Can Palestinian protests achieve anything?
Protests against Israel’s occupation have erupted in the Palestinian territories. What will they accomplish?
Palestinians gathered for the third consecutive on Friday at the Gaza-Israel border fence for what was labelled “Burning the Flag of Israel Day”.
In five different locations, Israeli flags were burned and Palestinian flags hoisted in their places.
It is all part of what is called the Great March of Return which will continue until May 15, the day Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced off their land in the conflict that culminated in the creation of Israel in 1948.
Israeli soldiers have been using live ammunition against the protesters.
The Palestinian health ministry says 33 people have died during the last two weeks, including three children and a journalist. 3,000 people have been wounded.
Despite the risks, the Palestinians are refusing to give up. But what can they achieve?
Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault
Guests:
Mustafa Barghouti – secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative and a former Palestinian information minister
Tun Khin – president, Burmese Rohingya Organisation, UK
Mitchell Barak – political commentator and former adviser to Shimon Peres, ex-Israeli president
Beverley Milton-Edwards – visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and author of Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement