By Neta Golan
Neta Golan is a founder of Return Solidarity https://returnsolidarity.com/
Since March 30th, for more than four months, Palestinians have been peacefully protesting along the fence besieging Gaza in what is dubbed as the Great March of Return. The Great March of Return is a form of popular resistance, organized by Palestinian civilians demanding their right to return to the homes and lands from which their families were expelled 70 years ago.
This is referred to as Nakba, or Catastrophe, in which 750,000 Palestinians were displaced and forcibly removed by Zionist forces to clear the way for Israel’s establishment in 1948.
This call for freedom has come at a great cost. Since the protests began, at least 166 Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli forces, and over 18,000 injured—more than 5,000 by live fire. (updated:8-22-2018) This includes children, journalists and clearly marked medics. Many have been paralyzed or face other long-term disabilities. Gaza’s health system has been pushed to the brink of collapse.
Still, the mass demonstrations continue, with Gazans calling for the right of refugees to return, for the 11 year old blockade on Gaza by Israel to be lifted, and for their human rights to be respected. So far, this call has been met with silence by the world, and the marches have been receiving less and less media coverage.
Help keep the human rights and freedom of Palestinians and the right to return in the spotlight—and help us in spreading the word. With this, we invite you to be a part of the solidarity movement for the Great March of Return. You can do this alone, or with others. You can do this in your country, or wherever you are located in the world. You can do this in your city or town, or on your Facebook wall. Together, our voices will make a difference.
Look through our site, get inspired by Solidarity from around the world, read the Call to action from Gaza, join the BDS movement and get in contact with us at greatmarchsolidarity@gmail.com if you need advice, want to tell us about your own action. We would love to hear from you.