Medic’s killing exposes Israel’s inhuman side

The unarmed people of Gaza have shown immense bravery and fortitude in the face of a ruthless enemy

She was in the business of saving lives. And on Friday, she lost her own – to the bullets of the brutal occupation regime the Palestinians have had to endure for so many decades. As Razan Al Najjar, 21, a female volunteer medic, ran towards an injured protester, she was shot in the chest by Israeli occupation troops. Thousands of Palestinians, including medical crew, attended the funeral of the idealistic young woman. Her father held aloft the white blood-stained medics’ jacket she wore when she was shot.

The United Nations expressed its outrage over the shooting dead of “a clearly identified medical staffer”, saying it was “particularly reprehensible”. On Friday, a resolution slamming Israel’s use of “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” against Palestinians was presented. True to form, the US vetoed it.

At least 122 Palestinians have been massacred by the regime in Tel Aviv since March 30, when protesters in Gaza began the ‘March of Return’ movement, seeking an end to the 11-year-old crippling, inhuman blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel, and a return to the land they were driven away from during the 1948 Nakba.

The unarmed people of Gaza have shown immense bravery and fortitude in the face of a powerful, ruthless enemy that has no respect for the norms of civilised behaviour, and one which has the blind support of the global superpower. Gazans come out to protest because they have nothing to lose, and in the knowledge that their cause is just. Thanks to the blockade, they live in inhuman conditions in what is the world’s largest open-air prison. Their only hope is that international public opinion will tilt so clearly in their favour that global pressure will force Israel to end the blockade.