OK for Israel to Shoot Defenseless Gazans?

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - loud and clear. Israel is a rogue terror state, a ruthless apartheid regime run by Ziofascist extremists, threatening regional and world peace.

They're at war with Palestinians for the "crime" of not being Jewish, for wanting rights guaranteed under international law - including their own land, in their own country, free from oppressive/illegal occupation.

Israeli leadership and most Knesset members are unindicted war criminals - persecuting Palestinians viciously with full US support and encouragement, getting away with mass murder and much more because the world community does nothing to hold its officials accountable.

That's the ugly truth media scoundrels ignore, the NYT one of the worst offenders.

Days earlier it blamed Gazans for Israeli crimes against them, saying:

Last "Friday…hundreds of Palestinians, urged on by a Hamas leader in a fiery mid-afternoon speech, rushed the security barrier at the eastern edge of Gaza City and tried to cross into Israel."

What the Times fails to report matters most. Two million Gazans are held hostage to Israeli viciousness, ongoing for over 10 years, solely for political reasons, enduring one of the world's most serious humanitarian crisis.

On five successive Fridays, continuing until at least the mid-May Nakba commemoration, thousands of long-suffering Gazans demonstrated peacefully, attacked by Israeli soldiers, killing around 45, wounding thousands, countless numbers with disabling injuries, others in serious condition, more deaths sure to come.

Last Friday, dozens of Gazans stormed Israel's oppressive border fence inside the Strip, a symbolic gesture, not an attempt to invade Israeli territory.

They and thousands remaining hundreds of meters inside the barrier protested against virtual imprisonment by a brutal occupier, wanting it ended - their justifiable right under international law.

Remarks by the Times mocked their suffering, failing like always to condemn Israeli violence, never demanding accountability for its high crimes.

The self-styled newspaper of record lied, claiming last Friday "was no mere protest…thr(owing) firebombs and roll(ing) burning ties at the fence to try to melt it; at least some carr(ing) pistols…"

A previous article quoted Palestinian Center for Human Rights fieldworkers observing what happened in Gaza, saying:

"For the fifth week in a row and upon a decision by the Israeli highest military and political echelons, the Israeli forces used lethal force against the peaceful demonstrators, who posed no threat to the soldiers' life."

Demonstrators were "fully peaceful" - none armed with weapons. Israeli snipers opened fire as in previous Fridays, targeting demonstrators threatening no one.

During five Friday Great March of Return demonstrations, not a single Israeli soldier or civilian was hurt. None were threatened. The Times failed to explain it, suppressing what was essential to report.

Some protesters responded to Israeli violence with stone-throwing, achieving nothing but relieving frustration.

The Netanyahu regime aims to provoke Hamas to respond with rocket fire to justify unjustifiable terror-bombing, maybe launch another war.

No rockets were fired during five Great March of Return Fridays, no gunfire by Palestinians at Israelis, just the other way around.

The Times is a press agent for power, one-sidedly supporting Israel, disdainful of long-suffering Palestinian rights, ignoring what demands headlined reports - supporting their liberating struggle, demanding Israeli accountability, what's never forthcoming in its editions.

Palestinians are persecuted by vicious Israeli oppression. Times reports read like things are the other way around.

Newly appointed Secretary of State Pompeo one-sidedly supports Israel. On Sunday together with his Jordanian counterpart in Amman, he mocked Palestinian suffering, saying:

"(W)e believe the Israelis have the right to defend themselves, and we're fully supportive of that." 

With no enemies except invented ones, who are they defending themselves against? 

Palestinians have nothing but raw courage. Resisting tyranny is their fundamental right against a ruthless occupier.

Their only alternative is putting their bodies on the line for change. Without it they have nothing to live for.

They deserve universal support, not criticism. Their struggle is ours!

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html