All Gazan Casualties Are Intentional, Not Accidental
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
On June 1, Israeli snipers murdered 21-year-old voluntary Palestinian paramedic Razan al-Najjar in cold blood – threatening no one, shot in the neck and back, an exploding dum dum bullet destroying her heart, killing her instantly.
Clearly identified as a first-responder medic in the field by her white attire, she was treating wounded Gazans well inside Israel’s repressive border fence when lethally shot – a willful act of murder, nothing accidental about it.
Joint (Arab) List MK Ahmad Tibi called her killing “a heinous war crime.” Neocon extremist US UN envoy Nikki Haley disgracefully blamed Gazans for Israeli high crimes committed against them.
Since Great March of Return protests began on March 30, Israeli snipers killed two Gazan paramedics, wounding 223 others, 29 shot with live fire – individuals clearly identified as medical personnel by their attire.
According to Gazan Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, Israeli snipers last Friday alone targeted five medics treating Palestinians in the “Return Camp.”
When conducted, Israeli investigations of violent incidents virtually always whitewash IDF high crimes, blaming them on victims.
A preliminary IDF probe into Najjar’s killing falsely called it accidental, claiming soldiers fired on demonstrators, not Najjar or other paramedics – a bald-faced lie, how Israel nearly always absolves itself of high crimes of war and against humanity.
Longstanding Israeli policy permits live fire against nonviolent Palestinian demonstrators, resulting in countless thousands of casualties, many victims killed or maimed for life – physically and/or emotionally, trauma especially harming young children.
During weeks of peaceful Great March of Return demonstrations, clearly identified Palestinian medical personnel and journalists have been prime targets.
Claiming thousands of Gazan casualties since Good Friday were accidental reflects typical Israeli deception and indifference to Palestinian lives, rights and welfare.
It also contradicts a March 31 IDF statement, saying “nothing was carried out uncontrolled. Everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed” – the statement later deleted.
Israeli rules of engagement are like Washington’s – permitting anything goes, the human toll of no consequence, accountability for high crimes of war and against humanity never forthcoming.
Since Great March of Return protests began on March 30, over 120 Gazans threatening no one were lethally shot in cold blood, around 13,400 others wounded, countless numbers maimed for life, hundreds with life-threatening injuries, the death toll sure to rise.
Najjar was killed for doing her job, an angel of mercy, gunned down in cold blood by a ruthless occupier.
A Final Comment
Zionist ideologue US ambassador to Israel David Friedman shames the position he holds, an Islamophobic extremist.
He blasted journalists for reporting accurately on Israeli high crimes against Great March of Return Gazan demonstrators.
“Keep youth mouths shut,” he roared, falsely claiming “nine out of ten articles that are written about the Gaza conflict are critical of Israel,” adding:
“(A)ll you're doing is creating impressions that have no basis in fact. They fit a narrative. They fit an opinion. They fit an agenda. But it's not reporting, because it's not based on hard, factual analysis.”
Friedman and likeminded ideologues want cold hard facts about Israeli high crimes suppressed.
Most Western and Israeli media one-sidedly blame Palestinians for their own misery – including IDF crimes committed against them.
Independent media alone report fully and accurately on Israeli high crimes too egregious to ignore.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
