Palestinians sit outside their tents near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip during a protest east of Gaza City, on Apr. 2, 2018. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)
by Saud Abu Ramadan
GAZA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Around 70 white tents lined on the open field in eastern Gaza Strip near the Israeli border, turning the area, the scene of recent bloody Israeli-Palestinian clashes, into a big picnic-like party in Spring.
This was a result of the Palestinian rally organizers' efforts to calm down the situation after at least 16 Palestinians were killed and 1,200 others wounded in the past days of violent clashes with Israeli soldiers since last Friday.
The organizers requested participants keep safe distance from the fence separating the enclave and Israel, in hope to keep the demonstration a peaceful one that could last until May 15, when Israel was recognized as a state in 1948.
Palestinians call May 15 as the Nakba Day, or Day of Catastrophe, as a large number of Palestinians have been displaced since 1948.
On Monday and Tuesday, dozens of young Palestinian artists and painters began painting colorful pictures and images on the tents, to remember the villages and cities which many Palestinians were forced out since 1948.
Walking into each tent, mattresses and cushions were spread on the sandy ground to make temporary beds for those protestors who stay overnight. Food and tea are served inside the tents.
Ahmad Abu Rtiema, spokesman of the rally, called Great March of Return, told Xinhua outside one of the tents that the organizers still insist that the whole demonstration must be peaceful.
Rtiema lamented that on the first day of the march last Friday, the participants were so much excited that violent clashes broke out between the protesters and Israeli troops, leading to a large number of Palestinian victims
"We are all trying our best to keep the march going on until achieving its goal, which is sending a peaceful message to the world that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are demanding an end to their endless suffering," he said.
"Today, we managed and did as much as we can to keep the demonstrators away from the fence," he added.
Another organizer, who only identified himself as Husam, said the organizers wanted to keep the sit-in there until the largest ever march on May 15.
"Therefore, we don't want the march to lose its image," Husam said.
Aamer Shriteh, another organizer, insisted that turning the protest into more violent "would give Israel an excuse to keep opening firing and killing more people, and tell the world which listens to us that our struggle is terrorist and violent."
When the darkness fell on the field, many women, old men and children went home, leaving only dozens of young men staying inside the tents to keep watch.
They collected woods to make fire, as local farmers brought them eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes and green chilli peppers, which they grilled on the fire stoves to make dinner.
In the daylight, some participants spent their time playing football, while school children are brought in by buses to show support. Some young Palestinians were singing and dancing Dabkeh, or the traditional Palestinian dancing.
Dozens of vendors set up stalls there selling hot drinks of tea and coffee as well as ice cream and candies, while many families of the Palestinians jailed by Israel went there , waving Palestinian flags toward the Israeli side of the border as if they were sending messages to their relatives imprisoned in Israel.
Some Palestinians visited the hospitals to console those who were wounded by Israeli soldiers during the clashes.
At the Shiffa Hospital, Ashraf al-Qedra, the Gaza Health Ministry's spokesman, led a group of foreign reporters who visited the hospital to meet with the Palestinian victims wounded by Israeli live ammunition.
"Killing one Palestinian farmer early on Friday morning and wounding 150 others long before the rallies started, was a clear direct sign that the Israeli side had an advance intention to target civilians who were not armed," Qedra said.
Many of the young victims remained defiant to Israel's warnings as they vowed to return to the scene of protests, as soon as they recovered from the wounds.
Mahmoud, 22, was shot in his left leg on Friday while attending the first day of protests.
"I was with hundreds of young men and teenagers, and all of us were demonstrating, waving flags and burning tires, and then suddenly, I felt a hot thing hit my left leg, and I fell down," he recalled.
He said the gunshot damaged the bone of his ankle. He received two surgeries and had to stay in bed at least for 40 days.
"I'm sad that I won't go there again, I really want to go there and join the rallies," he said.
