Tag: Erez Crossing

Two fishermen arrested by Israeli navy and their boat confiscated

17th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

During the night of Friday, June 7, 2013 there was an escalation of attacks by the Israeli navy against the fishermen of Gaza. The Committee of the fishermen of the Union of Agricultural Workers Committees had reported attacks along the coast of Gaza and the arrest of two fishermen, in addition to the destruction of fishing nets.

The two fishermen arrested, Khader Marwan Al-Saidi, 24, and Hassan Ali Murad, 27 years old (Photo: Rosa Schiano)
The two fishermen arrested, Khader Marwan Al-Saidi, 24, and Hassan Ali Murad, 27 years old (Photo: Rosa Schiano)

The two fishermen arrested, Khader Marwan Al-Saidi, 24, and Hassan Ali Murad, 27, were arrested around 3:00 am on Friday and were released the next day, but their boat was confiscated.

The two fishermen live in the Shati refugee camp.

Thursday afternoon, they had gone out into the sea around 15:00 and they were headed south, stopping to fish south of the coast of Shalihat.

The attack

Hassan Ali Murad told us that an Israeli military navy ship began to attack by shooting at the boat at 2:00 in the morning.

“With us there were another 6-7 Hasakas, we were fishing in a group. When the soldiers started shooting all the fishermen escaped, but the engine of our boat was dead and we were not able to escape. We tried to turn on the generator but we did not succeed. ” The fishermen were about 6 miles from the coast. We shouted to the soldiers, “Go away, we’re less than 6 miles!”, But the soldiers continued to shoot”, added Hassan.

The arrest and interrogation

A zodiac boat with a crew of 6 Israeli soldiers approached them. The soldiers ordered the two fishermen to undress, dive into the water and swim to the Israeli navy boat. “The soldiers shot at us while we were swimming”, said Hassan. On board the boat the two fishermen were blindfolded and handcuffed. The soldiers then confiscated the boat of fishermen and all the equipment. Hassan explained that the generator cost about $6,000, the boat cost about $3,000, the equipment about $ 1,000. For a total of $10,000, that fishermen will still continue to pay because they are already indebted to deal with these expenses.

“We were held for about 30 minutes on the Israeli gunship, in the cold, while the soldiers carried on driving the navy boat away. We were lying on the ground and they hit us with their feet behind our heads, then we were hooded. I could not breathe, after half an hour I was dying for the lack of air “, said Hassan. The fishermen were transported to the port of Ashdod in Israel, given a shirt and a pair of trousers and remained handcuffed and blindfolded until 12.00 the next day. Hassan also told us that the soldiers laughed at them and beat them. A doctor then visited them, and informed Hassan he was suffering from various health problems. Hassan replied to him: “What do you want from us? You have taken our boat, you have taken our lives, and now you want to check my health?” The doctor replied that it was his responsibility to check his health. Hassan told him: “I’m not angry about my health, I am angry because I cannot feed my children.” The two fishermen were detained in a room for four hours before being interrogated. An officer asked Hassan if he knew members of Hamas, if they were involved in armed groups and other questions of this kind. Hassan replied to him: “You’re destroying my life and you’re giving me these questions?”. The officer said: “Our concern is to destroy the lives of fishermen,” meaning that this was their mission.

Two years ago, Hassan had already been arrested by the Israeli navy along with his cousin, who had been wounded by a bullet in the leg. “Who will feed our children now? We do not have any other means. Who will pay our debts?” Hassan added.

While listening to the testimony of Hassan, another member of the family intervened, saying: “Every fisherman would rather die and be shot in the head rather than lose their own boat. The boat is our source of life.”

Hassan added that during the interrogation in Ashdod, the officer said, “You can ask a lawyer to get back the boat but its doubtful we’ll return the generator.”

Hassan replied to him: “The lawyer needs a big fee, and I have no means to pay it.” The officer replied: “It’s not my business, it’s the lawyer’s business.”

Back in Gaza, Hassan asked for help from a lawyer but he was told that the procedure would cost a sum of money equivalent to the purchase of a new boat.

Khader Marwan Al-Saidi then intervened, saying that the officer told him, “I must watch over you at sea night and day, and this bothers me. For this reason we destroy the boats.” Khader added that Israeli officials know all about their lives. Khader has recently become a father. The officer told him during questioning: “How’s your boy?”

