Seventeen Palestinians were killed during confrontations with Israeli forces during the protests along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip on March 30, and according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, over 1,400 were wounded.
Roughly 30,000 Palestinians participated in this protest, dubbed the Great March of Return by organizers, which kicked off what is planned to be a six-week marathon of protests culminating on May 15.
That will be the 70th anniversary of the day after Israel declared its statehood, a date when Palestinians annually commemorate al-Nakba, which in English translates to the catastrophe.
The Nakba occured during the 1948 war in which around three quarters of a million Arabs lost their land, homes and communities as a result of Israel’s creation.
Palestinian refugees and their descendants have been barred from returning for seven decades, in spite of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194, which states that refugees who wish to return home should be able to do so as soon as possible.
Friday’s march was a symbolic affirmation of Palestinians’ desire to recover their homeland.
The march occurred on the 42nd anniversary of Land Day in 1976, when six Palestinian citizens died protesting the government’s expropriation of Arab lands, which were roughly the size of New York City.
Friday’s demonstrations involved Palestinians setting up encampments along the border. Many are expected to stay throughout the six weeks of planned resistance.
Some demonstrators then advanced toward the border, where they were met with tear gas, rubber-tipped bullets and live fire.
Multiple videos posted to social media appear to show Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed Palestinians.
In one case, a teenager was killed as he ran away from the border. All in all, 773 protesters were wounded by live fire, according to the spokeman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
But the behavior of individual Israelis and Palestinians isn’t the crux of the matter. The Palestinians marched for a just cause. Israel is treating Gaza’s two million inhabitants as subhuman.
Gaza is in the 11th year of a crippling blockade. Israel and Egypt severely limit the ability of both people and goods to enter and exit Gaza.
Residents of Gaza are not just barred from returning to their families’ hometowns. They cannot leave Gaza, even for medical treatment, without receiving permission from Israel, which is often arbitrarily denied or delayed.
If Israel is occupying power in Gaza, it is responsible for the welfare of the population. Yet, the majority of the time, Gaza’s water is unfit for human consumption and Israel is only making conditions worse.
Gazans receive majority of their electricity from Israel, typically only receiving only five hours per day. Gaza's economy is in shambles, with 43 percent of citizens unemployed in 2015.
These unbearable conditions make the ongoing refugee issue more potent.
On Saturday, the United States shamefully blocked a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an independent investigation into the violence in Gaza.
The current protests are a call to action that the international community must heed. Israel should come under massive pressure to stop tormenting Gaza.
