A report last week from Doctors Without Borders/MSF physicians & medics who are treating the injured at the Great Return March in Gaza said, “Half of the more than 500 patients we have admitted in our clinics have injuries where the bullet has literally destroyed tissue after having pulverized the bone.” Doctors say they have seen no bullet injuries comparable since the seven-week Israeli bombing & artillery siege of Gaza in 2014. The reason for the severity of injuries is that Israeli snipers are using internationally banned butterfly bullets. But Israel knows its chances of being censured or prosecuted by the International Criminal Court are almost nil or will be after the fact.

Doctors report that exit wounds can be the size of a fist. The wounds cause massive tissue damage; can cause a range of diseases, including sepsis, gangrene, osteomyelitis; require complex surgical operations; may lead to amputation; & will cause permanent & serious disability. There is one unconfirmed report of 21 cases of limb amputation in Gaza since the Great Return March began on March 30th.

Stand with Palestinians against this barbaric genocidal siege. Honor BDS & gather in solidarity rallies where you can.

Photo is a butterfly bullet which opens on impact with human flesh.

(Photo from several sources)

Despite their injuries, Palestinians resume the Great Return March in Gaza at the apartheid fence. Since the campaign for the right of Palestinian refugees to return began on March 30th, 42 unarmed protesters have been shot dead by Israeli snipers, & over 5,511 have been injured by live ammo & tear gas, including 21 cases of limb amputations.

(Photo from Great Return March on Twitter)

“Our indifferent response to US/Israel backed Saudi attack on a gas station in Yemen killing 21 and wounding 15, mostly women and children proves our dichotomous thinking. We must remember that moral exclusivity and selective mourning can’t hide gross asymmetries of the continuing conflicts in different parts of the world. Innocent killing in Yemen is as much condemnable as innocent killing in Palestine or Syria or Afghanistan or Iraq or Kashmir or Pakistan or anywhere in this world. Therefore, when our sympathy only reaches out to the innocent killing of a selected group, we actually act as a supporter to the atrociousness of violence going on with the other group.

When an innocent human being is killed we cannot think of him as Yemeni or Kashmiri or Syrian or Palestine or Iraqi or Pakistani or Afghani. There must be no distinction, and no separation according to which “side” we are on but humanity.”

–Zafar Iqbal

We should take a moment to honor Kashmiri Rehti Begum, the mother of a son forcibly disappeared by the Indian occupying army. Rehti died yesterday from a heart attack. She was an active member of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons since it began in 1994:

With immense grief, we regret to inform you that Rehti Begum, 70, one of the trustees of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), passed away Thursday morning 26 April 2018. She died of heart attack.

Rehti Begum who lived in Cheke Kawoosa Narbal, Budgam, was the mother of Mohammad Ramzan Sheikh. Mohammad Ramzan was a daily wage labourer who was subjected to enforced disappearance after being abducted from his home by the personnel of Central Reserve Police Force in 1990.

Rehti was an active member of APDP since its inception in 1994, who would regularly participate in the monthly sit-ins at Partap Park.
Her dedication to the cause of enforced disappearances remained undeterred until her last breath. Even though her search for her son remains unfulfilled, we the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), pledge to carry on with her unresolved search for her son on her behalf and take it forward to its fruitful end.

The struggle against the enforced disappearances in Kashmir has been led by APDP since 1994. Since then, APDP has lost the family members of some of the victims of enforced disappearances, who fought for their disappeared loved ones and kept their struggle alive until their last breath with dignity.

We lost Dilshada Shiekh, Moghal Maas, the single mother of Nazir Ahmad Teli who kept her search alive for her only child; Misra Begum, mother of Shabir Ahmad Ghasi; AbdurRazaq Dar, father of Mehrajuddin Dar, and many others.

Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons has been a socio-political movement against enforced disappearances in Kashmir since 1989. APDP is dedicated to providing for as well as legally fight on behalf of the families of the victims of enforced disappearances in Kashmir.

Chairperson
APDP

https://www.facebook.com/AIIndia/videos/10156619422878641/UzpfSTE2MjUyMjkwNjE6MTAyMTM5NzI0NTMxMzg0OTY/

An appeal by Radhika Vemula for Dalit human & civil rights activist Chandrasekhar Azad. Radhika is the mother of Dalit activist Rohit Vemula, a remarkable young man who committed suicide in January 2016 as a result of being persecuted as an outspoken opponent of caste oppression.

The landlady of my small cottage refuses to fix the mold problem (she insists my dogs are causing the smell under the sink) so after now three months I threatened to call city health inspectors. She responded by threatening to report my dogs to the city pound. I called her a slum lord. She threatened to evict me. I guess our fiduciary relationship is coming to a close. Time to start looking for another place. That’s life.