The official also told him, “You are bringing with you internationals for protection. If international go with you the next time we will strike your boat. We are not afraid of you and we are not afraid of the internationals. Did not think that international accompaniment can protect you. Can we shoot when we want, no one can stop us. “

In addition to the drama represented by the loss of the boat and all their means of subsistence, fishermen also continuously undergo psychological violence. Hassan showed us the pants that the Israeli army had given them. The soldiers said they have the same value of the boat and generator.

Towards Erez, the Release

After the interrogation, which lasted about 30 minutes, the two fishermen were detained two hours before being taken to Erez. The soldiers also shackled the legs of the fishermen and forced them to bend over to pick up a box which contained their work clothes. Then they were forced to walk for 500 meters with hands and feet tied up to a military jeep that brought them to Erez. In Erez two fishermen have were forced to walk another 500 meters.

The Erez crossing was closed. A soldier wanted to bring the fishermen back to Ashdod, while another soldier insisted on allowing them to cross the border. Hassan said that fortunately an elderly Palestinian woman who was returning from an Israeli hospital had reached the border. The woman asked the soldiers to open the pass to go home. After about 10 minutes the soldiers opened the pass. The two fishermen then walked for about 2 miles to get to the Palestinian office, where they were interrogated by the internal security. After interrogation, the two, exhausted and no car, were sitting in the street. The old woman who had passed through the crossing offered them a ride in the car. “You cannot imagine what happened. Even if you saw it on television you would not believe it,” said Khader.

Economic Difficulties

Hassan is married and has four children. In his small home, the bathroom and the kitchen in one room, live 6 people. Hassan has been fishing since he was 10 years old. His father was ill and could not work, so after school Hassan assisted the family fishing.
Khader Marwan Al-Saidi is married and has a child. 14 people live in their house, while the whole family has 70 people in all.

Approximately 24 people depended on the boat that has been confiscated, of which the father is the owner.

The continued attacks against the fishermen and the appeal to the international community

As we listened to the testimony of the two fishermen, we learned that the Israeli Navy was attacking fishing boats off the coast of Soudania in the North of the Gaza Strip. Zakaria Baker, head of the Committee of the fishermen of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees told us that Israeli forces were opening fire on Palestinian fishermen and one of the boats had been surrounded about 2 miles from the coast. Zakaria, who was on the phone directly with those under attack, could not hear them well enough because of the gunfire.

We continued to listen to the terrible testimony of the two fishermen while the tension continued to rise in the atmosphere because of what was happening at the same time.

Hassan sent a message to the international community: “We ask the international community to support the Palestinian fishermen. Israeli authorities have communicated through the media that they will now allow Palestinian fishermen to reach 6 nautical miles from the coast, but in reality are attacking fishermen within this limit, 4-5 miles from the coast. We call on the international community to help and for once hold Israel to account. The people who are most affected are the fishermen in Gaza. Already the situation in Gaza is difficult, we are under siege, we are fishermen attacked every day and while I’m talking to you now the soldiers are attacking other fishermen. Ask the international community to stand by our side. “

The fishermen think that the NGOs could help in covering the costs of the boat confiscated.

Background

Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been reduced to 12 miles below the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area consented to the fishing has been reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel has imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians from access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the Jericho agreements of 1994.

Under the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” they consented that Gazan fishermen can again fish to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday 22nd May, the Israeli military authorities announced through some media outlets the decision to extend the limit again to 6 nautical miles from the coast.

Mass protest aims to focus attention on Jerusalem

16th June 2013 | The Electronic Intifada, Joe Catron and Patrick Strickland | Occupied Palestine

Activists demonstrated internationally on Friday as part of efforts to focus attention on Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Global March to Jerusalem participants called for solidarity with political prisoners, an end to the occupation and for national unity. (Dylan Collins)
Global March to Jerusalem participants called for solidarity with political prisoners, an end to the occupation and for national unity. (Dylan Collins)

Known as the Global March to Jerusalem, the protests marked the 46th anniversary of theNaksa (setback) — Israel’s 1967 occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Syria’sGolan Heights, and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Whereas the Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982, the other territories remain under Israeli occupation.

The international mobilization followed the first Global March to Jerusalem on 30 March — the date marking Land Day, commemorating Israel’s killing of six Palestinian citizens in 1976 — last year.

“Clear vision”

“Gaza deserves all the support we can give,” said Zaher Birawi, Global March to Jerusalem’s international committee member and spokesperson. Birawi arrived in Gaza last week with the aid convoy Miles of Smiles 21’s international delegation for the event. “But it should be in the context of fighting the occupation, with a clear vision toward Jerusalem.”

Birawi, who is a London-based television producer from Asira al-Shamaliya in the West Bank, added, “Gaza alone is not the issue … Jerusalem, and the whole occupation, is the issue.”

While associated with Islamic movements, primarily in Palestine and other Arab countries, the event does not restrict its appeal or participation, Birawi said. Jerusalem, he said, “is not a Palestinian duty only. It is for Palestinians in a political context, maybe. But in a cultural and religious context, Palestinians are not the owners of the city. It is for all people and all religions, and should be protected by the whole world.”

This year’s march came amid rising tensions between Jerusalem Palestinians and Israeli occupation forces. Israeli soldiers and settlers have repeatedly invaded the al-Haram al-Sharif complex, which contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.

And a 4 May attack by Israeli police on worshipers celebrating Holy Saturday outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre prompted a rare public rebuke by the heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem (“A statement regarding police measures on Holy Saturday,” Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 13 May 2013).

Israel’s repressive measures don’t only affect Palestinians’ freedom to worship in Jerusalem. Israeli evictions of Palestinians and construction of new settlements and their infrastructure, as well as economic measures targeting Palestinians, continue. “The main reason for these projects is to actually cut off Jerusalem from the West Bank and make a connection between the Maale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem,” The Electronic Intifada contributor Maath Musleh said in March.

The movement urging boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel has targeted many of the companies that support Israel’s occupation and settlement of Palestinian land in Jerusalem. Some, like the French corporation Veolia, have suffered painful losses as a result. Others, such as the British-Danish security company G4S, face growing campaigns.

In Jerusalem, nearly a hundred Palestinians, accompanied by a handful of international activists, assembled at the Damascus Gate in the Old City following Friday prayers last week.

“One homeland”

Although the demonstration was peaceful, a larget contingent of Israeli police quickly moved to block exits in the Damascus Gate area.

Demonstrators of all ages were draped in Palestinian flags, and chants were led by a group of older women. They called for solidarity with political prisoners, an end to the occupation and for national unity. “One homeland from Gaza to the West Bank,” several chanted.

As the march began, Israeli officers on horseback cut the line in half. Dozens of police in riot gear immediately poured into the area.

Before the march could reach some 50 meters, the police officers attacked several protesters and bystanders alike. A female foreign national was snatched up, handcuffed and stuffed in the back of a police car, though it was not clear if she was part of the demonstration.

In one instance, an Israeli officer pushed a Palestinian photojournalist to the ground. Once he hit the pavement, he was kicked several times by officers until fellow journalists and demonstrators helped lift him up and drag him to safety.

Making no distinctions, officers on horses repeatedly charged in the direction of civilian bystanders, press and Palestinian medical services.

Seventeen-year-old Muath Abu Irshaid was arrested for “taking part in an unlicensed demonstration,” according to Raja Eghbariya of the secular Palestinian nationalist movement Abna al-Balad, which sent a bus of participants to Jerusalem.

In the northern Gaza Strip, a large demonstration was held at the Erez checkpoint in Beit Hanoun at the boundary with Israel. Buses from as far south as Rafah — on Gaza’s border with Egypt — streamed into the protest site after Friday prayers as protestors mingled on a road stretching from a stage near the closed crossing.

“The whole world must learn about the settlements in Jerusalem,” said government worker Mahmoud Kamel, who attended the march with his eight-year-old son Obeida. “This is the first thing. There are no reasons for the policies against civilians in Jerusalem. And they are taking place on land that has been ours since before our grandfathers and grandmothers.”

In Beit Hanoun, members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad held the majority of partisan flags and signs. Members of other factions also participated, albeit in smaller numbers.

“We want peace, freedom and security,” said Mahmoud Rouka, a Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA) activist. “We want to be able to travel across our own country. The Global March to Jerusalem is a time for Palestinian people here, in the West Bank, in ‘48 [present-day Israel], and in other countries around Palestine to look toward Jerusalem.”

