Israeli effort to punish NZ BDS activists is backfiring

Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab

By Jonathan Ofir, Mondoweiss, 17 October 2018

Israeli effort to punish BDS activists for Lorde cancellation is backfiring

Last year the New Zealand pop star Lorde cancelled her performance in Israel due to the persuasion of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists (BDS), sparked by a letter written by New Zealand activists Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab, who are respectively of Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian background. Sachs was offered the full ‘kapo’ (Nazi-traitor) treatment in the Israeli press .

Meantime, Israeli ‘lawfare’ organization Shurat Hadin, an NGO, carried out a legal crusade to sue the activists, even though they were not in Israel when they penned the letter, and even though Lorde made up her own mind and was neither forced to perform nor to cancel. Shurat Hadin represented three teenage girls, demanding damages be paid by the activists for bringing about the cancellation.

Lorde at the 2014 St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Sydney, Australia (Photo: Annette Geneva/ Wikimedia)

Last week an Israeli court ruled that Sachs and Abu-Shanab must pay damages to Israeli teenagers Shoshana Steinbach, Ayelet Wertzel and Ahuva Frogel totaling more than NZ $18,000 ($11,700). The court found the two New Zealand women damaged the “artistic welfare” of the three Israeli teenagers, and perpetrated “damage to their good name as Israelis and Jews”.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, who filed the suit called the ruling “precedent-setting”:

“This decision makes it clear that anyone who calls for a boycott against the state of Israel could find themselves liable for damages and need to pay compensation to those hurt by the boycott call, if they’re in Israel or outside it”. 

But Shoshana, Ayelet and Ahuva, whose ‘artistic welfare’ and ‘good name’ are now damaged beyond recognition, can apparently go and cry themselves a river – because Justine and Nadia are not paying. The two stated:

“We will not be paying the court-ordered amount… 

“Instead, we would like to redirect the support extended to us back to Palestinians in need of mental health support.”

The two activists decided to crowd-fund $12,000 and donate it to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation. The money was gathered within three days from about 400 donors, as the Guardian reported on Monday. By the time of writing two days later, the amount has reached nearly $38,000, from 766 donors. [Now nearly $39,000 and still growing. Ed]

Israel bombing Gaza again – & the media hasn’t noticed

 

The mother of Naji Ahmad al-Zaneen, 25, who was killed by the Israeli air raid at the hospital in Gaza [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

Palestine Chronicle, 17 October 2018

Israel says its fighter jets have struck 20 targets in the Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian and injuring eight others.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Naji Ahmad al-Zaneen, 25, was killed in the attack in northern Gaza early on Wednesday.

Among the wounded are six children who were on their way to school in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Palestinian sources said several rockets fired by Israeli warplanes targeted sites south of Gaza City, while another blast rocked the central region of the Gaza Strip. A powerful explosion also rocked Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Israeli army stated that it carried out air raids in response to a rocket that hit a home in Beersheba in southern Israel, causing damage but no injuries.

In a joint statement with allied armed groups, Hamas said it rejected “all irresponsible attempts” to undermine Egyptian efforts to broker a new long-term truce.

Study: Polluted water main cause of death in Gaza

Palestinian woman collecting water [File photo]

Middle East Monitor, 18 October 2018  

More than a quarter of illnesses in Gaza are caused by water pollution, a new study has said, noting that this is the main cause of mortality in the coastal enclave that has endured an Israeli siege since 2007.

Union: Israel ‘systematically’ targeting journalists

Palestinian journalist Jaffar Ishtayeh [File photo]

Middle East Monitor, 17 October, 2018

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate yesterday condemned Israel’s shooting of photojournalist Jaffar Ishtayeh with a gas canister in his head, Shehab.ps reported.

The group also condemned the Israeli shooting of five other journalists and photographers as they covering the Great March of Return protests in Gaza.

In a statement, the Syndicate called on the international community to “take serious and active measures” to stop the suffering of Palestinian journalists caused by the “repeated Israeli violations against them”.

