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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, June 09, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 330 ~ 53 of 59
“We want to remind the world that the Israeli occupation is committing the same massacres that the Nazis committed,” said activist Ahmed Abu Artima.
The attempt to draw a parallel between Gaza’s suffering and the Holocaust was bound to draw angry reactions. Israel was established in the wake of the Holocaust, marks an annual remembrance day for the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis and is home to the world’s largest population of Holocaust survivors.
In a statement, the Israeli military said protesters had launched dozens of kites and balloons with ex- plosives toward Israel. It also said a number of “explosive devices and a grenade” were hurled during the protests and later said the military post had been struck by gunfire.
“At the expense of the people of Gaza, the Hamas terrorist organization continues using terror in order to damage security infrastructure and harm security forces,” it said, adding that troops had been reinforced along the border.
The military escorted journalists to a sniper position along the fence along Gaza’s northeast border.
Crowds of several dozen Palestinians could be seen approaching the fence constantly, as soldiers fired tear gas to scatter them. Some Palestinians launched kites rigged with incendiary devices, which were intercepted by small military drones. Snipers, perched about 50 meters (yards) from the fence and pro- tected by sandbags and concrete barriers, frequently fired warning shots into the air.
The mass protests have been aimed at a border blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2007, after the Islamic militant group Hamas overran the territory. The marchers have also pressed demands for a “right of return” for descendants of Palestinian refugees to ancestral homes in what is now Israel.
More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled in the 1948 Mideast war over Israel’s creation. Two-thirds of Gaza’s 2 million residents are descendants of refugees.
Protester Fadi Saleh said the frequent marches have helped revive sympathies in the Arab world for the Palestinians, but that more could be done.
“We need real Arab support and solidarity with our cause,” said Saleh, a student of Arabic literature who wore a medical mask against the tear gas.
Israel’s use of potentially lethal force against the protesters has drawn international criticism. Rights groups have said Israel’s open-fire rules are unlawful.
Israel has accused Hamas of trying to carry out attacks and damage the fence under the guise of the protests, and that it only targets instigators. Hamas leaders have threatened possible mass border breaches, raising concern in Israel that communities near Gaza might be at risk.
The protests have largely been organized by Hamas and to some extent by the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. Both have received political and financial support from Iran, but they also pursue their own agendas. Growing despair in Gaza over blockade-linked hardships, including daily power cuts and rising poverty, have driven turnout.
Israel and Egypt argue that they must maintain the blockade to contain Hamas and other militant groups, which have built up arsenals over the years, including short-range rockets. Israel and Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, have fought three cross-border wars since 2008.
The Jerusalem Day protests are being held each year on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The day is known in Arabic as “Al Quds Day,” a reference to the city’s historic Arabic name. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it to its capital, a move not rec- ognized by most of the international community. Israel’s current government has said it will not accept a
partition of the city as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Tensions were further heightened last month after the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jeru-
salem in a step seen by both Israel and the Palestinians as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in the conflict.
East Jerusalem houses major shrines revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in east Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, is built on the spot where tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The compound sits on the ruins of biblical temples and is revered by Jews as the holiest site of their religion.