{"id":13383,"date":"2018-03-31T02:13:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T02:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=13383"},"modified":"2018-03-31T02:13:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T02:13:29","slug":"total-impunity-israel-clamps-down-on-land-day-protests-with-bloodbath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/total-impunity-israel-clamps-down-on-land-day-protests-with-bloodbath\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Total Impunity&#8217;: Israel Clamps Down on Land Day Protests With \u2018Bloodbath&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"b-article__lead\">\n<p>Israeli forces killed an estimated 16 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Friday as thousands participated in Land Day protests calling for the return of land taken in 1976 to set up Israeli settlements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"b-article__text\">\n<p>Dubbed the Great March of\u00a0Return, the demonstration is expected to\u00a0last a total of\u00a0six weeks. More than\u00a01,000 protesters have been injured, according to\u00a0the Gaza Ministry of\u00a0Health, some of\u00a0them hurt by\u00a0live weapons fire, the Middle East Eye reported.<\/p>\n<p>However, according to\u00a0the Israeli military, their violent response to\u00a0the demonstrators took place because &#8220;rioting&#8221; broke out\u00a0at various sites along\u00a0the border.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ria-tweet\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=14426204&amp;theme=light&amp;autoplay=false&amp;playlist=false&amp;cover_image_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net%2Fimages.spreaker.com%2Foriginal%2F85e6638b7d41165440f3341132c2796b.jpg\" width=\"100%\" height=\"80px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/sputniknews.com\/radio_loud_and_clear\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Speaking to\u00a0Radio Sputnik&#8217;s Loud &amp; Clear<\/a>, journalist and filmmaker Dan Cohen explained that Israel&#8217;s aggressive response to\u00a0the protests is another example of\u00a0the state suppressing Palestinians because they&#8217;re not Jewish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"marker-quote1\">&#8220;I think we have to\u00a0understand why [Palestinians] are marching\u2026 and why Israel is responding with\u00a0such heavy-handed violence,&#8221; Cohen told show hosts John Kiriakou and Walter Smolarek. &#8220;It&#8217;s not because these refugees pose any kind of\u00a0physical threat, but\u00a0simply because they do not fit the definition of\u00a0what the state wants for\u00a0the Israeli citizens\u00a0\u2014 meaning they are not Jewish\u2026 and so for\u00a0that they are gunned down\u00a0mercilessly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"b-inject m-inject-min\">\n<div class=\"b-inject__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" title=\"Palestinians receive food during a tent city protest along the Israel border with Gaza, demanding the right to return to their homeland, east of Gaza City\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.img.sputniknews.com\/images\/106307\/93\/1063079302.jpg\" alt=\"Palestinians receive food during a tent city protest along the Israel border with Gaza, demanding the right to return to their homeland, east of Gaza City\" width=\"705\" height=\"375\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"b-inject__copy\">\u00a9 REUTERS\/ Mohammed Salem<\/div>\n<div class=\"b-inject__content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sputniknews.com\/middleeast\/201803301063082164-turkey-israel-gaza-protests-condemnation\/\">Turkey Slams Israel for Using Force Against Palestinians During Gaza Protests<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re also being heavily suppressed with\u00a0tear gas\u2026 it&#8217;s basically a bloodbath that should be rightly understood as\u00a0a massacre,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Land Day protests occur every year, but\u00a0this one has taken on\u00a0an added dimension, Cohen explained.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This year it&#8217;s a major organized rally and I think it&#8217;s kind of\u00a0in response to\u00a0the increased Israeli aggression, ongoing siege, life being completely unbearable and there being no future for\u00a0any Palestinian,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t been back for\u00a0a year but\u00a0everytime I go back there&#8217;s this increasing sense of\u00a0desperation, where you could see it in\u00a0people&#8217;s body language\u2026 the best job a young person can hope for\u00a0is a taxi driver and that&#8217;s just to\u00a0make ends meet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"marker-quote1\">&#8220;More than\u00a050 percent of\u00a0the population is under\u00a018 with\u00a0absolutely no future and so that&#8217;s just a perfect recipe for\u00a0deep frustration,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have young people going to\u00a0the border to\u00a0voice their discontent with\u00a0being locked in\u00a0a tiny bombed-out cage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But the rising death toll isn&#8217;t likely to\u00a0push any world leader into\u00a0pressuring Israel to\u00a0back off, Cohen told Kiriakou.<\/p>\n<div class=\"b-inject m-inject-min\">\n<div class=\"b-inject__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" title=\"Rocket is launched from a new Israeli anti-missile system known as Iron Dome. (File)\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn5.img.sputniknews.com\/images\/106062\/27\/1060622701.jpg\" alt=\"Rocket is launched from a new Israeli anti-missile system known as Iron Dome. (File)\" width=\"705\" height=\"375\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"b-inject__copy\">\u00a9 AP Photo\/ Dan Balilty<\/div>\n<div class=\"b-inject__content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sputniknews.com\/military\/201803261062895770-isarel-gaza-missiles\/\">False Alarm: Israel Mistakenly Fires Iron Dome Air Defense System Missiles in Gaza<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Palestinians are more isolated than\u00a0ever,&#8221; the filmmaker said. &#8220;Hamas maintains some connection to\u00a0Qatar and to\u00a0Iran, but\u00a0even Qatar is even trying to\u00a0cozy up\u00a0to the US through\u00a0Israel. From the West, from\u00a0the US and the EU, it&#8217;s a total green light to\u00a0continue to\u00a0colonize Palestinian land\u2026 to\u00a0shoot young people, people of\u00a0all ages, men, women, children, to\u00a0shoot them down\u00a0and kill them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cohen later noted, &#8220;countries that are designated enemies of\u00a0the US.. are decried for\u00a0alleged human rights violations [but when it comes to] Israel\u2026 it&#8217;s complete and total impunity for\u00a0the\u2026 apartheid state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the end, the filmmaker says Israel&#8217;s strategy with\u00a0Gaza &#8220;is to\u00a0keep it hovering right above\u00a0the breaking point where life is unbearable but\u00a0there&#8217;s not a mass explosion of\u00a0violence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>UN Deputy Political Affairs Chief Taye-Brook Zerihoun informed the United Nations Security Council Friday that the situation in\u00a0Gaza &#8220;might deteriorate in\u00a0the coming days&#8221; and called on\u00a0Israel to\u00a0only use lethal force as\u00a0a last resort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli forces killed an estimated 16 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Friday as thousands participated in Land Day protests calling for the return of land taken in 1976 to set up Israeli settlements. Dubbed the Great March of\u00a0Return, the demonstration is expected to\u00a0last a total of\u00a0six weeks. More than\u00a01,000 protesters have been injured, according to\u00a0the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":13384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-lectures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13385,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13383\/revisions\/13385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}