According to the statement, the Israeli occupation forces “intentionally” and “systematically” target Palestinian journalists.

The Israeli occupation ignores, the Syndicate said, calls and requests of Arab and international unions and the terms of all international laws and conventions related to the protection of journalists and civilians during protests and wars.

READ: Israel killed 193 Palestinians in Gaza since 30 March

Netanyahu threatens ‘very painful blows’ against Gaza

Palestinians taking part in the Great March of Return. (Abdallah Aljamal)

Palestine Chronicle, 16 October, 2018

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday warned that Israel would strike Gaza with “very powerful blows” if the Great March of Return protests were not brought to an end.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: “Hamas apparently has not understood the message: if it does not stop its attacks, they will stop in another way, in the form of painful blows, very painful.”

The Apartheid State of Israel & the Palestinian Resistance

Palestinians taking part in the Great March of Return. (Photo: Abdallah Aljamal, Palestine Chronicle)

By Nwabisa Sigaba, The Palestine Chronicle, 16 October 2018

When you look at the history of the South African struggle for liberation one cannot help but notice the tremendous role played by youth in fighting against the apartheid system and the many other struggles in the world that resemble this kind of youth insurgency. Young people took it upon themselves to fight for their freedom and stand up against a massive system that sought to suppress their identity, repossess their land and barricade them to the confines of Bantustan in an attempt to stifle their struggle for political and economic freedom.

Israeli forces kill seven more Palestinians in Gaza protests

RT News video report. 12 October 2018

Ma’an News Agency, Gaza City, 13 October 2018

Seven Palestinians were killed and at least 252 others were injured as Israel escalated suppression of weekly protests at the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip, [on Friday].

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that seven Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces, including four in eastern al-Breij in the central Gaza Strip.

The ministry added that 252 injuries arrived at hospitals for treatment, including 154 injured with live fire.

Fifty Palestinian children were among injuries, in addition to 10 women and 1 journalist.

The ministry said that Israeli forces targeted a medical point in eastern al-Breij, injuring two paramedics.

Six of the killed Palestinians in the al-Breij were identified by the ministry as: Ahmad Ibrahim Zaki al-Tawil, 27, Ahmad Ahmad Abdullah Abu Naim, 17, from the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, Muhammad Abed al-Hafith Youssef Ismail, 29, from the al-Breij refugee camp, Afifi Mahmoud Atta Afifi, 18, from Gaza City, Abdullah Barham Suleiman al-Dughmeh, 25, from Abasan al-Jadida and Tamer Iyad Mahmoud Abu Armaneh, 22, from Rafah City.

Later Friday, the ministry declared that Muhammad Issam Muhammad Abbas, 21, from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, succumbed to a head injury he had sustained during protests.

Witnesses told a Ma’an reporter that Israeli forces heavily opened fire at protesters alongside the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian crowds had arrived at the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip to take part in the 29th Friday of “The Great March of Return,” that set off under the slogan “the Intifada of Jerusalem.”

[ The Middle East Monitor reports that Friday’s casualties bring the death toll since the start of the Great March of Return to more than 200 unarmed Palestinians and the number of wounded to more than 21,500.]

Israeli judgment in Lorde boycott lawsuit can’t be enforced

Lorde (Krists Luhaers)

BREAKING NEWS: The crowd-funding appeal has soared to NZ$32,139 (and growing) at 7:30am Tuesday 16 October 2018.                                           This is what solidarity looks like!

By Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, updated 13 October 2018

This article has been updated with statements from Nadia Abu-Shanab and Justine Sachs.

An Israeli court in Jerusalem has ordered two New Zealand activists to pay more than $12,000 in damages because the pop singer Lorde canceled a concert in Tel Aviv last year.

The two activists have rejected the ruling, which legal experts say cannot be enforced anyway.

