On Friday afternoon, July 20th, Return members approached the Gaza siege fence at the same time that Gazans gathered by the fence on the other side during the weekly Great Return March, calling for the right to return to their land and for an end to the decade-long siege.
Return members carried a large banner saying ‘Liberate the Gaza ghetto’ along with flying the Palestinian flag. Additionally, they held posters depicting the faces of Gazan protesters, journalists and medics who have lost their lives to Israeli soldiers since March 30th this year.
Protesters on both sides of the fence were visible to each other waved and moved towards each other. The activists read short biographies of the slain Gazans to Israeli soldiers who were trying to force them to leave the area. Finally, the solidarity activists were forcibly removed from the site and briefly detained by police.
The right to return to one’s home after a war is over, is a globally recognised human right. The Gaza ghetto needs to be opened up, and people should be allowed to live their lives as they please, wherever they choose, without being starved, dried, bombed, shot at, or locked behind fences.
A sister action was held in New York the same day.
All our videos are taken by photographer Haim Schwarzenberg, who documents Israeli oppression in various struggles. Please go to his website to discover more of his work.
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