On August 3rd, Return went back to the Gaza fence. Members raised the Palestinian flag so that demonstrators in besieged Gaza could see it. They also carried a banner in Arabic reading “Jews for Return”. The protest was streamed live on Facebook.
The Israeli and international demonstrators were assaulted and arrested by the Israeli military and police. Some of them were handcuffed and blindfolded. Hours later, after being interrogated and made to sign a paper they would not return for 15 days, they were released from the Netivot police station.
At the same time, one Palestinian demonstrator was reported to have been killed and 220 injured by the Israeli military and, many from live ammunition. According to health officials in Gaza, this brought the total number of slain protestors to at least 153 and injured to more than 16,000 since the weekly protests began on March 30. Since then, the numbers have increased.
“Today, we were beaten and abused by the Israeli military, but it is nothing compared to the violence Gazans face on a daily basis,” said Return member Omer upon his release from police custody. “We will continue to do whatever we can to subvert this violent and horrific siege, and work for justice.”
All our videos are taken by photographer Haim Schwarzenberg, who documents Israeli oppression in various struggles. Please go to his website to discover more of his work.
Return Solidarity 