Nadia Abu-Shanab and Justine Sachs say they won’t pay and are instead using the publicity generated by the case to raise money to support mental healthcare in Gaza.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year on behalf of three Israeli fans of Lorde, under Israel’s anti-boycott law.

The Israelis demanded that Abu-Shanab and Sachs pay them damages for “emotional distress” because the two New Zealanders wrote an open letter last December that helped persuade Lorde to respect the Palestinian call to boycott Israel over its gross violations of Palestinian rights.

“We won’t be paying”

The lawsuit was instigated by Shurat HaDin, an Israeli group linked to the Mossad spying and assassination agency.

Shurat HaDin uses lawfare – spurious and politically motivated legal proceedings – in an effort to harass, silence and deter supporters of Palestinian rights.

“Our advice from New Zealand legal experts has been clear: Israel has no right to police the political opinions of people across the world. They also continue to believe that this is a stunt of which the sole intention is to intimidate Israel’s critics,” Sachs and Abu-Shanab said in a statement reacting to the ruling.

“We will not be paying the court ordered amount,” the activists added. “Instead, we would like to use the publicity surrounding Israel’s stunt to return the attention and support back to Palestine and those paying the heaviest price for Israel’s actions.”

Already their crowdfunding campaign to support the the Gaza Community Mental Health Foundation has raised [over $8,000] dollars.

“Emotional distress is a lived reality for Palestinians in Gaza, where over half of children suffer PTSD as a result of Israeli attacks,” Abu-Shanab and Sachs said.

Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab

The two activists also said they have written to their government, urging officials to “make it clear that New Zealand will not stand by and allow Israel to attempt to bully its citizens.”

Unenforceable

Asked by Israeli media how the judgment could be enforced against the activists living in New Zealand, Shurat HaDin’s director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner this week asserted: “There is a treaty between Israel and New Zealand on enforcing judgments, so the decision by an Israeli court will affect those activists.”

But an expert on New Zealand law has dismissed this claim.

“There is no reciprocal agreement between New Zealand and Israel allowing for the automatic enforcement of judgments in each other’s jurisdiction. As such, an application for enforcement would have to be made in the New Zealand High Court and assessed under New Zealand’s law on such matters,” Andrew Geddis, a law professor at the University of Otago, told The Electronic Intifada on Thursday.

“And as neither of the defendants were in Israel when they wrote the article, the New Zealand court will not recognize the Israeli court’s jurisdiction over the matter,” Geddis added. “In short, the judgment has no effect whatsoever in New Zealand and cannot be used to make the authors pay anything.”

Limiting free expression

Even if a New Zealand court did accept that an Israeli court had jurisdiction over the New Zealand activists, an effort to enforce the judgment would face an additional hurdle.

“There is a real question whether a New Zealand court would treat the judgment as imposing an unjustifiable limit on freedom of expression under our New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and so refuse to enforce on this basis – as well as on the jurisdiction basis,” Geddis stated. “But that has not yet been litigated in New Zealand, so the answer isn’t as clear as on the jurisdiction point, which is quite settled law.”

Lorde’s decision to heed the activists’ call to cancel her show which had been planned for last June was widely hailed as a breakthrough for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Since then dozens of acts from all over the world have pledged to observe the boycott, and high-profile entertainers including Shakira, Gilberto Gil and Lana Del Rey have canceled engagements in Israel.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ‘GIVE-A-LITTLE’ PAGE – Please read, donate and share:

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-justine-and-nadia-raise-money-for-mental

Full statement by Justine and Nadia [12 Oct 2018]:

My grandfather Nelson Mandela fought apartheid. I see the parallels with Israel

‘We South Africans know apartheid when we see it. In fact, many recognise that, in some respects, Israel’s regime of oppression is even worse.’

By Nkosi Zwelivelile, The Guardian, 11 October 2018

It took an international effort to end institutionalised racism in my country – now it must happen again, for Palestinian people

My grandfather, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, would have turned 100 this year. The world is marking the centenary of his birth and celebrating his leadership in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. But while my country has long been free from racist minority rule, the world is not yet free of the crime of apartheid.

