SPECIAL UPDATES will be available weekly as needed. This update concerns the Gaza Fence protests between the Palestinians of Gaza and the Israeli Defense Forces. Please note: Opinions expressed in the following articles do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
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1. Nakba Day Draws Only 2,000 Demonstrators in West Bank and Israeli Arab Towns, Nir Hasson, Jack Khoury, Noa Shpigel, Yotam Berger, Haaretz, May 16, 2018
“Nearly 2,000 people participated Tuesday (May 15) in demonstrations in the West Bank and within the Green Line to mark Nakba Day and to protest the mounting death toll of Gazan demonstrators in the Strip. The Health Ministry in Ramallah noted that 27 people were injured in the West Bank, and one is in grave condition. However, the Israeli military stated that despite Palestinian reports of live fire used by the army in Hebron, the IDF used rubber-tipped bullets.”
2. Kairos Statement on Gaza and Jerusalem, Kairos Palestine, May 24, 2018
“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they (Ecclesiastes 5:8). On Monday, May 14, 2018, in Gaza, 60 people were killed and 2771 wounded among crowds walking unarmed towards their villages, from which they had been compelled to leave. They were killed in cold blood and posed no threat to anybody.”
3. Uri Avney: The Day of Shame, Al-Bushra, May 19, 2018
“ON BLOODY MONDAY (May 14) this week, when the number of Palestinian killed and wounded was rising by the hour, I asked myself: what would I have done if I had been a youngster of 15 in the Gaza Strip? My answer was, without hesitation: I would have stood near the border fence and demonstrated, risking my life and limbs every minute. How am I so sure? Simple: I did the same when I was 15. I was a member of the National Military Organization (the ‘Irgun’), an armed underground group labeled ‘terrorist.’”
4. Noura Erakat articulately and compellingly summarizes the Palestinian cause. Memorize this, If Americans Knew Blog, May 15, 2018
“Give Noura Erakat nine minutes and she will clarify everything about the Gaza March for Freedom, Hamas, and the trouble with Trump’s embassy in Jerusalem.”
5. The myth of the Gaza 'border', Amjad Iraqi, 972 Mag, May 17, 2018
“The Green Line disguises the fact that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer being oppressed outside the Israeli state, but are being caged and brutalized inside it.”
6. 13 Inconvenient Truths About What Has Been Happening in Gaza, Yair Rosenberg, The Tablet, May 16, 2018
“The cacophony that accompanies every upsurge in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can make it seem impossible for outsiders to sort out the facts. Recent events in Gaza are no exception. But while certain facts about Gaza may be inconvenient for the loudest partisans on either side, they should not be inconvenient to the rest of us. To that end, here are 13 complicated, messy, true things about what has been happening in Gaza.”
See also:
Debunking 18 claims justifying this week’s Gaza massacre
How Netanyahu Is Stoking Israelis' Fear of the Nakba
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