Zionist Forces Clash with Palestinian Protesters Marking 1994 Carnage
Zionist military forces have clashed with hundreds of Palestinian protesters on the anniversary of a 1994 massacre carried out by a far-right Jewish settler in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
Violence broke out in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron), located 30 kilometers south of Jerusalem al-Quds, on Friday as Palestinian youths hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas canisters and sound grenades to disperse the crowd as cannons doused the demonstrators with stinking water. There were no reports of injuries and arrests.
On February 25, 1994, at least 29 Palestinians were killed and 125 others wounded when American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein opened fire on a large number of Palestinian Muslims, who had gathered inside the Ibrahimi Mosque to say prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Also on Friday, dozens of Palestinians staged a protest in al-Khalil against US President Donald Trump, who has voiced strong support for Israel. The protesters pelted a huge portrait of the businessman-turned-politician with shoes.
“This is a Palestinian product. He will get it in his face. He and everybody supporting him,” activist Issa Amro said.
He added, “Today we are here to send the message to the Trump administration that we exist; we deserve full rights as everybody in the world. We have no respect for this president, who does not see us as equal human beings with everyone.”
Elsewhere, in the West Bank town of Abu Dis, clashes erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers protesting against the controversial separation wall that snakes across the occupied West Bank, isolating large swathes of Palestinian territories.
Palestinian protesters also burnt tires during a weekly demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the northern West Bank town of KfarQaddum, located 13 kilometers west of Nablus.
The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed tensions ever since Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.
Nearly 280 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October that year.
Israeli settlements epitome of apartheid
On the other hand, Human Rights Watch, which has written several critical reports about Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, says the regime in Tel Aviv is set to stop issuing work visas to its staff.
A human rights activist believes Israel is seeking to “kick out” human rights groups that do not obey its commands in order to prevent any condemnation of its crimes.
“Israel can distinguish the difference between genuine criticism and propaganda, but Israel does not want any criticism so they label all of the criticism as propaganda, but it is not because they can’t tell the difference, they can, it is because they just don’t want criticism for their inhumane actions,” Ryan Dawson told Press TV in an interview on Friday.
He also noted that as Tel Aviv wants the world to ignore its human rights violations, it opposed a recent United Nations resolution condemning the construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The activist further highlighted the fact that the Israeli settlements are “Jewish-only colonies,” which are “epitome of racism and apartheid.”
Dawson went on to say that the Israelis are only pretending to advocate peace or the so-called two-state solution, arguing that they cannot be sincere when they are simultaneously colonizing their neighbors and demolishing houses.
“They [the Israelis] are annexing territory in Jerusalem (al-Quds), they are annexing territory between the apartheid wall that they have built across their border which cuts into the West Bank; they have got the blockade on the Gaza Strip; they routinely murder people; they allow settlers to burn houses and kill infants and people and get… no real punishment; they arrest people without trial,” he said.
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