Like Madiba and Desmond Tutu before me, I see the eerie similarities between Israel’s racial laws and policies towards Palestinians, and the architecture of apartheid in South Africa. We South Africans know apartheid when we see it. In fact, many recognise that, in some respects, Israel’s regime of oppression is even worse.

Gaza “laboratory” boosts profits of Israel’s war industry

Gaza functions as a live testing area for Israeli weapons manufacturers. [Mohammed Zaanoun ActiveStills]

By Gabriel Schivone The Electronic Intifada, 6 October 2018

After exploring the vast surveillance regime along the US-Mexico border and finding Israeli systems installed at every turn, the author Todd Miller and I were drawn to investigate Israel as the largest homeland security industry in the world. Israel’s arms industry is twice the size of its US counterpart in exports per capita and employs a percentage of the national workforce double that of the US or France, two of the top global arms exporters.

During our 2016 trip, it didn’t take us long to zero in on some of Israel’s most enterprising industrialists who told us how they do it while controlling an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

On our first day there, while attending an annual drone conference, we met Guy Keren, the middle-aged and charismatic CEO of an Israeli homeland security firm called iHLS. Keren’s iHLS had organized the drone conference.

Several days later, we sat down with Keren in iHLS’s then brand new headquarters in the Mediterranean coastal city of Raanana, known for its high-tech industrial park. We spoke to him in the fishbowl conference room above his company’s computer lab.

Below us, gaggles of junior technologists clacked eagerly at their keyboards. This Lighthouse complex, Keren said, could host up to 150 startups.

Keren explained how the Gaza Strip affords Israel – and iHLS – a competitive advantage over other countries because of the real-time opportunities to test new products year-round. Israel has earned the moniker of “start-up nation” among business elites around the world.

Human Petri dish

We asked Keren why it is that Israel’s technology industry performs at an astonishing level of productivity, especially in the military sector.

“Because we are checking our systems live,” he said. “We are in a war situation all the time. If it’s not happening right now, it will happen in a month.”

“It’s not [just] about building the technology” and having to wait years to try out the systems, Keren told us. The secret of the Israeli tech sector’s success, he explained, lay in “operating the technology faster than any other country in live situations.”

Keren isn’t the first to make this connection. Gaza is widely perceived as a human Petri dish – to improve killing capacity and cultivate pacification methods – among the movers and shakers in the Israeli high-tech and military sectors.

When Roei Elkabetz, a brigadier general in the Israeli army, addressed a 2012 convention of specialists in border control technology in El Paso, Texas, he clicked onscreen a photo of the wall, built by Magal Systems, that isolates Gaza from the outside world.

“We have learned lots from Gaza,” he said. “It’s a great laboratory.”

Israeli Minister advocates ‘shoot to kill’ policy in Gaza

Israeli Education Minister, Naftali Bennett [File photo]

Middle East Monitor, 9 October, 2018

Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday that he would impose a “shoot to kill” policy in Gaza, including against Palestinian children.

Bennett made the comment on Israel’s Army Radio after he was asked what he would do differently if he were the defence minister. Bennett replied:

Everything. I would not allow terrorists to cross the border from Gaza every day… and if they do, we should shoot to kill. Terrorists from Gaza should not enter Israel… Just as in Lebanon, Syria or anywhere else we should shoot to kill.

Bennett was then asked if he would also instruct the Israeli army to adopt a shoot to kill policy against Palestinian children, to which he replied: “They are not children — they are terrorists. We are fooling ourselves,” the Times of Israel reported.

Palestinian child fatalities spike during Gaza protests

Israeli forces shot and killed 13-year-old Fares Hafez Abdel Aziz Sersawi on 5 October near the Gaza perimeter fence in Shujaiya. He sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was later pronounced dead at Shifa hospital. [Defense for Children]

By Maureen Clare Murphy, Electronic Intifada, 6 October 2018

Three Palestinians, including a child, were shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces during Great March of Return protests in Gaza on Friday.

