk. The IDF issued an official statement
boasting of its responsibility for the massacre before it suddenly got
taken down: “Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was
accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed.”
But,
as this segment from Democracy Now shows, Gazans were peaceful
throughout the march, despite the killing of more than 17 unarmed
Palestinians with shots to the head and upper body, and over 2,000
wounded, including children, with deliberately disabilitating injuries
to the knees and pelvis. At least two teenagers were shot, including a
19-year-old artist whose dream had been to draw the map of Palestinian
lands before the expulsion of 1948 on the sand. In remembering him, his
friends realized his dream for him.
 |
| Palestinian “reading” lock down |
Raji Sourani, Gazan criminal layer, is quoted as saying:
“They
want to push us…to give up, to be good victims. Never, ever we will
give up. And we will continue the fight for our freedom, for our
dignity, for our people, for our right to be free, to have an end for
this criminal occupation, [now marking] its 50th anniversary. They want
to steal tomorrow from us, but tomorrow is ours. We are on the right
side of history.”
Why Be Concerned?
With
a full plate of Republican-inspired domestic Nakbas of our own, why
should we be concerned about what happens to Palestinians? Because
the U.S. supports the Israeli military with more aid than it accords to
any other nation, with $500 million this year, up $200 million from
last year, and with a total $134.7 billion to date. The U.S.
bankrolls this genocide. It’s happening on our citizen watch. And
because when the Security Council recently called for a thorough
investigation of this war crime, the U.S. used its veto to block the
inquiry. That’s why.
There’s
another reason which is less well known. Just as Nazi eugenics as
practiced during the regime of the Third Reich were inspired by U.S.
programs of forced sterilization (still on going by the way), the ethnic
cleansing activities of the IDF are in large measure inspired by the
U.S. “Indian” wars, that is, the war against First Nations (still on-going by
the way) to clear the land for settlement and corporate pillage. And yet
another reason: many U.S. municipal police forces have either travelled
to Israel to pick up tips about crowd control or been trained on U.S.
soil by Israeli IDF “advisors.” The war against Palestine has its
eugenic component as well as Israel targets the capacity of Palestinian women to give birth. We could well ask which tail wags which dog?
At
the same time, If Americans Knew has released a video showing how
Israeli propaganda efforts based both in Israel, and in other countries,
including the U.S. are highly organized by using false IPs to re-write
both the Palestinian narrative, and whitewash the Zionist program.
Most
Israelis vigorously back the policies of their own government, with the
exception of many demonstrators insisting on pushing their country to
observe human rights., And one Israeli NGO, B’Tselem, urged IDF soldiers to hold their fire: Their call reads:
“Soldier,
the order to use lethal force against civilians who do not pose mortal
danger is patently illegal. Using lethal force is only allowed when an
actual, immediate threat to human life exists, and when there is no
other option.
 |
| Eight Jewish Bostonians lock down |
The
responsibility for issuing these unlawful orders rests first and
foremost with the policy makers, including the prime minister, defense
minister, and the chief of staff. Yet obeying patently illegal orders is
a criminal offense and you are duty-bound to refuse complying with
them.”
And In Boston, eight Jews chained themselves to the Israeli consulate on the fourth day of Passover to protest the shooting of unarmed demonstrators.
Minimally, PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman ought to be prosecuted for war crimes.
But, like the Sacramento officer who recently killed black victim,
22-year-old Stephon Clark with eight shots to the back while he talked
on his cell phone in his grandma’s backyard will undoubtedly walk,
world-class assassins tend to get off scot-free as well.
Please consider adding your name to the petitions listed below in our TAKE ACTION section. Thank you.
Common Dreams: Three thousand Google employees demand Google end work on Pentagon drone project.
Jewish
Voice for Peace Bay Area announces that community defense won the
release of Fernando Carrillo from immigrant detention. Join them one Saturday/month vigiling outside the West County Detention Center, Richmond, California.
Common Dreams: Tens of thousands join striking teachers in Oklahoma.
Common Dreams: Major cities join 17 states suing to block the #savethecensus citizenship question.
National
Redistrict Foundation wins suit forcing Scott Walker to hold special
elections to fill 2 vacant state legislature seats.
Judge Rebecca Dallet becomes the first progressive to win an open Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
San Francisco budget chair supports state matching funds open-source voting request.
Common Dreams: FCC commissioner slams agency’s Policies favoring Sinclair-Tribune merger.
Common Dreams: Oregon governor to reject any request to deploy National Guard to the Border.
United we Dream announces that Austin H.S. student Dennis Sarmiento will be released soon while his case is being decided.
City
Council of San Antonio, after years of citizen activism, passes
ordinance securing safeguards for activists’ right to free speech.
ACLU
Foundation of NorCal wins suit against the California DMV for violating
the motor vehicle voter registration laws. The ACLU is bring suit in
the states of Ohio, Kansas, Michigan and Florida as well to insure
citizens’ right to vote.
California
court deals a blow to the state’s money bail system, finding current
bail setting practices unconstitutional. Senate Bill 10 now before the
legislature would insure that no one sits in jail for being poor.
The
California values Act becomes law requiring that state and local
resources not be diverted to fuel federal attempts to carry out mass
deportations.
PEN announces the release of Ethiopian writer Eskinder Nega serving an 18-year sentence for criticizing his government.
No comments:
Post a Comment