CPTnet
21 July 2014
AL-KHALIL (HEBRON): Demonstrators
gather in Hebron to protest violence
in Gaza
20 July 2014 Twitter @NasserBI |
On Sunday, 20 July 2014, Hebron’s Youth Against Settlements,
call for a demonstration in Bab i-Zawiya to protest the ongoing military action in Gaza and the escalating ground
offensive by Israeli troops. Cities all over the world held similar demonstrations condemning
Israeli actions in Gaza. Hundreds showed up for the Hebron protest. It began at about 9:00 p.m. and was
still going strong at 2:00 a.m.
Police responded to the demonstrators with live bullets,
hitting at least two people, sound bombs, and tear gas in a running battle. Some of the participants in the
demonstration fought back with rocks, fireworks, burning tires, and slingshots. Ambulances and medical technicians went
back and forth to the hospital for hours, transporting the injured.
Someone who did not want to be identified lamented, “What are Palestinians to do?” he said,
“We have no basic citizenship rights.
We have no basic protection guaranteed by the state. Our status as
citizens has been clearly defined. We are not citizens. There is little or no
protection from Israel, and the unrestrained among Palestinians may even create
problems for the rest of us.”
Demonstrations such as the one on Sunday indicate that many
Palestinians believe they can rely only on themselves for protection against the premeditated aggression by the many manifestations of the Israeli
military occupation.
So far during “Operation Protective Edge” 508
Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, of which the U.N. says 72% are civilians
over 3,000 injured, and over 100,000 displaced. Two Israeli civilians and eighteen Israeli soldiers have
been killed.