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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
color="#ff0000"><b><i>Two articles follow</i></b></font><font
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<a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://english.palinfo.com/news/2019/3/30/What-have-the-Palestinians-gained-from-a-year-of-protests">https://english.palinfo.com/news/2019/3/30/What-have-the-Palestinians-gained-from-a-year-of-protests</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">What have the Palestinians gained from
a year of protests?</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By Motasem Dalloul - March
30, 2019<br>
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On 30 March last year, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
took part in the Great March of Return, an example of
popular resistance initiated by activist Ahmad Abu Rtema
and then adopted by the factions. They then established
the National Committee for the Great March of Return and
Breaking the Siege in order to run the protests. Protests
have been held weekly ever since.
<p>
The Committee adopted the goals laid down by Abu Rtema,
which remain an end to the 12-year-old Israeli-led siege
imposed on the territory, and highlighting the right of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and land
inside what is now called Israel, from where their
families were forced out by Zionist terrorists prior to
the creation of the state in 1948.</p>
<p>
Over the past year, Israeli occupation forces have
killed 273 protesters and wounded more than 25,000
others. The so-called Israel Defense Forces also carried
out several military operations while trying to suppress
the protests, prompting the Palestinian resistance
groups to respond by targeting Israeli cities and towns
with homemade rockets. This, in turn, prompted urgent
international mediation, with Egypt and the UN getting
involved in an effort to calm the situation.</p>
<p>
Putting the bloodshed to one side, the Palestinian
factions and many observers argue that the protests have
achieved a lot on the political, national and
humanitarian levels. They have, for example, put the
Palestinian issue back to the top of the regional and
international agendas. The protesters have also
undermined the implementation of the US “deal of the
century”, which has not yet found the quiet and stable
environment necessary for it to be unveiled.</p>
<p>
Perhaps more than anything else, the protests have
exposed the brutal reality of the Israeli occupation
state, which claims to be a beacon of democratic values.
Israel used lethal force against peaceful, unarmed
protesters who, according to the UN and other
international bodies, posed no danger whatsoever to its
soldiers. The shocking death toll illustrated the fact
that Israel has no respect for the right of the
Palestinians to demonstrate in support of their
legitimate right of return to their land.</p>
<p>
In addition, the protests led to qualitative progress in
the fractured relationship between the Palestinian
resistance factions and a number of countries in the
region, especially Egypt, which has been mediating a
truce between the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza
and the Israeli government.</p>
<p>
Palestinian resistance activists in the occupied West
Bank have been inspired by what they have seen in Gaza,
as have the millions of Palestinians in the refugee
camps in neighboring states and in the wider diaspora.
They have seen their right of return being discussed at
the highest levels.</p>
<p>
Regarding the national gains, the Great March of Return
protests are the largest ever popular resistance action.
The fact that they are now coordinated by the unified
National Committee is significant. This body, which
includes rival factions, has had an impact on all
national activities organised by any of the Palestinian
factions in the Gaza Strip. This unity was reflected in
the formation of the Joint Control Room for the military
wings of the factions, which has been taking decisions
regarding resistance efforts.</p>
<p>
On the humanitarian side, the protests have pushed
Israel to ease its siege imposed on Gaza, even before
any comprehensive understanding or truce has been
agreed. In an effort to reduce or end the protests,
Israel has allowed more electricity, paid for by Qatar,
into the Gaza Strip; allowed Qatar to fund a job
creation program for 13,000 unemployed graduates and
workers in the enclave; increased the fishing zone;
allowed more exports and imports; afforded monthly cash
payments to over 10,000 poor families; and opened the
Rafah Crossing for people and trade. This has had a very
positive impact on the devastated Gaza economy.</p>
<p>
The Great March of Return protests have, therefore,
achieved much for the Palestinians in the still besieged
territory. Moreover, they have also shown that when they
are united, the people are capable of great things,
making everyone much more optimistic about achieving
their national goals.</p>
<p>
<em>- Motasem A Dalloul is MEMO’s correspondent in the
Gaza Strip.<br>
_________________________________________________________________</em></p>
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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="http://alray.ps/en/index.php?act=post&id=11581">http://alray.ps/en/index.php?act=post&id=11581</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Palestinians mourn boys
killed by Israeli forces in Gaza rallies</h1>
April 1,2019</div>
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<p>Gaza, ALRAY -- Thousands of people in the
