In early 2018 a Palestinian by the name of Ahmad Abu Artema reportedly posted on his Facebook page his personal vision for thousands of Palestinians to march in honor of the 42nd anniversary of Land Day, which commemorates the first time a mass movement of Palestinians protested peacefully for their right to return to their ancestral homes. The original march was shrouded in violence, but Artema had a vision of a different way that Gazans could air their legitimate grievances, and many Gaza shared it.
Artema's vision was simple: that Israelis and Palestinians could live together, as one people. Artema stated:
"If you want my personal opinion, I don't believe in liberation [of land in Israel]. I believe in ending the apartheid system in Israel like the end of the apartheid system in South Africa, and we live all in one democratic state," Artema said in an interview in Gaza City. "I want to live with Israelis."
As the Facebook post went viral and organizers began to work towards making it a reality, a decision was made to decrease tensions by camping out hundreds of meters from the Israeli border, celebrating, marching, and 'creating a new culture'.
Artema's noble ideals however were not viewed as such by the Israeli government and military. Since March 20th, nearly 3,000 Palestinians have been injured and - at the time of writing - 39 have been killed as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) turned Palestinians peaceful protests into a bloody shooting gallery. Let's not kid ourselves - the 'March of Return' has been yet another macabre step in the slow eradication of Palestine and its people. Perhaps what differentiates it from others before it is that the world is watching as the IDF picks off protesters (and members of the media) in broad daylight. On this occasion, there were no 'military targets' that later 'turned out to be schools, or farms, or factories'. The Israeli authorities have provided little justification for their use of deadly force against transparently civilian targets.
Nothing screams 'Holocaust' louder than mowing down people as they dare to approach 'our fence'. It doesn't matter if they're 'designated Hamas agents' or not - the world is rightly shocked by this shameless display of barbarism. As Philip Weiss wrote, "The American Jewish love affair with Israel is over. We are going to see more and more outright signs of the breakup in the discourse and in our politics too in coming years."
That may be overselling American disgust with Israeli practices, but it does seem that Israel has hit a deep vein of public revulsion this time. This doesn't mean Israel will lose the tremendous clout it has over US politicians, or the tremendous US taxpayer donations they receive. And it doesn't mean that the plight of the Palestinians is in any way coming to an end. But, ever since Donald Trump openly violated international agreements by announcing the US embassy move to Jerusalem, Israel has been gradually losing its 'moral high ground' while looking more and more like the maniacal bully it really is. For those interested in the Truth coming to light, this seems to be a positive development.
