June 5, 2018, marks the anniversary of the first day of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the Six-Day War. As with the ongoing Great Return March by Palestinians in Gaza, it was mostly Israel's enemies who suffered then.
Journalist and documentarian Dan Cohen, who directed the new documentary "Killing Gaza," and Miko Peled, author of the new book "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five," join Loud & Clear on Radio Sputnik to talk about the war and how its outcome shapes the Israel-Palestine conflict today.
Najjar was killed by Israeli sniper fire from behind during protests along the border fence erected by Israel around Gaza — demonstrations dubbed the Great Return March and intended as a cry against the expulsion of Palestinians from their land, much of which occured in 1967.
"I think Razan Al-Najjar is… a person who really captures the essence of Gaza in terms of its resistance… she's at the front lines of the Great March of Return where she'd been tending to wounded protesters for every week since the beginning," Cohen said. The protest started on March 30 and was supposed to continue until May 15, but remains ongoing. On May 16, more than 3,500 Palestinians had been wounded by live ammunition, but that number continues to grow.
Like the Six-Day War, which saw the deaths of more than 20,000 Arab troops and fewer than 1,000 Israelis, the overwhelming majority of casualties have been from the sides opposing Israel. No Israelis have been killed in the Great Return March.
"On one hand we see Razan Al-Najjar's incredible display of dignity and then on the other hand we see… from the US and Israel, we just see this ugly face of imperialism," Cohen noted. Israel "really isolates itself, as the rest of the world doesn't really want to have much to do with this total slaughter."