[News] A day of protest and resistance across Palestine following ‘massacre’ in Jenin

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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A day of protest and resistance across Palestine following ‘massacre’ in
Jenin
QudsN - January 28, 2023
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[image: image.png]

On Thursday, January 26, Israeli forces invaded Jenin refugee camp and
killed nine Palestinians in what became called by residents of the camp ‘a
massacre.’ Later that day, 22-year-old Yousef Abedalkarim Muhsein became
the 10th Palestinian killed when he was shot by Israeli forces in Al-Ram,
near Ramallah.

On Friday, Palestinians responded.

Throughout Friday, Palestinians across historic Palestine rose in protests.
These confrontations were driven by the massacre in Jenin specifically, and
the routine provocations from Israeli settlers, intelligence, and armed
forces engaged in the illegal annexation of the little which remains of the
West Bank.

The day culminated with five armed shooting operations carried out across
the West Bank Friday night, including one in the Israeli settlement of Neve
Yaakov in occupied East Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of at least
seven Israeli settlers.

*Prayer as protest*

At dawn hours on Friday, the holiest day of the week for Muslim
worshippers, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem and hundreds in
Hebron performed dawn prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque and the Ibrahimi mosque,
respectively.

“There is a danger,” Jalal Abu-Khater, a writer from Jerusalem tells
Mondoweiss. “We feel Al-Aqsa is being taken over and this isn’t in our
head,” he emphasized. “This is very real, where we’re losing our last place
of sovereignty in Jerusalem.”

The act of collective prayer in these specific areas has become a defiant
act of resistance amid the continued settler invasions and police violence
witnessed in the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City and
settler-military attacks in Hebron’s Old City where more than 800 settlers
live protected by Israeli forces.

In Jerusalem, Palestinians rose in chants in support of Jenin and the
resistance from Gaza in light of the continued repression and targeting of
Palestinians.

“Being frequently present there in this place allows us to remain attached
to it,” Abu Khater explained. “It’s a common place for many people in the
world, but it’s a personal space for us in Jerusalem.”

Indeed, on January 3 of this year, the extremist right-wing Minister of
Interior, Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered Al-Aqsa compound in a provocation
attempt that mirrored the former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s
entry to the compound in September of 2000. Sharon’s entry sparked the
second Palestinian uprising.

Today, Nafeesa Khuwais, a Palestinian elder known in the Old City as a
guardian of Al-Aqsa, was arrested and escorted out by a group of armed
border police. In Arabic, the civilians which remain in the Aqsa compound
in order to protect it and maintain Palestinian presence in the holy place
of worship are known as Murabiteen, which means the guardians who station
against aggression.

In a similar effort, Palestinians in Hebron are often denied entry to the
Ibrahimi mosque. This became policy after the 1994 massacre by the
Israeli-American settler, Baruch Goldstein who- with the support of the
Israeli military- entered the mosque at dawn prayers and opened fire on
worshippers, killing 29 Palestinians. Goldstein is still celebrated by
settlers in Hebron in an annual ceremony.

Last year was a record year for settler violence and Palestinian
displacement. At dawn on Friday, however, the streets of Hebron’s Old city
were full of Palestinians who shared food and bread, bringing life to the
streets which- once vibrant- have become a ghost town.

“Going to pray there is a political act in and of itself, and that’s why
it’s important,” Abu Khater elaborated.

*Demonstrations across Palestine*

Friday morning and afternoon were full of protests and confrontations
against Israeli violence and persistent settler expansion.

In the West Bank, Yousef Abedalkarim Muhsein’s funeral procession moved
from Ramallah hospital compound on Friday morning, headed towards his town
of Al-Ram where he was buried. Videos of the final farewell to Muhsein show
his friends and community members throwing themselves over his body as they
prepare to lay him to rest.

Confrontations ensued in Al-Ram following the funeral, with youth hurling
stones at Israeli forces who threw teargas, live ammunition, and stun
grenades at demonstrators. Israeli soldiers also prevented journalists from
covering the demonstrations and Muhsein’s funeral procession.

More protests occurred near military stations, settlements, and checkpoints
in villages and towns around Jericho, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Hebron,
and Jerusalem, where Israeli armed forces responded with force.

“From Kufr Nima to Jenin, we are a united people which does not die,” the
chants echoed in the small village of Kufr Nima, 13 km northwest of
Ramallah. Across the demonstrations, various factional flags were carried,
signaling the continued growth of unification across the country.

On Friday evening, Palestinian citizens of Israel in Umm el-Fahem and Haifa
also organized protests against the massacre in Jenin. “Raise your voice,”
protestors chanted in Haifa, “raise, raise again, the sound of the chants,”
they continued as Israeli police attempted to break apart the group.

Watch: The Israeli police Friday evening detained six demonstrators during
a sit-in organized in the 48-occupied city of Haifa, to condemn the
massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Jenin.

