Israeli soldiers shot and killed at least 20 Palestinian protesters today, and wounded several hundred others, during Nakba rallies around the region. Nakba commemorates the expulsion of Palestinians from Israeli territory during the founding of the Israeli state, and is officially illegal to commemorate inside Israel.
Of the 20 killed, 10 protesters were slain inside southern Lebanon when Israeli troops opened fire on demonstrators they decided had drawn too near a border fence. The other 10 were killed along the Syrian border, as Palestinians rallied to the border with the Occupied Golan Heights.
In addition to the killings along the northern border, Israeli forces shelled protests in the Gaza Strip, wounded scores of Palestinians there. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that he believes the protests are “just the beginning” of a series of rallies against the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights.
Note that these are in addition to the reports from ISM that I'd highlighted earlier. The ISM reports are on Israeli attacks inside the West Bank. The death of one 17 year old and the 20 people who were injured, some very seriously, were all from West Bank protests. The 20 additional deaths in this story are from Israel opening fire on unarmed protesters who are protesting near Israel's borders.
And, that's yet another catastrophe to anyone who isn't a cold-blooded killer who cheers on murder and destruction.UPDATE (5-16-11)
Franklin Lamb provides a first person account from the Lebanon protest that hasn't been censored by the Israeli government. This is outstanding and I highly recommend following the link to read the full piece.
However as the world soon learned, 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers and more than 120 wounded, some critically. None of the demonstrators had weapons. Those murdered were all civilians from the camps and were shot in cold blood as they nonviolently as placed Palestinian flags at the fence and gave the peace and victory sign.
White House: Israel Right Over Border Killings from antiwar.com.
White House spokesman Jay Carney praised Israel for its “restraint” and said that the Netanyahu government had every right to kill those people “to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders.”
After the killings of the unarmed protesters, the Israeli foreign ministry issued instructions to its staff to try to blame the killings on Syria.
That message appears to have reached the White House as well, as Carney was quick to blame the Assad government for “inciting” the protests, and said that “such behavior is unacceptable.”
From the first-person account from Mr. Lamb, the 'unacceptable' behavior for Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed from their land is for them to go peacefully and unarmed up to the fence and place a Palestinian flag there. Or to give 'peace and victory' signs. Israel and Obama's White House both state that these are death penalty offenses. Obviously unacceptable behavior, at least to the sort of White House that shows a President rapturously following the progress of his death squads on the monitor. I wonder if Obama asked Netanyahu to send him a live feed of these killings so Obama could microwave some popcorn and put his feet up and enjoy this show?Israel killing at least 21 people who try to mark the Nakba, ie, the 'Catastrophe' of the Palestinian people losing their land to the Israelis, doesn't seem to deter Obama from going over to pay homage to AIPAC.
Obama expected at pro-Israel gathering
President Obama is expected to address the giant pro-Israel group AIPAC's annual policy conference next Sunday
Did you expect change?
UPDATE (5-18-11)
The ISM now lists the total of the casualties of this latest catastrophe as 16 dead and 400 wounded.
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