For those who take umbrage at my refusal to swoon when Natalie Portman recognizes Palestinian humanity: why should we patronize her intelligence & morality by accepting half-measures? She may recognize their humanity but she holds Jews superior & a Jewish-only state, exclusive of Palestinians, an imperative. We have not been delegated to accept discounts on self-determination on behalf of Palestinians. We don’t have a gun to our heads as do Palestinians. They don’t accept discounts, we don’t accept discounts. They put their lives on the line & we hold that line with them & do not retreat because someone throws them a paltry gesture. If you truly respect their humanity, then you recognize their human & democratic rights.

The actress Natalie Portman is being castigated by Israeli politicians for snubbing the 2018 Genesis prize, called the Jewish Nobel by ideologues but which is only a few years old & is one of Netanyahu’s stunts to legitimize Israel. Some have called Portman an enemy of the Jewish state, some call for her citizenship to be revoked, some say her rejection borders on anti-Semitism, others portray her as a dupe of Hamas & claim her snub is backhanded compliance with the cultural boycott of Israel by Palestinian supporters.

Portman is in fact a committed Zionist who assisted uber-Zionist Alan Dershovitz at Harvard in writing “A Case for Israel” & who has received Israeli funding for her films. No one familiar with her support for Israel would ever think her rejection of the Genesis thing was associated with BDS. She is a Zionist but she is not without principles when it comes to bombing & shooting unarmed Palestinians–unlike many other Zionist celebrities like the deceased Elie Wiesel. That’s why a false distinction is made between rightwing Zionists & liberal Zionists who both want a Jewish-only state. But the latter naively think there can be a Jewish-only state without apartheid & genocide of Palestinians. Portman has essentially the same position as Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, & J Street, including opposition to BDS.

The Zionist furor against Portman refusing the Genesis exposes the almost cult-like character of Zionism. No criticisms of Israeli policies are allowed, unquestioning loyalty is required & vituperations & shunning are the consequence of breaching those taboos. But the furor also exposes the uncertainty of Israeli leaders so that such ideological control is exacted from Zionist supporters. If you are not obsequiously for everything Netanyahu does, then you are an enemy of the Israeli state. More significantly, the uproar exposes the impact & the threat felt from the growing influence of BDS. In 2005, when Palestinian organizations put out the call for a cultural & economic boycott of Israel as a peaceful means to force Israel to end apartheid & genocide, they could hardly have imagined the political impact it would have. It has strengthened & provides a way for everyone to support Palestinian solidarity, even if you can’t attend a rally.

As an ardent Zionist, Portman probably feels blindsided by the backlash against her decision to reject the award. But she is very unlikely to reconsider her support for Israel & a Jewish-only state. Nevertheless, her stand against Israeli violence & the occupation confirms the claims of Palestinians & can be used to build BDS whether she wants it to or not. That is why Israeli politicians are ballistic over her snub. One can admire Portman for her stand regardless of her Zionism but she remains part of the problem. In contrast to Dershowitz & others who cheer the occupation & the bombing of Gaza, she believes Palestinians are human beings & should not be bombed or shot down in cold blood but she will not face that Israel by its very nature requires genocide & that her liberal “humane” Zionism offers cover for that reality.

(Photo of Portman from Twitter)

https://auroraprize.com/en/aurora/article/finalists/12979/a-myanmar-lawyer-advocating-on-behalf-of-the-rohingya-people-/2018

Rohingya activist Imran Mohammed introduces us to 78-year-old U Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer & longtime fighter for Rohingya justice in Burma who has just won the 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. The importance of these awards for human rights activists–like the 2017 Rafto human rights prize given to Kashmiris Parveena Ahangar & Parvez Imroz–is not just the recognition of individuals playing leadership roles but recognition of the struggles themselves. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize which honors war criminals, these human rights awards strengthen the movements against war, genocide, genocide.

This is a deeply tragic story, one of many in occupied Kashmir. Sharjeel Ahmed Sheikh was a 27-year-old taxi driver who lived with his family in the Kulgam district of South Kashmir. He was the sole support of his family, including his father, ailing mother, & a younger brother. His family was making preparations for his marriage on the 15th of April.

On Wednesday, April 11th, the Indian occupying army & special forces were involved in a late night hunt to kill operation in his neighborhood & residents of the area were alerted to come out in defense of the militants being hunted down. The troops opened fire on the unarmed civilians & fatally shot four, including Sharjeel who was not a part of the protest. Media reports are somewhat delicate, but he was either taking a bath or using the toilet at a neighbor’s house when he was hit in the chest with one of the bullets. He died on the way to hospital.

His death just left a whole world of suffering to many people, including his fiancée & his immediate family. Not just the emotional wreckage but his parents relied on his work for survival, especially his mother who is ill. Kashmir is under Indian rule & India has no social security provisions for elderly or disabled so his death is a devastating emotional, social, & economic loss to the family. May he Rest In Peace.

End the occupation. Self-determination for Kashmir.

(Photo of Sharjeel Ahmed Sheikh’s funeral from The Kashmir Monitor)