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The World Is Silent to Palestinian Death

Over 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the protests against the American Embassy's move to Jerusalem.

By Hanin NajjarPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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About 60 Palestinians were killed and 3,000 were injured by Israeli forces at the Gaza apartheid wall when they were protesting US embassy's establishment in Jerusalem. The protesters were largely peaceful or otherwise armed with stones to fight against advanced military weapons. The region has not had a violent incident on this scale since the seven-week-long war in the summer of 2014.

Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, known to Palestinians as Nakba or "catastrophe," when more than 700,000 Palestinians fled after Israel's creation. Major cities all over the world are protesting against the current massacre of Palestinians and for the anniversary.

Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, told the Washington Post that although Israel has the right to defend itself, he condemned the "appalling deadly violence" Israeli forces used on the Palestinians.

The Palestinians have been living under an occupation of the Israeli state for 70 years now with the hope of one day having a two state solution. Meanwhile Israel has built an apartheid wall separating Israeli territories from Palestinian ones. The wall was deemed illegal by the United Nations but nothing has been done to halt the construction.

“Traditionally, we’ve tried to play a role of fireman in the Middle East. Now we’re playing the role of arsonist,” Ilan Goldenberg, a former state department and Pentagon official told the Guardian. President Donald Trump has nuked any chance of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

While all the violence was happening, Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, celebrated the opening of the embassy while Palestinian protesters were being shot at because of her father's rash decision. The United States is just as responsible for these innocent deaths as Israel is.

The violence has caused international attention and condemnation. The United Nation is set to meet to discuss Israel's human rights violations. The meeting was called by Kuwait after the death toll reached 50. Turkey has condemned the violence against the Palestinians and pulled its US ambassador from Washington in light of the events according to the Washington Post.

Ivanka Trump Celebrates the Opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem

Palestinians are often portrayed as an uneducated, savage third world population. There are communities of Muslims and Christians living under occupation. They have no resources to build up their community because the Israeli government will not allow them to get those resources. Palestinian territories have been gridlocked making it difficult for anyone to get in or out. Palestinians face food and water shortages and no supplies or permits to build infrastructures. Meanwhile Israeli settlers are building illegal settlements on the already shrinking Palestinian territories. When Palestinians fight back with the limited resources they have, they are faced with missiles, guns, and other high end military grade weapons.

Dean Obeidallah, an American comedian of Palestinian and Italian decent, tweeted about the events and drew a parallel with issues of military force in the United States.

Comedian of Italian and Palestinian Descent Speaks out About the Violence

Palestinian-American Activist and Leader of the Women's March Comments

Many parallels have been drawn between Palestinian struggles and the struggles of African Americans in the United States and South Africans in South Africa's Apartheid.

Palestinians face military reactions when dealing with authoritative Israeli forces. Palestinian men, women, and children have to go through checkpoints and adhere to curfews. If they protest or fight back, they are faced with tear gas, guns, violent suppression, and prison. Much like African Americans in the United States, it seems like no matter what they do, they still face a military backlash.

Apartheid in South Africa divided white people from black people and divided the indigenous population into groups and categories to keep them apart. The perfect form of racism.

Israel does something similar with Palestinians. The wall is designed to keep Palestinians locked in their territories with no way of getting into Israeli territories. There are checkpoints preventing Palestinians from entering certain places and a curfew keeping them under tight control.

I am not in any way undermining the Jewish struggle through this article, however, a community that had been oppressed for hundreds of years should not be the community oppressing another group of people.

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About the Creator

Hanin Najjar

Arab American

Journalist, Filmmaker, Activist

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