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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"> <font
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href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Gaza-Protesters-Highlight-Workers-Plight-as-Casualties-Mount-Due-to-Israeli-Repression-20180504-0006.html">https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Gaza-Protesters-Highlight-Workers-Plight-as-Casualties-Mount-Due-to-Israeli-Repression-20180504-0006.html</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Gaza: Protesters Highlight Workers'
Plight as Casualties Mount Due to Israeli Repression<br>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time"> 4 May 2018 </div>
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<p><strong>Palestinians</strong> in <strong>Gaza</strong>
held their sixth Friday protest as part of the <strong>Great
March of Return</strong>, which began on March 30 with
the commemoration of <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Palestinian-Land-Day-And-Why-It-Matters-Today-20180329-0009.html">Palestinian
Land Day</a>. On Friday demonstrators highlighted the
plight of Palestinian workers and the unemployed in a
demonstration labeled "Friday of Workers."</p>
<p>As in all previous weeks, Israeli occupation forces
fired tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live
ammunition at unarmed protesters injuring hundreds.</p>
<p>According to the Ministry of Health, <strong>Israeli
forces</strong> injured at least 350 protesters
Friday, including 21 minors and three journalists. Three
of the injured persons are reported to be in serious
condition.</p>
<p>The use of live ammunition by Israel’s army has been
condemned by the international community and human
rights activists. However, in response to the challenge
to its <strong><a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Israel-Court-Hears-Challenge-on-Open-Fire-Policy-in-Gaza-20180501-0022.html">open-fire
policy</a></strong>, Israeli officials have insisted
that their response comply fully with their army’s rules
of engagement and international law arguing human rights
law is not applicable in a “state of war.”</p>
<p>Human rights groups have consistently rejected this
argument. </p>
<p>As the world celebrated International Workers’ Day on
May first, reports emerged that at least 400,000
Palestinians are currently facing unemployment, and
150,000 work under precarious conditions in Israel and
Jewish-only settlements within the West Bank.</p>
<p>The situation in Gaza, which has endured an
over-a-decade-long blockade is even worse. The
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that
almost 50 percent of the population in Gaza is
unemployed and about 80 percent is dependent on foreign
aid. </p>
<p>Gazan workers are affected by the blockade that
prevents construction materials from entering Gaza to
reconstruct the Strip, which has been bombed several
times by Israeli warplanes. The blockade also affects
Gazan fisherman who risks being shot if they attempt to
fish beyond the six nautical miles Israel allows them to
use. Furthermore, the establishment of no-go zone near
the border fence has effectively stolen miles of arable
and productive land from Gazan farmers.</p>
<p>According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the number of
Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during
demonstrations in Gaza reached 45 on Thursday. No
Israeli civilian or military forces have been killed or
injured.</p>
<p>The <strong><a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/multimedia/The-Great-March-of-Return-Palestinian-Refugees-Defy-Israel--20180414-0008.html">Great
March for Return</a></strong> has rallied tens of
thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who have set up tents
along the northern and eastern border with Israel in a
symbolic act to claim their human right as refugees to
return to their homeland, a right Israel has denied them
for fear of losing its Jewish majority.</p>
<p>The march will last until May 15, when Palestinians
will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or
catastrophe. The day marks the date 700,000 Palestinians
were expelled or fled from their towns and cities after
the creation of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.</p>
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San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
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