Israeli killings on Israel-Syria border
The United States said Sunday it is "deeply troubled" over clashes on the Syrian border with Israel that reportedly resulted in 14 deaths, and called for calm on both sides.
Israeli troops opened fire as protesters from Syria on Sunday stormed a ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights.
"We are deeply troubled by events that took place earlier today in the Golan Heights resulting in injuries and the loss of life," the State Department said in a statement.
"We call for all sides to exercise restraint. Provocative actions like this should be avoided."
The US statement emphasized that "Israel, like any sovereign nation, has a right to defend itself."
The apparatchiks in Washington are ‘deeply troubled’, apparently. And Israel ‘has a right to defend itself’: with live fire against unarmed protesters (sorry apologists, stones and wire cutters don’t count in my book). As for “Provocative actions like this should be avoided”, read: “As racist supporters of Israel we believe the Arabs should take everything lying down…”
"Despite numerous warnings, both verbal and later warning shots in the air, dozens of Syrians continue to approach the border and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) forces were left with no choice but to open fire towards the feet of protesters in efforts to deter further actions," an Israeli army spokesman told AFP.
Most moral this IDF but not brilliant at aiming in front of feet, apparently. Wait for Mark ‘Iffy Ozzie’ Regev to hasbarah that the shots ricoched…
H/T Angry Arab (As’ad AbuKhalil)
Source.
posted by Gert @ 3:30 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
There's a big difference between non-violent demonstrations inside a country or territory, and a demonstration at the border or ceasefire line. You can't just expect Israel to allow people from an enemy country to freely enter the territory it controls.
I really don't understand what these protesters think the "Fence Intifadah" will achieve. After all, they know they won't be able to "exercise the right of return", which is their stated goal. Plus, such a goal pretty much pisses off all Israelis, including the ones on the left. As you may have noticed, we don't tend to sympathize with "right of return" advocates.
What should have also be mention is that according to international law it isn't Israels border but Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel.
Emm:
Even Arizona’s most fanatical anti-immigration nuts don’t advocate shooting dead border crossers (who clearly have the intention to stay, not just protesters for the day). It’s another disgrace that the IDF can’t handle this situation w/o creating a small massacre. It’ll all come back to haunt Israel.
And what Sass said…
First of all, for the purpose of people coming in, it doesn't matter whether it is an international border between two sovereign countries or a ceasefire line between an occupied territory and the country it was captured from. An occupying force has no obligation to allow free movement into the occupied territory.
I think the IDF should have used tear gas and water cannons to get the protesters away from the fence first, but I have no idea if that would have been effective. By the way, most of those killed were killed by mines which were activated when the Palestinians themselves threw molotov cocktails. Only a few were killed by IDF bullets.
The US-Mexico border is not a good analogy, since Mexico is not America's enemy.
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