More: https://t.co/FE1xT0dLlQ pic.twitter.com/mKSJ1ouvzt
<https://t.co/mKSJ1ouvzt>

— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) January 27, 2023
<https://twitter.com/WAFANewsEnglish/status/1619081754752737280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Two Palestinians were arrested in Umm el-Fahem and at least three in Haifa,
according to local news sources.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip also denounced the massacre in Jenin and
joined in protests which broke out late Thursday evening. Dozens of
Palestinians protested near the imposed Israeli border near Khan Younis
city, south of the strip, while hundreds of Palestinians in Al-Bureij
refugee camp in central Gaza, also joined protests and burned tires.

*Official responses*

“Security coordination with the government of the occupation is no longer
an open consideration,” the Palestinian Authority’s presidential office
spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rdeineh said in a statement following Thursday’s
Israeli raid on Jenin.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has historically threatened to cut security
ties with Israel but continued in arresting Palestinians on behalf of
Israel, as witnessed in last year’s mass crackdown on the Lions’ Den, the
armed resistance group operating out of the Old City in Nablus as well as
the intensified arrests of dozens of politically active youth across the
West Bank.

In an emergency meeting, the Palestinian Authority called for
accountability through the International Criminal Court by adding the most
recent massacre in Jenin to the criminal file against Israeli human rights
violations. In addition, the PA called for an immediate intervention
through the UN security council under its seventh charter with respect to
acts of aggression.

On behalf of the presidential office, Abu Rdeineh had also called on all
national movements to meet to agree on a collective national vision for
confronting the Israeli assault.

While the Palestinian Authority denounced the massacre in Jenin following
an emergency meeting, Palestinian factions in Gaza responded to the
massacre by firing rockets toward Ashkelon, according to local media. The
attack was conducted by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which is also
connected to the armed resistance groups operating from Jenin refugee camp.

Between 1:00 a.m and 4:00 a.m on Friday, Israeli warplanes began bombing
several locations affiliated to the Palestinian factions in Al-Maghazi
refugee camp located in central Gaza, as well as Beit Hanoun, located north
of Gaza. No casualties were reported.

“The resistance in Gaza is doing its duties and defending our people in
Gaza,” Hazem Qassem, the spokesperson for Hamas, said in a statement. The
armed wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Bridges had emphasized that Israeli
warplanes will be confronted with by anti-aircraft and ground-to-air
defense.

More Palestinian factions announced their support for an armed Palestinian
response to the massacre in Jenin. The leftist political group, the
Palestinian Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also denounced the
massacre against Palestinians in Jenin and noted that Palestinian factions
in Gaza have the right to respond accordingly.

“The coming weeks will witness more Israeli escalation against our people
due to the Israeli fascist government practices and laws that target
Palestinians in all Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners,” the
spokesperson for the PFLP, Jamel Mezher, said on Friday.

Mezher also predicted that March and April will likely see an increase in
provocative Israeli actions due to the Jewish holiday calendar, as holidays
often coincide with increased attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and
Jerusalem.

As protests were quelled by Israeli police and military on Friday evening,
Palestinian armed resistance activities across the West Bank and occupied
Jerusalem erupted.

The rise of armed resistance

At approximately 8:15 p.m., a shooting attack occurred by the illegal
Israeli settlement of Neve Ya’akov near east Jerusalem. The shooting
resulted in the killing of at least seven Israeli settlers and injuring at
least three, according to Israeli police reports.

Escaping towards Beit Hanina, one of the last remaining Palestinian towns
in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian man who carried out the shooting was
followed by Israeli police and killed in a shootout. According to local
sources, the attacker had used a handgun to carry out the armed attack.

The man was later identified by Israeli police as Alkam Khairi, 21, from
Shufaat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu both made statements at the scene of the attack.
Ben-Gvir pledged to “arm more and more citizens,” while Netanyahu called
the attack “one of the worst we have seen in recent years.” The Netanyahu
government’s cabinet will reportedly meet tomorrow to discuss a response.

Between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. on Friday, a total of five armed resistance
operations were carried out across various military targets in the West
Bank.

Armed Palestinians targeted Beit Furik military checkpoint east of Nablus,
Ofer military detention camp west of Ramallah, Beit Ummar military tower
near the illegal settlement of Karmei Tzur northwest of Hebron, while the
Jalameh checkpoint northeast of Jenin was targeted with a home-made
explosive device, according to local sources.

In addition to this, Palestinian youth threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli
military towers located near Al-Arroub refugee camp in Hebron while
resistance fighters shot at Israeli military planes flying over Qabatiya
and Jaba’ south of Jenin.

Following the operation in Jerusalem, Palestinians across the West Bank,
Gaza, and Jerusalem went to the streets in celebration.

The day of protest and retribution followed the massacre in Jenin which
brought the number of Palestinians killed in the first three weeks of 2023
to 32 Palestinians. Due in part to Israel’s military assault on the West
Bank launched in the spring of last year, dubbed Operation Break the Wave,
2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since the UN began documenting
killings in 2005. In the past two years, 557 Palestinians have been killed
by settlers or Israeli forces.

By Mariam Barghouti
Source: Mondoweiss
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