From the indomitable poet Fadwa Tuqan to the fearless medic Razan Al-Najjar, Ancestors of Palestinian Liberation marks seven decades since the Nakba by telling the stories of seven Palestinians whose lives and work helped to build a steadfast foundation for the ongoing struggle for Palestinian liberation. Yes Razan only lived 21 years, but she faced huge obstacles with courage and compassion, and died during a remarkable moment in Palestinian history.
On June 1, 2018, 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper while working as a volunteer paramedic with the Great March of Return in Gaza. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever how critical health care workers are to our communities. On June 1, please join AFSC and people around the world for our social media day of action to honor Razan and all Palestinian health care workers.
The idea of a global family in which we are all interdependent spurred Bob Peck to make a documentary about the persecution of the Palestinians three years ago. The documentary is now out and available for free on Youtube.
“What investigation could raise the dead?” Abdullah al-Sawarka, 45, asks, while standing distraught at the edge of a 50-foot-wide crater where his cousin’s tin shack stood. Israelis bombed the house in Gaza on Thursday killing eight family members. They now say it was a mistake but Gazans scoff at the idea that there will be any accountability for the crime. The file will be thrown in the trash, says an aunt of the children killed.
Nada Shaikh Deeb, a 23-year-old volunteer paramedic in Gaza, has attended every protest at the fence since March 2018. Even after an Israeli officer taunted her following the killing of paramedic Razan al-Najjar. “You’ve still got time to catch up with Razan,” he said. “Expect anything.”
The ‘New York Times’ reports that Israel’s killing of Gazan paramedic Rouzan al-Najjar last June was “reckless at best, and possibly a war crime for which no one has yet been punished.” The paper understands that its reading public is growing steadily more informed about Israel/Palestine.
Looking back on this year, it is difficult to choose one moment, one tragedy, or one political decision that stands out among the rest. Palestinians witnessed a tumultuous year in 2018, as they saw hundreds killed from the West Bank to Gaza, their rights slowly stripped away inside Israel, and the heart of Palestinian identity, Jerusalem, pushed further out of reach. But as evidenced by the ongoing fight for the rights of refugees in Gaza’s Great March of Return, the fight against expulsion in places Silwan and Khan al-Ahmar, and the fight for equal rights as citizens in Israel, the fight for Palestinian rights continued as well.
Happy new year from Mondoweiss! Here are our ten most read articles in 2018. This year we published more than 2,250,000 words across 1,254 articles which sparked more than 28,000 comments. If you appreciate what we do please considering becoming a supporter today to help us continue to grow our coverage of these critical issues. If you donate before the end of 2018 your donation will be MATCHED, doubling your impact.
On December 22, 2018, the 39th week of the Great March of Return, anti-Zionist Israeli activists joined Palestinian protestors at Khuza’a Return protest camp from the east side of the fence. Soldiers shot live rounds to prevent the activists from reaching the fence. Despite the military’s aggression, a phone conversation was held with Sabrine al-Najjar, the mother of Razan al-Najjar. She recognized the BDS movement as a positive factor in ending the occupation and contributing to the Palestinian cause of freedom and equality.
Israeli human rights NGO B’tselem have today released a report which unequivocally concludes that Palestinian paramedic Razan al-Najjar was deliberately targeted and killed by an Israeli sniper on June 1. B’Tselem says that Israeli propaganda is seeking to whitewash the killing so as to preserve Israel’s image.