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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
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href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-we-protest/27111">https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-we-protest/27111</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Why we protest</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/mohammed-zaanoun">Mohammed
Zaanoun</a></span> <span class="field
field-publisher">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2019-04-22T09:44:00+00:00">22 April 2019</span></span>
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<figure id="file-77226"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza008.jpg?itok=YOOgAXiA×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p>More than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the
launch of the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/great-march-return">Great
March of Return</a> along Gaza’s boundary with
Israel on 30 March 2018.</p>
<p>Palestinians participating in the protest series are
demanding their right to return to the lands on the
other side of the boundary from which their families
were expelled decades earlier.</p>
<p>Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee.</p>
<p>Protesters are also calling for an end to Israel’s
land, sea and air blockade on Gaza, now in its 12th
year, which has plunged the territory into poverty and
despair.</p>
<p>Mohammed Zaanoun, a member of the Activestills photo
collective, has documented the Great March of Return
since its beginning.</p>
<p>Here protesters tell their stories and explain why
they come back to the boundary week after week,
despite Israel’s brutal crackdown.</p>
<figure id="file-77231"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza001.jpg?itok=nkgReoBl×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Husam, 25, from Khan Younis, southern Gaza</strong></p>
<p>Last Friday, when I had the Palestinian flag painted
on my face, I was hit by a gas canister directly in my
back. I was badly injured and transferred to a
hospital. I’m now being treated at home. I wish to
recover so I can go [back to the protests] next
Friday.</p>
<p>Despite the killings and the injuries, I am still
going. I think I will keep participating even if it
lasts for nine years, not just nine months. One of the
worst things I’ve seen was one of the Fridays during
which about 60 people were killed, when they
[soldiers] were killing youth randomly and shooting
towards heads and legs. It was a horrific day. I felt
like I was in a nightmare.</p>
<p>It was so hard when I could not save one of my
comrades who was bleeding on the ground after being
injured by an Israeli sniper, and then he died. I
can’t understand how they can kill unarmed people.</p>
<p>After nine months, the world is still not doing
anything. We need them to stand with us and to stop
the killing of the unarmed youth by the occupying
forces.</p>
<figure id="file-77236"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza002.jpg?itok=fAA1yux2×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Ahmad, 24, from Gaza City</strong></p>
<p>I am a young person who is looking for stability but
the occupation has killed all of my dreams and
ambitions. It is an occupation of the mind. The
challenge in my life is finding a job or any
opportunity. We join the demonstrations because this
is our land and to demand our rights.</p>
<p>But we are making progress through our resistance and
our commitment to continue the peaceful, popular
struggle. Many of my friends were martyred. I will
keep on the path of my comrades, although everything
is very difficult here in Gaza.</p>
<p>I was injured many times. Once by tear gas and the
other by a bullet. But I came back to the field.</p>
<figure id="file-77241"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza003.jpg?itok=R3yXHXHL×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Shireen, 20, from al-Shujaiya, east of Gaza
City</strong></p>
<p>When I go to the protests, I express the anger inside
me. We are a nation under siege in a very small area
of 360 square kilometers, like a big prison. One of
the worst things I’ve seen was when my sister was
injured by a bullet. I did not know what had happened,
only that she was bleeding a lot.</p>
<p>The women are the biggest part of the grassroots
movement. Our participation means that our strength as
a nation comes from both genders.</p>
<p>I did not face any difficulties or criticism from
anybody. On the contrary, we found great support from
men, families and friends for our participation as
women.</p>
<p>With the Great March of Return, the world has become
aware that there is a nation demanding its rights and
that we will not stay silent. The world should support
us.
I want to live in a developed, free society, which has
no occupation, killing or destruction.