Faris Hafiz al-Sarsawi, 13, died after he was shot in the chest during mass protests east of Gaza City.

Mahmoud Akram Muhammad Abu Samaan, 23, was also fatally wounded by live fire to the chest east of Gaza City.

In Khan Younis, Muhammad Fathi Hussein Muhsin al-Raqab, 18, died after he was shot in the stomach by an Israeli army sniper.

Two Palestinians were killed in Gaza’s eastern and northern perimeters earlier in the week.

Ibrahim Ahmad Nassar al-Arouqi, 74, was standing in the street near his home in al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza when he was hit by a live bullet in his back late Tuesday afternoon. The incident took place outside the context of Gaza’s mass protests, according to the human rights group Al Mezan.

The gunshot that killed al-Arouqi came from one of the Israeli military watchtowers that surround Gaza, according to Al Mezan.

The following day, a child in Gaza was fatally injured when he was hit in the head with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces during protests near Erez checkpoint in northern Gaza.

Ahmad Samir Harb Abu Habil, 15, was around 300 meters from the Gaza-Israel boundary fence when he was struck by the projectile in his head, “lodging in his skull and causing extensive damage,” Defense for Children International Palestine stated.

A graphic video widely circulated on social media showed the injured child with tear gas pouring out of his head.

[See earlier report: https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2018/10/05/boy/ ]

Netanyahu warns Ministers to prepare for Gaza offensive

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.(Photo: MEMO)

Palestine Chronicle, 8 October, 2018

Report: Netanyahu Warns Ministers to Prepare for Gaza Offensive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned ministers that Israel is “preparing for the possibility of a military campaign in the Gaza Strip should the humanitarian conditions in the territory cause border clashes to spiral out of control”, according to the Times of Israel, citing a report by Hadashot news.

Netanyahu reportedly spoke of the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s attempt to “choke” Gaza during the cabinet meeting and said:

“If the reality of civil distress in Gaza is diminished, that is desirable, but that is not certain to happen, and so we are preparing militarily — that is not an empty statement”.

15 year old boy killed by Israeli teargas canister

15-year-old Palestinian boy hit in the head with tear-gas canister

VIDEO: Palestine Always in our Hearts, 4 October 2018

Video of 15-year-old (Ahmed Abu Habel) who was hit directly in the head with a tear-gas canister shot by the Israeli occupation forces during demonstrations in northern Gaza Strip, 3 October, 2018. Shortly after the boy died of the wound. At the end of the video you can see his mother bidding farewell to her son. RIP

Notice: Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines)

Palestine Chronicle, 5 October, 2018

Gaza Protests: Palestinian Teenager Killed, 24 Others Injured (VIDEO)

A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli forces during demonstrations along Gaza’s northern border with Israel.

Ahmed Abu Habel, 15, succumbed to a head wound after being hit with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli soldiers near a checkpoint between Israel and the besieged enclave.

Twenty-four others were injured, the spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, said.

Israel’s military did not comment on the specific incident but a spokeswoman told AFP that soldiers had “fired live rounds in accordance with the rules of engagement” as protesters massed along the border.

(AJE, PC, Social Media)

ISRAEL MUST END THEIR COLONIAL OCCUPATION, SIEGE OF GAZA AND

STOP KILLING PALESTINIANS.

The Palestine Solidarity Network invites supporters to join the monthly rally for Free Palestine on this Saturday 6 October from 2pm at Aotea Square, Auckland CBD

Boycott Israel: John Minto to speak in Nelson on Saturday

John Minto, (centre in photo) well known for his courage and political activism during the Springbok Tour of New Zealand in 1981, will be in Nelson to speak about the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on this Saturday 6 October.

