Video said to be from Gaza border yesterday March 30, 2018, shows shooting in the back of a man identified as Abed el-Fatah Abed e-Nabi, 18, on left, as he ran. He was reportedly killed.
Haaretz reports that one of the two was shot in the back and killed: Abed el-Fatah Abed e-Nabi, 18.
While the BBC supplies a terrifying statistic: "Palestinian health officials said at least 400 people had been wounded by live ammunition."
Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute links video of a Palestinian boy shot while he is praying, evidently at the border. Jacob Magid of the Times of Israel posts the same video and says mordantly, "The IDF's gonna have a hard time saying this guy fell off his bike..."
Yousef Munayyer of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights observes:
More videos of Palestinians in Gaza being shot by Israeli snipers while posing no threat. Here they were running away. The Israelis were so far away you can't even see them hiding behind their sniper scopes.Munayyer asks if there has been any cable coverage of this at all? Scott Roth says, "Won't find anything on cable, and it's a scandal."
The most progressive MSNBC host, Chris Hayes, gave this lineup from last night: Texas woman gets 5 years for voting illegally; John Podesta on Scott Pruitt and the Trump swamp; Trump's cabinet keeps on filling the swamp; Trump has managed to reinvent the concept of a wall. Well, it must have been a big news day...
Last night PBS News Hour said the "protesters confronted Israeli troops," and featured a report from Nidal al Mughrabi, a Reuters correspondent in Gaza City, who appeared to blame protesters. "According to the organizers, people should have stayed 700 meters away from the border, but many, many, many of the protesters have ignored the calls of organizers to stay that far. People throw stones. The Israeli responded by tear gas, live fire and rubber bullets, as well as casualties started to fall." (Though he did relate Palestinian frustrations: "Frustrated at the lack of any horizon. It has made no difference to them whether they live or die.")
Christians United for Israel linked Israeli army video seeking to justify the shootings: "Our soldiers precisely targeted the specific terrorists that attempted to carry out these acts of terror, some of them known terrorists to our security forces." (See if you can use the word terror three times in one sentence.)
The State Department is misrepresenting Palestinian actions, and U.S. ones too.
State Dept statement on Gaza killings, March 30 2018
State Department on Iranian protests, 2018
There's only 1 reason why US is silent: racism. Americans do not see #Palestinians as humans equal to #Israelis. They're not "like us". We cry when Jews die, but don't even care to know the names of Arabs who are murdered. Hence no protest from WashingtonSo does Roth: "Imagine the fury and hell Israel would unleash on Gaza if 15 Israelis were killed by Hamas 'rockets' or similar."
Raf Sanchez of the Telegraph notes that Israeli statements seem contradictory:
Israeli military tweeted earlier "we know where every bullet landed" in Gaza. Reporters asked repeatedly how many live rounds were fired + how many people were hit but a spokesman said they didn't have figures. They've since deleted the tweet.
IDF statement, we know where every bullet landed.
Comment: That's because every word out of the IDF is pure propaganda. By no stretch of the imagination can sniping at unarmed Palestinians simply walking from point A in a field to point B be called a "clash" - or praying in a stationary position. But the IDF doesn't care. They know that a clash implies an actual fight between two parties. If two people get in a gun "clash", one is probably going to get hurt, and people won't overly blame the one who wins - the other guy had it coming. So the IDF hasbara liars will continue to call these arbitrary murders "violent clashes" strictly for the purposes of PR. They'll say they knew "for sure" that the people targeted were "known terrorists" engaging in aggressive behavior. But those words will be written by paid propagandists with no actual knowledge of the facts on the ground. They are pre-written soundbites deployed after the fact to shape public opinion. Nothing more.
Munayyer points out that the ADL, an American Zionist organization, is being scripted by the Israeli army.
The @ADL_National isn't just regurgitating Israeli talking points to justify a massacre. They are basically copy and pasting from the Israeli militarySo does Ali Abunimah, who posts those statements:
Notice how major Israel lobby groups @ADL_National & @BoardofDeputies, that purport to speak in the name of Jews, use identical Israeli government talking points to justify massacre in Gaza. They speak for Israeli apartheid, not for Jews
ADL statement on latest Gaza massacre
British Board of Deputies statement on Gaza massacre, 2018
Comment: It's time to just shut up and go away, ADL and BBD. If the "right of return" means the end of Israel, they only reason it does so is because giving Palestinian refugees the rights granted to them by international law would mean the "Jewish State" of Israel would suddenly have a population around 50% Arab, or more. Yes, that would mean Israel would have to cease to be a "Jewish State". You can't be a democracy and an apartheid state at the same time. Your choice, Israel.
J Street, the liberal Zionist organization, has had nothing to say about the killings; it is all about David Friedman, the Trump ambassador and supporter of settlements. Americans for Peace Now issued a statement yesterday that is equivocal, blaming both sides, but noting that some protesters were shot for no reason.
APN warned Wednesday of the dynamic that unfolded today. We warned Palestinians against breaching the border into sovereign Israel. We also expressed alarm at Israeli government's threats to use lethal force against unarmed Gazans protesting on their side of the border and urged the Israeli military to use minimum force to protect the border fence.John Hagee of Christians United for Israel is not equivocal about yesterday's actions.
Some Palestinians - reportedly only a few - did approach the border fence in a manner that indicated an intention to breach it. Apparently, there was at least one case of such a breach. There was also one reported case in which IDF soldiers were shot at. The IDF used lethal force, including sniper fire and even tank shells, not only against those attempting to breach the fence but also at Palestinian demonstrators who did not threaten the fence.
These are not protests! Hamas has orchestrated these riots and camouflaged them as peaceful demonstrations. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Shots have been fired from Gaza and terrorists have been trying to breach Israel's border in an effort to provoke Israel to action.
Comment: Hagee is an idiot. Even if his claims about shots fired and breaches attempted are true, does he really believe that justifies targeting civilians - who didn't fire any shots because they are unarmed and who are not attempting to breach the border? Are the IDF so inept that they "accidentally" shoot the peaceful civilians in the knees or the head? Give us a break.
Gush Shalom of Haifa is also not equivocal, it calls for a demonstration tonight:
No! We will not stay quiet upon the murder of our innocent people in Gaza by the racist occupation forces during the march of return!Last night was the first night of Passover. Tonight is the second seder. Josh Ruebner of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights:
We call on the public in Haifa and the region to raise an angry cry against the Israeli butchers!
Will I commemorate #Passover tonight? Not a chance. How can one celebrate Jewish liberation from oppression millennia ago while most Jewish people today turn a blind eye to, or actively support, Israel's oppression of Palestinians today?And I especially refuse to celebrate #Passover today of all days b/c of #Israel's ruthless, cold-blooded massacre of 15 Palestinians marching for their right to freedom and to return to their homesThanks to James North and Allison Deger.
Comment: It was about time for Israel to engage in another ritual slaughter. It's been too long since the last one. The death toll now stands at 17, with hundreds otherwise injured by live fire (the IDF regularly targets civilians in the knees and groin). Thousands are mourning in Rafah, Gaza and Khan Younis.