Palestine Liberation Organization member parties, including Fatah, endorsed the Beit Hanoun gathering but their members kept a low profile during it. In the West Bank, Fatah-affiliated media announced and reported local events.

Fear

Organizers suggested that Fatah’s increased participation this year may have stemmed from the success of last year’s march, as well as expectations of large protests inAlexandria and Cairo, where Egypt’s governing Muslim Brotherhood mobilized alongside the al-Asala, al-Nour, and al-Wasat political parties.

Compared to last year, the turnout was notably smaller in Jerusalem. Eghbariya said that “some activists, political parties, and even the Islamic movement [in Israel] declined to participate because of a rumor that the event was organized by Hamas and the fear that Israel would respond harshly.”

Dr. Sarah Marusek, a Global March to Jerusalem international committee member and spokesperson from Brooklyn, New York, who also arrived in Gaza with Miles of Smiles 21, confirmed these concerns. “There was a lot of fear to organize in Jerusalem — it’s very difficult right now, because there have been so many arrests in Jerusalem,” she said. “Many of the student leaders who were working with us before are now in Israeli prison. This political situation has made it hard to mobilize.”

One of the organizers of the West Bank events last year, according to Marusek, wasHassan Karajah, the 28-year-old youth coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign who was arrested by Israel in January.

Marusek added that smaller numbers across the region stemmed from organizers’ late start planning this year’s events, due to the conflict in Syria.

“Daily aggression”

Tamer Khalefa, a local organizer of the Global March to Jerusalem, said the march would be staged again next year. “It’s important to mark the anniversary not just because of daily aggression at al-Aqsa [mosque] but also because of the general situation in Jerusalem,” he said. “This includes home demolitions, anti-Arab discrimination, land theft and all human rights violations.”

Clashes between protesters and the Israeli military also occurred across the West Bank, particularly in areas near Bethlehem and Ramallah.

In Bilin, a village featured in the acclaimed 5 Broken Cameras documentary film, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were attacked by Israeli forces who fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades near Israel’s wall in the West Bank.

In Kafr Qaddoum, situated between Nablus and Qalqilya, dozens reportedly suffered tear gas inhalation (“Clashes across West Bank as Palestinians mark war anniversary,” Maan News, 7 June 2013).

Other Global March to Jerusalem events occurred in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen, according to the march’s organizers.

“Coordinating a global movement is really difficult,” Marusek said. “But it’s really inspiring.”

Contacts established during the 2012 Global March to Jerusalem made it easier to mobilize quickly this year, she said. “This is our second GMJ, so we had already created a structure of networks and relationships. We already had key contacts in place. We have national committees in Palestine, in Gaza and the West Bank.”

“We try to choose people who can work with all the parties” as local coordinators in the Middle East, she said. “It’s an international movement, but it’s also very much Palestinian-led. It can be a struggle working with Europeans and North Americans who are used to working on projects that are more activist-led.”

“We are a peaceful movement, and we expect Israel’s response to be violent,” Marusek said. “But nonviolence is the path we chose.”

Joe Catron is a US activist in Gaza, Palestine. He co-edited The Prisoners’ Diaries: Palestinian Voices from the Israeli Gulag, an anthology of accounts by detainees freed in the 2011 prisoner exchange, blogs at joecatron.wordpress.com and can be followed on Twitter @jncatron.

Patrick O. Strickland is a freelance journalist whose writing has appeared in Al Jazeera English, Al Akhbar English, The Electronic Intifada, Middle East Monitor, Palestine Monitor, and others. Follow him on Twitter @pstrickland.

Gaza: Harvesting barley at Erez crossing amidst gun fire

By Hama Waqum

19 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Ten Palestinian volunteers harvested wheat in Gaza’s northern no-go zone on Wednesday, May 16, only 350 meters from where the Israeli Apartheid wall encircles the Gaza Strip. Two weeks ago the barley was cut and gathered and on Wednesday, volunteers loaded the harvest onto donkey carts to transport it for sorting, in the face of Apache helicopters, tanks, and F-16 fighter jets.

Palestinian farmers harvesting barley near the no-go zone in Gaza despite risk of Israeli army attack.