Israeli forces kill 78 year old Palestinian in Gaza

Ibrahim Ahmad Nassar al-Arouqi was shot and killed with two live bullets fired by Israeli forces. (Photo: via Facebook)

Palestine Chronicle, 4 October, 2018

A 78-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces, on Tuesday, east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central besieged Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, on Wednesday, that 78-year-old Palestinian, Ibrahim Ahmad Nassar al-Arouqi, was shot and killed with two live bullets fired by Israeli forces on Tuesday.

The ministry confirmed the news after several hours of investigation, that took place after al-Arouqi was shot on Tuesday, to determine that the bullet was Israeli.

According to the ministry, since “The Great March of Return” began on March 30, 193 Palestinians were killed, including 34 children, and 21,150 Palestinians were injured, including 4,200 children and 1,950 women, of whom 5,300 were injured due to Israeli live ammunition, while 464 of the injured were in serious condition.

“The Great March of Return” protests were launched by thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza — which has suffered from a decade-long Israeli siege — who took to the borders to demand their right of return as refugees to their original homelands, now in present-day Israel.

ISRAEL MUST END THEIR COLONIAL OCCUPATION, SIEGE OF GAZA AND

STOP KILLING PALESTINIANS.

The Palestine Solidarity Network invites supporters to join the monthly rally for Free Palestine on this Saturday 6 October from 2pm at Aotea Square, Auckland CBD

After 65 days, Gaza still awaits medical supplies

Boxes of urgently needed medical supplies being loaded onto the Freedom Flotilla boat, Al Awda. Where are they now?

65 DAYS OF WAITING: Government of Israel MUST Release Medical Supplies for Gaza

Please sign, and urge your friends to sign, the petition demanding that the Israeli military releases the boxes of medical supplies.

65 DAYS WAITING for the Israeli government to take 114 boxes of medical supplies from the Gaza flotilla to the Gaza border crossing.

It has been 65 days since the Israeli military stopped the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship Al Awda (The Return) and took control of the medical supplies for Gaza… For over nine weeks the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has demanded the immediate release of the 114 boxes and thousands of people from around the world have called Israeli embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their countries demanding the release. 

Meanwhile the steadfast Palestinian Great March of Return protest continues to be met with disproportionate violence and repression by the Israeli Occupation Forces.

Paramedics with depleted medical supplies attend to the casualties at the Gaza protests.

According to the Palestine Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) data from September 21, 140 Palestinians have been killed, including 27 children, 2 journalists, 3 para medics and 1 woman.  Among those killed are three people with disabilities and a young girl. Another seven Palestinians were shot dead last weekend.

7,509 people have been wounded by gunfire including 1,303 children, 216 women, 87 journalists and 115 paramedics. Among those wounded, 455 are in serious condition and 76 people have had lower or upper limbs amputated. Statistics of the injured only include those directly hit with bullets and tear gas canisters, but there are thousands of other people who have suffered tear gas inhalation and sustained bruises.

The medical supplies are desperately needed in Gaza as Israeli snipers continue to kill and wound hundreds of Palestinians each week. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, on Friday afternoon, 21 September 2018, using excessive force against the peaceful protesters in the eastern Gaza Strip for the 26^th Friday in a row for the Great Return March, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian, wounded 148 others, including 32 children, with live bullets and direct tear gas canisters. Eight of those wounded sustained serious wounds.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition continues to demand the immediate release of the 114 boxes of medical supplies (sterile gauze and sutures) for the health services of Gaza that were carried on the Al Awda and Freedom boats of the 2018 Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, hijacked by Israeli forces on July 29 and August 3. As Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Margot Wallström has stated, the cargo must be released, according to international law.

Please sign and share the petition demanding that the Israeli military releases the boxes of medical supplies. Almost 4,000 people from around the world have signed the petition, but we need your help to increase this number significantly.

‘I cried for him like I never cried before…’

VIDEO: TRT World, 2 October 2018

His classmates are mourning 12-year-old Nassir al Mosabeh who was killed by Israeli soldiers during a protest at the Israel-Gaza border on Friday.

