Israel’s massacre of peaceful protesters in Gaza on March 30, in which 18 people died and almost 1500 were injured, has spread outrage across the world.
Anger has been further fuelled by Israeli statements after the attack, in which footage showed unarmed protesters being shot in the back as they fled. Rejecting international calls for an inquiry, Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman instead said Israeli soldiers “deserve a medal”.
The killings came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall marking Gaza’s border with Israel. Named the Great Return March, the demonstration marked “Land Day”, the anniversary of the 1976 killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land.
The protests were the start of a planned six-week-long non-violent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The six-week campaign will culminate on al Nakba (Catastrophe Day), the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel on the back of mass expulsions of Palestinians.
In response to the latest killings, Palestinians are calling for protests. The steering committee of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee released a statement on April 2 that evoked the global campaign for sanctions against Israeli apartheid. It called for an escalation of boycotts targeting the Israeli military and any company that financially profits from Israeli crimes.
Read the article by Huwaida Arraf, Jiselle Hanna and Lourdes Garcia-Larque in the Green Left Weekly.