The work began at approximately 8:45am in northern Beit Hanoun, and immediately an Israeli tank became visible on a distant hill. A few minutes later, a helicopter circled above and would remain there for three hours. At 9:10, a number of jeeps patrolled the border and by 11:30, one of the Israeli outposts fired 8 shots at a point slightly further than the farmland. Over the next hour, a total of around 30 shots were fired from the same outpost.

The volunteers offered to help the owner to farm his land, due to its proximity to the Apartheid Wall. A distance of 300 meters to the border is considered the ‘no-go zone’, in which the Israeli Government prohibits farming. Even farmers outside the no-go zone, however, come under regular fire simply for their proximity to the Wall. Volunteers from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative team farmed for six hours, joined by International Solidarity Movement volunteers.

The team of volunteers successfully finished transporting the barley despite the military presence.

Hama Waqum is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.

Mahmoud, 19 years old, killed at Erez during Land Day between dreams and hopes: The words of his family

by Rosa Schiano

11 April 2012 | il Blog di Oliva

On Friday 30th March, during the “Land Day,” Gaza joined the Global March in order to remember the confiscation of Palestinian lands by Israel which were protested against on the 30th March 1976. 6 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured.

In Gaza this event had the color of blood and the sound of Israeli bullets.

We all met in Beit Hanoun to head to the Erez border. Many people could not continue the march because of the blockade created by the Israeli police.

However, while we were there we learned that many people were able to reach the border, and we also knew about the injured. And so, following alternative ways, bypassing the blockade of the police, we joined them.

What we saw next was at the verge of madness.

A group of young people demonstrated by singing, some were there just sitting or standing, others were trying to remove a barbed wire fence, some were throwing stones  of protest, stones that could have never reached the Israeli soldiers and surely not cross the border.

Nonetheless, the Israeli soldiers did not hesitate. They targeted. They fired. Precisely.

The injured were many. It was chaos. Guys riding motorbikes were bringing the injured quickly towards the ambulances and then they were coming back.

The soldiers fired at the arms, at the legs.

I saw grimaces of pain; I heard the screams of pain.

Also Mahmoud Zaqout, 19 years old, was there with us. They also shot Mahmoud, but he was hit straight in the chest.

Mahmoud would have turned 20 on April 19.

After that terrible day we went to visit his family.

He was a calm boy, a lovely boy, his father Mohammed told us, “Mahmoud was 19 and he was still a child. Mahmoud graduated and he worked in his shop near home.

He was very much beloved by the children, and by his brothers and sisters. He always played with them. Mahmoud was the tenth of 12 children.

His parents told us that Mahmoud was preparing himself for this demonstration since two weeks prior. He really wished to do something for the Palestinian cause. Four days earlier he had taken a picture of himself and he asked his family to use that picture in case he was killed.

Mahmoud’s family thought that he was joking, that he said that for fun.

They did not think that this could happen.

Maybe Mahmoud felt that this could happen. Or simply he knew that whoever goes to the border to demonstrate risks his life under the fire of Israeli bullets.

On Friday, after the prayer, Mahmoud went to the demonstration.

His mother told us that before leaving he told her: “If I am late, keep lunch ready for me.”

These were his last words to his mother.

Mahmoud was trying to put a flag at the gate when he was shot by an Israeli bullet. He was transported to Kamal Odwan Hospital. But because he was badly injured, the medical staff decided to carry him to the Shifa hospital, but he died before arriving.

One of his brothers showed us the flag still stained with his blood.

We asked Mohammed from whom his son had inherited this sense of struggle and resistance. The father told us that his family is from Askilon. Mahmoud is not the first martyr of the family. One of his uncles was killed during the shelling of Gaza (Cast Lead Operation).

Mohammed told us that they feel they must fight for their own rights, for their freedom and for justice.

All his family believes that one day the Palestinian people will go back to their land.

The family of Mahmoud

One of his brother told us that Mahmoud was anxiously waiting for the following Tuesday, 3rd April, in order to watch the football match of Barcelona, because Mahmoud was a fan of the team.

They would have watched the football match together.

Mahmoud was aware of the possibility of getting killed.  He was ready for that, for the love of his land. But at the same time Mahmoud was also thinking about his future and, as all the youth of his age, he was also thinking to watch the football match of his football team together with his family and friends.