Bloody Friday as Gaza marks six months of protests

Paramedics carry an injured protester during Great March of Return demonstrations east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 28 September. [Ashraf Amra APA images]

Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada, 30 September 2018

Friday marked what Gaza’s health ministry described as the single bloodiest day of the Great March of Return protests since 14 May, when Israeli occupation forces fatally injured more than 60 Palestinians.

Seven Palestinians, including two children, were slain on Friday, two days shy of the six-month anniversary of the protest launch.

The two children were identified as Nasir Azmi Musbah, 11, shot in the head east of Khan Younis, and Muhammad Nayif Yusif al-Hawm, 14, shot in the chest east of Bureij.

Israeli forces killed 11-year-old Nasser Azmi Khalil Musbeh at 6:15 pm local time near the Gaza perimeter fence in Khan Younis. He was shot in the head with live ammo, killing him instantly. He was reportedly 150-200m (490-650ft) away from the fence when killed.

Israeli forces shot 14-year-old Mohammed Nayef Yousef al-Houm with live ammunition at 5 pm local time on September 28 near the Gaza perimeter fence near Bureij refugee camp. He sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead in hospital at 5:30 pm.

An adult was also killed in Bureij, in central Gaza: Muhammad Ashraf al-Awawdeh, 25, shot with a live bullet to the chest. And in southern Khan Younis, Muhammad Ali Muhammad Inshasi, 18, was shot in the stomach.

Three were killed east of Gaza City: Iyad Khalil Ahmad al-Shaer, 18, shot in the chest; Muhammad Bassam Muhammad Shakhsa, 24, shot in the head; and Muhammad Walid Haniyeh, 32, shot in the face.

More than 250 Palestinians were injured during Friday’s protests, 163 of them by live fire, including 20 children, according to the Gaza-based human rights group Al Mezan.

One paramedic and four media workers were among those injured, including journalist Haneen Mahmoud Suleiman Baroud, 23, who was hit directly in the head with a tear gas canister, Al Mezan stated.

The man was among a group including women and children waving flags near one of the fences along the Gaza-Israel boundary.

It was not immediately clear whether the injured man was among those who had died of their wounds.

 Al Mezan blamed the “continued silence of the international community” for encouraging the continuation of the killings “without any fear of prosecution.”

150 killed during protests

Israel’s use of deadly force against unarmed protesters on Friday is characteristic of its actions throughout the Great March of Return, during which more than 150 Palestinians have been killed, including 31 children, three persons with disabilities, three paramedics and two journalists.

More than 10,000 have been injured and required hospitalization, around half of them wounded by live fire. There have been 77 cases of injuries requiring amputation, among them 14 children and one woman. Twelve patients have been paralyzed due to spinal cord injury and two of them have died, a UN spokesperson stated Saturday.

In addition to those killed during protests, 52 other Palestinians in Gaza have been slain by Israeli occupation forces since 30 March and Israel is withholding the bodies of 10 of them.

Lethal fire against mass protests in Gaza is the subject of an ongoing investigation appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was told by human rights groups this week that there is no evidence that a single protester killed by Israel during the Great March of Return was armed.

Israel’s violence has also generated an unprecedented warning from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who stated that Israeli leaders may face trial for the killings of unarmed demonstrators.

UK Labour Party considers Israel arms embargo

RT America, 26 September 2018

Anya Parampil discusses this year’s annual conference of the Labour Party in the U.K., where delegates voted this week to debate the issue of Palestine, including a motion to place an arms embargo on Israel. Former UK MP George Galloway joins the show to explain why he supports the measure and whether or not it will finally put an end to accusations that Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is “anti-Semitic.”

The New Arab, 26 September 2018

UK Labour Party votes to freeze arms sales to Israel

The British Labour Party has decided to support a freeze on arms sales to Israel, a first in the country’s history.

As the proposal was put forward, hundreds of pro-Palestinian Labour delegates stood and waved their flags inside the conference hall in Liverpool, chanting “Free Palestine!” and turning the hall into a sea of Palestinian flags.