“It was a bloodbath. I thought I was going to die”, he emotionally said while holding back his tears. As he spoke, you could hear the slight quiver in his voice which resonated from pain, sadness and of despair.
It was Friday, March 30, 2018, when the Great Return March started in the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem. A peaceful sit-in demonstration organized by Palestinian civilians for the purpose of resisting against Israel’s illegal occupation, which has taken place for the last seven decades. Thousands of Palestinian refugees, who have been forced out of their homes, had their lands stolen and have endured this systematic form of oppression gathered together to resist, demand the right to return to their land and to see an end to the occupation.
On the first day of the march, as the morning sun roused, he quietly gathered his things without waking his family. He didn’t want to cause any worry upon them for the decision he made to join his Palestinian “brothers” and “sisters” in the demonstration. His main purpose for attending was to serve as a citizen journalist; recording footage and collecting content to share to the world. But nothing prepared him for what was to come.
Eighteen-year-old Salah, has lived in Gaza all of his life. He began citizen journalism at the age of fifteen; actively documenting the day-to-day atrocities bestowed on the Palestinian people by the Israeli military and sharing it on social media. Many Palestinian youth have taken to citizen journalism in the last few years, which has been effective in exposing Israel’s crimes. There is great risk in this and the consequences can lead to a prison sentence, but many are willing to take the chance so their voices can be heard.
When Salah arrived, he was met by some of his friends that warned him that the Israeli Army had already shot a few people. This didn’t detour him from his purpose; that was to take as many pictures and videos as he could, along with conducting interviews with refugees, journalists and other people who were there for the march.
Many of the demonstrators thought they would be safe as long as they maintained a distance of 150 meters from the bob wired fence that surrounds the area where the demonstration was taking place. Standard orders by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) are; shoot to kill anyone who comes within 150 meters, but on this day the orders would be different. IDF snipers were ordered to execute any Palestinian that was engaging in the protest, including; children, journalists (wearing bullet-proof PRESS vest) and medical personnel on the field.
As the demonstration began, so did the firing of explosive bullets (butterfly bullets), which are banned under international law for the use of war. These bullets are composed of a casing containing explosive powder charge; when striking it projects an element which causes severe damage to a human body. The purpose of these bullets is to deform the “target” upon impact.
Along with the firing of explosive bullets, a barrage of tear gas and other chemical warfare filled the skies with thick black smoke, suffocating those that came into contact with it and causing many to seizure. Some of the demonstrators had come prepared with homemade gas masks because they were warned that the Israeli military would fire gas bombs into the crowd.
Salah was one of the victims of the chemical attack. As he was conducting an interview a gas bomb exploded right next to him. He immediately couldn’t breathe, collapsed and completely stopped breathing. Field medics ran and came to his aid. They carried him to a make-shift triage tent and were able to resuscitate him. Salah has suffered from asthma since he was a child and if it weren’t for the field medics getting to him in time, he would have died.
That first day of the march, there was a total of 1400 casualty, which included 750 wounded by gun fire and 14 deaths.
The Great Return March is expected to continue daily until May 15th, which will be the 70th anniversary of Nakba (Catastrophe), where more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Salah anticipates a war “genocide” to take place this year in Gaza. He explained that every two to four years, when the international community is distracted, Israel attacks.
While talking with him, I saw a boy that had his childhood robbed from him. The emotional and psychological damage caused to the children who live under this occupation, can leave one speechless. He told me about his frequent night terrors he has from witnessing so many people get killed, including his friends.
One evening, in 2008, he was awakened by the sound of military tanks. His entire family awoke and immediately ran down the stairs to their basement and escaped through a backdoor. As they were fleeing they could hear rockets hitting their home. Upon returning to their home days later, they found many people that lived in their neighborhood dead on the street, with kill shots to the head. In addition, white phosphorous grenades were used and many victims had died from it. “I was only 9 years old when I witnessed the aftermath of this massacre”, said Salah.
He went on to explain how they know when there will be a missile strike. A drone missile will target a part of the home, as a warning shot, which gives the family exactly three minutes to evacuate before F-16 fighter jets comes to bomb the neighborhood.
Every four months, Egypt will open its’ borders for approximately three days to give the Palestinian people a chance to cross the border. But it’s not that easy. One must obtain authorized permission by the Ministry of Health in Palestine, in order to cross the border. The recipient of this authorization must have a pre-existing health condition and can seek medical attention in Egypt or they have to be a student with the proper documents and visa. The other way, is by bribing and paying a significant amount of money, roughly $3,000 USD, to be able to cross.
A few days after attending the march, Salah was notified that he was approved by the Ministry of Health to go to Egypt. He was born with a medical condition that granted him the opportunity to leave Gaza and to receive medical treatment in Egypt. Even though this has been a blessing to his family and to him, he still leaves many friends and loved one’s behind in Gaza.
I asked Salah what’s next for his life. He told me he has received a full scholarship to a university and wants to study International and Human Rights Law, so he can become a Lawyer. Then he plans to return to Palestine to help his people by legally seeking justice.
My final question…
Do you think you will see an end to the occupation in your lifetime?
“No. As long as governments, such as the U.S and Britain keep supporting Israel and controlling the western media; the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians will only continue.”, said Salah, a teenage survivor.
Forever Palestine 