Gazans have legitimate right to protest: Israeli journo

By Mustafa Deveci

JERUSALEM

Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip have a “legitimate right” to protests their conditions, while Israeli soldiers do not have the right to shoot them down indiscriminately, according to Israeli journalist Gideon Levy.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, Levy described the death of 60 Palestinians by Israeli troops one day earlier as a “massacre”, saying Israel thinks it can do “whatever it wants” because it enjoys U.S. support.

He went on to describe Israeli public indifference to the violence as “unbelievable”, saying he had been “shocked” by the Israeli public’s tepid reaction to Monday’s bloodletting.

“Israel has the right to stop anyone trying to cross the border, but that doesn't mean using live ammunition,” he said.

According to Levy, the main reason for the Gaza rallies -- which have remained ongoing since Mar. 30 -- is the “illegitimate blockade” that Israel has imposed on the coastal enclave since 2006.

“These people [i.e., the people of Gaza] are birds in a cage. What could be more legitimate than their desire to leave [the strip]?” he asked.

Levy called on the international community to take steps against Israel's decades-long occupation, saying the conflict would never be resolved otherwise.

“The [Israeli] occupation will continue as long as the international community doesn't step in,” he said.

'Blind support'

“U.S. statements calling for a permanent peace between Palestine and Israel is a joke; nobody takes it seriously,” Levy said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's Monday message on the relocation of Washington’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

“With its blind support for Israel, the U.S. has now made it clear that it can no longer serve as mediator between Palestine and Israel,” he said.

Scores of Palestinians were martyred while holding rallies on the Gaza Strip’s eastern border on Monday, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as “The Catastrophe”.

Since the Gaza rallies first started on Mar. 30, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli forces deployed along the other side of the border.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara