Friday: Palestinian protester killed in Gaza; more than 200 protesters injured by Israeli troops

08 Dec

9:59 PM

Protests grew on Friday throughout the West Bank (including Jerusalem), in Gaza and across the Arab world, against Donald Trump’s Wednesday statement about Jerusalem being the ‘capital of Israel’, effectively denying the basic rights of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in Jerusalem. A 30-year old man was killed in a protest in eastern Gaza by live gunfire fired by Israeli forces.

More than 200 people were injured by Israeli forces on Friday, including fifty who were taken to the hospital with severe or moderate injuries. The protests took place in at least 30 cities and towns, expanding from the dozen cities that held protests on Thusday.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the injuries ranged from severe to mild, and included a number of gunshot wounds from live ammunition fired by Israeli troops. Other injuries included asphyxiation from tear gas and injuries from rubber-coated steel bullets.

In the Gaza Strip, protests were held in six areas along the border with Israel. Israeli troops attacked all of these protests with live ammunition and so-called non-lethal weapons, resulting in the death of one protester and the critical injury of another. The Israeli military issued a statement, “[Israeli] soldiers are responding with riot dispersal means. During the riots [Israeli] soldiers fired selectively towards two main instigators and hits were confirmed.”

Firing live ammunition at non-violent protesters is a direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Tires were burned in the city of Bethlehem, where Christians from around the world had just days ago gathered in celebration of the Christmas tree in Manger Square, the church built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born. To protest the U.S. President’s statement denying Palestinian rights, Christian leaders in the city decided to engage in a ‘Christmas blackout’ protest, turning off the lights of the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations.

In Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinian Muslim worshippers attempted to reach the al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, for Friday prayers. Many were blocked by Israeli police checkpoints, and prevented from reaching the mosque.

Protesters gathered outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem – an area that has been a Palestinian area for over 2000 years, until Israeli settlers began to push out the Palestinian population over the past ten years through violent takeovers of Palestinian homes and apartment buildings, forcing out the Palestinian families who lived there and forcing them into homelessness.

Overnight, at least thirteen Palestinians were abducted by Israeli troops in different areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank, as protests that began Thursday continued through the night.

Around the world, protests continued on Friday, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in non-violent marches in Amman, Jordan, in Turkey, in Malaysia, in Istanbul, Turkey and in other cities and towns across the world. At least 10,000 people were estimated at the protest in Istanbul, and more than 5,000 gathered in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. In Jakarta, Indonesia, protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy, some holding signs reading “Trump is the enemy of humanity”.

All of these protests were peaceful, and none resulted in injuries, except those in the Palestinian Territories, where the protest marchers were violently assaulted by the occupying Israeli military.