besieged <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/06/guide-gaza-strip-170614124611554.html">Gaza
Strip</a> have attended the funerals of the
four young Palestinians killed by Israeli
forces during mass protests along the
perimeter fence with <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/israel.html">Israel</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Tens of thousands of
Palestinians on Saturday <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/gaza-great-march-return-thousands-rally-anniversary-190330103843689.html">gathered</a> at
the fence to mark the first anniversary of
the Great March of Return rallies, facing
off against Israeli tanks and soldiers who
used live rounds, rubber bullets and tear
gas on the protesters.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Tamer Abu el-Khair, 17, was
shot in the chest east of Khan Younis in
southern Gaza and later died at a
hospital, according to the health ministry
in the coastal enclave, which has been under
a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade for
the past 12 years.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Two other 17-year-olds
- Adham Amara and Belal al-Najjar - were
also killed. A fourth Palestinian,
20-year-old Mohamed Jihad Saad, was killed
in an overnight protest before the main
demonstration. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Since March 30 last year,
Palestinians in the Hamas-run Strip have
been demanding the right to return to lands
from which their families were violently
expelled during the founding of Israel in
1948. Protesters in the weekly rallies are
also calling for an end to the blockade.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>At least 207 people were
wounded on Saturday, the health ministry
said.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>On Sunday, local media in
Gaza published images of Ismail Haniya,
the political chief of Hamas, walking
alongside el-Khair's relatives during the
funeral.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Separately, Israeli
authorities on Sunday reopened the Karam Abu
Salem commercial crossing and the Erez
crossing with Gaza, six days after shutting
them down amid an <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/hamas-announces-egyptian-brokered-ceasefire-israel-190325193456277.html">exchange
of heavy fire</a> between Israel and
Hamas.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Israel regularly seals off
the</span><span> two crossings, which
facilitate the movement of Palestinians with
hard-to-obtain Israeli permits, as well as
goods and services.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Karam Abu Salem crossing
is the primary passageway that transfers
necessities to Gaza's nearly two million
residents, including cooking gas, wheat and
flour.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>It is usually closed during
official Israeli holidays and on weekends,
and also facilitates in the delivery of
foreign aid to Gaza.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Al Jazeera's Mohammed
Jamjoom, reporting from Gaza, said the
opening of the crossings was a "clear
indication" that Egyptian-led mediation
efforts were on a positive track.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"There is a mood of cautious
optimism in Gaza," he said</span></p>
<div dir="ltr">
<p><span>One of the reasons behind the
relative calm, Jamjoom said, is that
despite flare-ups the situation at the
protests on Saturday remained "far less
chaotic than people had feared it might
become".</span></p>
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<div id="body-200771816342556199">
<h2 dir="ltr"><span>Easing restrictions</span></h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Meanwhile, Nizar Ayash, the
head of Gaza's fishermen's union, told
local media that Israel would expand the
fishing zone that it enforces in the
waters off the Strip from six nautical
miles to 15, starting April 1.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Expansions occasionally
occur and usually last for only three
months at a time with the objective of
boosting Gaza's economy, which is heavily
reliant on the fishing sector.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Hamas-affiliated news
outlets reported on Saturday that an
Egyptian-brokered deal had been reached
between the two sides, paving the way for
the easing of these restrictions.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>On Saturday, Abdullatif
al-Kanoo, a spokesman for Hamas, confirmed
the agreement to Al Jazeera, saying
Egyptian mediators "succeeded in
extracting approvals" from Israel to ease
restrictions on employment, fishing,
electricity and aid from <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/qatar.html">Qatar</a>.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Humanitarian agencies blame
the blockade for the high rates of poverty
and unemployment in Gaza - a main reason
for the weekly protests.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>More than 260 Palestinians
have been killed since the start of the
demonstrations, mostly by Israeli fire,
according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Thousands of others have been wounded.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Israel's use of lethal
force against protesters has drawn
criticism from the <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/organisations/un.html">United
Nations</a>, as well as rights groups. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span>SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS
AGENCIES</span></p>
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