We are looking for freedom and we will seize it.</p>
<figure id="file-77246"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza004.jpg?itok=AHRt2T_S×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Ismail, 22, from central Gaza</strong></p>
<p>I do my duty towards my homeland, therefore I join
the March of Return. Even if it lasts forever, I will
keep coming. I think we are about to realize our goals
despite all of the oppression and the siege. It’s a
new way to defend our rights and it destabilizes the
occupying forces.</p>
<p>There is no clear future for young people. I am part
of the young generation who wish to have a future and
dream of nice things like all young people around the
world. We have been under siege since I was 11 years
old. I grew up and I learned the meaning of not being
able to find a job or even to travel.</p>
<p>I was injured in my head by a gas canister and I
stayed at the hospital for a while with many of my
friends. Some of them lost a limb and some were
injured by gas and others by an explosive bullet in
the stomach.</p>
<p>I wish for the world to stand on the side of justice
and support us. We are strong and we need them to be
next to us. I wish one day I wake up and I find our
society finally opened towards the Arab and the
Western world, dominated by love and stability.</p>
<figure id="file-77251"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza005.jpg?itok=DfgFr__V×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Muhammad, 20, from al-Shujaiya, east of Gaza
City</strong></p>
<p>I come from a poor family. I cannot get an education
because of the terrible living conditions and the fact
that my father cannot afford to pay for my studies. I
join the protests every week because I believe we have
the right to go back to our houses that we were forced
from. I was not alive at the time that my grandparents
were displaced from their homes. But today, I am
affirming my right to return to my grandparents’ land.</p>
<p>There is no future for young people in Gaza. It’s
hard losing comrades in the March of Return after
snipers shot them with bullets. We usually remember
their last words and this pushes us to keep going. I
was injured twice, once seriously, but I got back my
strength and I rejoined the march. We don’t ask
anything from the world but to watch how we can change
our reality with our own hands. We need freedom and
stability. We want a homeland without occupation.</p>
<figure id="file-77256"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza010.jpg?itok=dSwLZVzy×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Aya, 21, from Gaza City</strong></p>
<p>I know I could be killed by Israeli snipers, but if I
stay home the siege will become worse and the world
will forget our cause.</p>
<p>We [women] are strong, just like men, and we will
take part in political change. Instead of criticism we
received full support from men, family and friends. No
one can prevent us from taking part in the protests.</p>
<p>At the March of Return, you witness many terrible
things. The bloodiest day was 14 May, which was full
of tragic scenes that broke our hearts as we watched
Israelis killing young people in cold blood. I was
injured many times and I recovered and returned to
take part with my friends. I have lost loved ones but
we are following their path and we will meet in
paradise.</p>
<p>We have sent a strong message to the world to support
us and to put pressure on the occupier to stop its
oppression. We are waiting for that to happen, and we
continue
Protesting.</p>
<figure id="file-77261"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza013.jpg?itok=AOlSBhSH×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Asma, 23, from Gaza City</strong></p>
<p>We women are making a difference in the history of
confronting the occupation. We make sure to always be
there because we are part of this cause. Yes, women
have a role in politics and the struggle. Women and
men stand shoulder to shoulder and there is no
difference in the way we confront soldiers. I am
supported by my family, brothers and friends and there
is no criticism from men. On the contrary, they
support us.</p>
<p>We have lost martyrs and many others were injured.
The only thing the world does is that it condemns the
excessive killing, which is very bad for us. But we
need to see the world uphold its responsibilities
towards Palestine and Gaza.</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to a society that has freedom and
culture and in which women are equal to men, such as
in the March of Return.</p>
<figure id="file-77266"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza014.jpg?itok=ja0_sJhu×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><em>Aya, 21, from Gaza City</em></p>
<p>I participate because it is our duty to demand our
full rights, as the Palestinian people, despite the
killing and the injuries. This is the march of a
nation.</p>
<p>I ask Avichay Adraee [the Israeli the army
spokesperson who advised Palestinian women on Twitter
that it was best for them to stay at home] to sit next
to his wife instead of spreading foolish speech. I
have witnessed so many scenes of children being killed
and the targeting of women, medics and the press. My
oldest sister was seriously wounded but thank God she
survived and she returned to the protest again. After
all that time, the Return march continues and will not
stop.</p>
<p>I wish that the world would stop the oppression of
the occupation and the killing of innocent, unarmed
people. The difficult thing in my life is that I’m
looking for a future amid the darkness. I wish to live
in a society like any other Arab or Western society
where there are no wars or killings, only justice,
equality, love and peace.</p>
<figure id="file-77271"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza015.jpg?itok=NmI49wba×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><em>Raghda, 18, from Gaza City</em></p>
<p>To live in Gaza means that you’ll continuously suffer
due to long electricity outages and the inability to
do homework, in addition to the sounds of explosions.
My dream is to be a doctor in order to save the lives
of wounded people.</p>
<p>I confront Israelis on the boundary and I’m not
afraid of their fire. The world must do something to
save our lives.</p>
<figure id="file-77276"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2019-04/portraits_gaza017.jpg?itok=8MKjh01w×tamp=1555001053"
alt="" title=""></figure>
<p><strong>Hidaya, 39, from Gaza City</strong></p>
<p>It is our right to defend our land. I am aware of the
dangers we face but if I stay home, that’s more
dangerous for us.</p>
<p>My youngest son was seriously injured in his stomach.
I asked God to keep him alive and thank God he is well
now and he is still participating in the March of
Return. I was injured twice and I recovered very
quickly.</p>
<p>I was expecting that the world would put pressure on
the occupation, but after Trump announced the move of
the US embassy to Jerusalem, I realized that the world
is abetting in the crimes against Palestinians. I wish
nations would wake up from their sleep and stand up to
the oppressive occupation. I wish for Palestine to be
liberated from the occupation.</p>
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