YOUTH FOR INTIFADA' DEMONSTRATES NEAR BORDER FENCE EAST OF GAZA'

Gaza, 23 Dzulqa’idah 1434/29 September 2013 (MINA) – Hundreds of youth rallied Friday in northern Gaza Strip in support of Al-Aqsa Mosque, heading to the Nahal Oz border crossing. The march was called for earlier by Youth for Intifada Coalition.

The participants tried to pitch Palestinian flags on the border fence and chanted slogans against the Israeli occupation, ALQASSAM reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Sunday (29/9).

Israeli soldiers intensified their presence along the border fence and fired tear gas bombs and live bullets to disperse the demonstrators who continued to gather near the border area.

Some 5 citizens suffered from teargas fired by Israeli troops, Palestinian medical sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that “approximately 300 Palestinians” entered a zone near the fence within the Gaza Strip deemed off-limits to Palestinians by Israeli forces.

Also Read: Palestinians Release Balloons to Honor Gaza Children Slain by Israel

“In order to disperse the gathering, soldiers used tear gas,” she told.

Youth for Intifada Coalition had called earlier for stepping up the resistance against the occupation and for launching a new intifada against occupation.

The First Intifada or First Palestinian Intifada (also known as simply the “intifada” or intifadah) was a Palestinian uprisingagainst the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, which lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference in 1991, though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords. The uprising began on December 9, in the Jabalia refugee camp after a series of escalating actions and deaths of Palestinian and Israeli citizens, and tensions reached a boiling point when an Israeli Army truck struck a car killing four Palestinians. Rumors that the crash was a purposefully committed act quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Also Read: TURKISH MEDICAL NGO OPENS BRANCH IN GAZA

In response to general strikes, boycotts of Israeli civil administration institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, civil disobedience in the face of army orders, and an economic boycott consisting of refusal to work in Israeli settlements on Israeli products, refusal to pay taxes, refusal to drive Palestinian cars with Israeli licences, graffiti,barricading, and widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli military and its infrastructure within Palestinian territories, Israel deployed 80,000 soldiers to put down the uprising, and adopted a policy of “breaking Palestinians’ bones” and using live ammunition against civilians. Over the first two years, according to Save the Children, an estimated 7% of all Palestinians under 18 years of age suffered injuries from shootings, beatings or tear gas. Intra-Palestinian violence was also prominent feature of the Intifada, with widespread executions of alleged Israeli collaborators.

Also Read: US State Department Criticizes Israeli Plans to Expand Illegal Settlements

Israeli Defense Forces killed an estimated 1,087 Palestinians while 100 Israeli civilians and 60 Israeli security forces personnel were killed by Palestinians and more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 soldiers were injured. Palestinians also killed an estimated 822 other Palestinians as alleged collaborators (1988-April 1994), although fewer than half had any proven contact with the Israeli authorities.

The ensuing Second Intifada took place from September 2000 to 2005. (T/P012)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)