“The loss of Mahmoud is a disaster for the whole family,” his father told us. “But now Mahmoud is with God and we hope he will be ok.”

“In the West Bank more than 300 people were injured. There Israeli soldiers used rubber coated  bullets. In Gaza there are F-16 and the soldiers use real bullets, in Gaza the Israeli soldiers shoot to kill the Palestinian people”, concluded Mohammed.

Finally, I asked the relatives of Mahmoud if they feel like sending a message to the international community.

Mohammed, the father, said, “I want to know what Mahmoud has done in order to be killed by Israel. We thank you for your solidarity, and we thank the internationals who are here to support the Palestinians.”

Nedal, one of Mahmoud’s brothers said, “If my brother had been a soldier, and if he had killed an Israeli boy, what would have been the response of the entire world? This question is above all for the governments of the other countries. Me too.. I would like to know what Mahmoud has done to be killed.”

I asked Haiaa, Mahmoud’s mother, how she feels. With her eyes still in disbelief she replied, “I feel like a fire is in my heart. Everyday I go to his room, every day I approach his bed, and I start to cry.”

The mother accompanied me into her son’s room. She showed me his computer, she touched the screen. She showed me a small cupboard with some objects. Toothpaste, a toothbrush, a comb, and some hair gel. She took the toothpaste, she handed it to me and she put it back where it was before.

She showed me Mahmoud’s jeans hanging on a hook, she hugged them. His jeans are still there at their place. Mahmoud’s mother keeps his room as he left it, as if he was still alive, as if he will come back.

I felt out of breath in front of her pain.

I hugged her, a hug full of feelings of helplessness, aware that my embrace could never relieve her pain, aware that nothing will ever bring her son back.

On Tuesday Barcelona won. Mahmoud could not sit on the armchair at home watching the match, but maybe from up there he would have smiled. Now he will wait for the greatest victory, to see the rights of the Palestinian people.

Rosa Schiano is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

They shoot the youth don’t they?

by Johnny Bravo

4 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

On March 30, 1976, the Palestinian people declared a general strike and demonstrated against the Israeli confiscation of thousands of acres of land in the Galilee. The Israeli’s responded with violence, killing six unarmed Palestinian demonstrators and injuring hundreds. Every year Land Day is commemorated in Palestine in remembrance of those who rise up to protect their land.

On this Land Day, I was at Erez Crossing. Several hundred youth had managed to find their way around the Hamas policemen blocking the roads leading to Erez. At the crossing, they moved to within two hundred yards of the Israeli gate. There they found their path blocked by rows of concertina wire across the road. The shabab, or young men, set fire to tires in the roadway and threw stones towards the Israeli wall, most falling into the roadway, well short of their target. Intermittently and without warning, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on the stone throwers. Each volley consists of one to three shots, and with each volley, young men fall. Others immediately retrieved them. Dozens of youth mobbed the wounded. Somehow they managed to carry them through the crowd and loaded them onto motorcycles, where they were ferried to the Palestinian side of the crossing to waiting ambulances.

They shoot the youth don’t they? - Click here for more photos. Courtesy Johnny Bravo, 2012

I wonder about the young Israeli soldiers, picking their targets amongst the crowd and firing, like shooting fish in a barrel. I remember in 2002, the head of the IAF, Dan Hurlitz was asked what it felt like releasing a bomb over Gaza, and he said, “No. That is not a legitimate question and it is not asked.  But if you nevertheless want to know what I feel when I release a bomb, I will tell you: I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb’s release. A second later it’s gone, and that’s all. That is what I feel.”

I disagree with Hurlitz on this point. In any caring world this is a completely legitimate question. It is the answer that rings of illegitimacy. It is the answer of a sociopath. I wonder if this dehumanization trickles down to the soldiers opposite us. I wonder what they feel.

And I wonder about the young stone throwers, completely exposed to the guns of the Israelis, knowing full well someone is going to be shot.

As the latest injury drives off on the back of a wobbly motorcycle, the shabob turn back to the wall and hurl a barrage of stones. Some grab on to the concertina wire and begin pulling it away from the road. I wait for the crack of the M-16’s and look to the front to see who has fallen. “We are going to Jerusalem, millions of martyrs” the shabob chant, and the shouts ring out “Allahu Akbar!” Some young men, blood covered, reach in and try to help each new casualty, others sit on the sidelines, taunting the newly injured, mimicking their cries as they are carried off.

In the moment, i am overwhelmed with the futility of throwing stones at a concrete barrier as the Israelis methodically pick people from the crowd and shoot them.

 At the mourning tent of the only fatality that day, Mahmoud Zaqout, who would be 20 years old on April 19th, I speak to his father, Mohamed and his cousin, Nizar Zaqout.

 Mohamed said he was proud of his son, the sixth son of seven boys. He says he was a quiet child, a loving child, and though he was soon to be twenty, he was still a child.

Mahmoud’s cousin, Nizar, who was at Mahmoud’s side at Erez, hobbles over to us on crutches, to talk about the moments leading up to Mahmoud’s death. They had traveled to Erez with two friends. They carried a Palestinian flag. Nizar tells us Mahmoud had a premonition of his impending death, and prior to entering the crossing he stopped to pray. They decided to move forward and place the Palestinian flag on the gate. In order to do this they would need to move the razor wire blocking the road and they began pulling on it. Israeli soldiers, crouching behind concrete blocks signaled to them as if to say, “What are you doing, you’ll see what happens.” On seeing the soldiers the two friends retreat. Mahmoud and Nizar continued pulling on the wire, determined to place the flag at the gate. Nizar said the soldiers signaled them with thumbs up. Shots rang out. Nizar and Mahmoud turned and ran. Nizar saw the blood on Mahmoud’s neck, after a few steps, Mahmoud collapsed in Nizar’s arms. Nizar carried his cousin back to the crowd of Palestinian youth. He held his hand over the wound as they were loaded onto a motorcycle. When they reached the ambulance, an attendant pointed to Nizar’s bleeding thigh. He had been shot as well.

I asked Nizar what he felt as he faced the soldiers. He said they were prepared to hang the flag on the gate or be shot. He spoke of his family’s history of resistance, the loss of an uncle during Cast Lead, and his determination to fight. “Even today, I want to pray in Jerusalem. This is our right. Since we were born Mahmoud and I have protested the Israelis.”

Someone handed Nizar a blood stained flag. The blood was Mahmoud’s. Nizar held the flag close to his cheek, breathing deeply. Breathing in the blood stained cloth, Mahmoud, his lost uncles, and all the sorrow and loss of Palestine, Nizar paused. He said, “Mahmoud could not place the flag at the gate. I will. Or my children will. We will continue to resist until we win our rights. Mahmoud’s blood will not be wasted. Hundreds will take his place. We will fight for our rights, for our children, we will fight until we get our land back.”

“The occupiers want us to forget about our land, and about Jerusalem, by turning our focus on our troubles- no jobs, no cooking fuel, no power, no gasoline, but we will not forget. My family is a family of resistance. My uncles have been killed, they’ve been to prison. They died for Jerusalem. Everyone around you here may die for Jerusalem. We are proud to do this.” Nizar exclaims. I turn and look at all the young faces surrounding us, listening intently.

As we get up to take our leave, Nizar asks where I am from. When I answer America, he says some in Gaza view America as the enemy. He said he appreciates my presence because it was critical to inform Americans about what is happening in Gaza.

This is what is happening in Gaza. The 36th anniversary of Land Day has come and gone. Israeli soldiers shot two young men, armed only with a flag, from point blank range. Over the course of the day, they shot dozens of young men, all armed with nothing more than stones. While I stood in Erez Crossing, no tear gas or other methods of crowd dispersal was employed. No warning shots were fired. Every shot hit flesh. American media does not find the story newsworthy. Nakba Day, “The Catastrophe”, is next, on May 15th. The youth will return to Erez. How many will be shot? Will the world take note?

In Gaza, the resistance remains, and is carried by the youth. I realize the struggle is not futile, Palestinians resist with what they have. They are not taught to hate, they are taught to demand their rights and stand for freedom.

Mohamed says, “For these demonstrations all the young men go, we do not stop them, it is their struggle. I am proud that Mahmoud went to the front of the crowd. We resist as our grandfathers did.” He says these words so quietly I can hear his heart breaking.

 Johnny is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).