 Hello, and welcome to the Dawn News. In light of Israel's criminal massacre of more than 50 Palestinian protesters on Monday, we'll be talking to Rita Abu Ghosh of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee. Hello, Rita. So we just wanted to start off by asking, so in the light of Monday's massacre in Gaza, what sort of actions are being planned by Palestinian organizations and movements on the ground in response to this massacre? So the first response of this massacre was to impose military embargo. That's what all the efforts are trying to engage around. Military embargo is the best response on what is happening in Gaza today and what's been happening since March 30th until this very day. Okay. So, yeah, a little bit about what's been happening since March 30th. We know that these protests that happened on Monday were not just about the embassy being moved to Jerusalem, but also part of the 45-day-long Great Return March protest. So could you give us a little context about the Great Return March and how the movement plans to take these protests forward? Definitely. So Palestinians, like everyone else, simply want to live free and safely in their homes, to be treated equally in their country and to give their children and family a brighter future. After decades of having their rights denied, Palestinians are tired of waiting for politicians to do the right thing. So they decided to take it to the streets and to the courts, using boycotts and joining other popular resistance and communities around the world to build a future where all their life would be demand for rights. From day one, Israel has been engaging in the rentous discretion of Palestinian communities, families and way of life, raising Palestinians. May 15th is the anniversary of having 70 years of the Palestinian Act, the Palestinian catastrophe. Just like those who are desperate to keep the U.S. white and Christian, Israel is using its military might to maintain the privilege of the Jewish Israelis at the expense of millions of people simply because they're not the right religion. In the Trump era, there's a global divide between those who believe in freedom and equality for all and those who believe in racial and religious supremacy. Palestinian Gaza are marching for their lives, as simple as that. They're marching for their freedom and they're marching for their homes. The majority of Palestinians living in Gaza today are refugees. Palestinian refugees, new unrecognized refugees, over 70% of them are not even from Gaza. They've been forced from their homes when Israel was established. All they want is to be lived in freedom and to return to their land. Their families were pushed out. Palestinians in Gaza today are experiencing a different Palestinian experience, a different experience than the one that I face in West Bank. They've been living under siege for over 12 years. They've been under very harsh conditions, health conditions, social harsh conditions, political and economic conditions. However, Palestinians in Gaza are more determined. They're creatively and bravely protesting for the freedom by marching, participating in reading circles, cooking meals, playing music, dancing dapke and so many creative ways. For over a decade, Israel has imposed an illegal blockade of Gaza, sealing off its borders and trapping its two million residents inside a very small stripe of land. Palestinian Gaza are unable to travel freely for over 12 years. They're only used to four hours of electricity a day. There is a whole generation who hasn't witnessed more than four hours of electricity a day. They're unable to travel to pursue their education, to visit their family or to receive medical treatment. Israel only control and control all their medical treatments and only issue 50% of them are rejected every year. 50% of the health permits are rejected. Conditioning in Gaza are dire, severe shortage of life-saving medicine, food, electricity and clean water, life unsafe and unbearable. The UN Thought 2020 will make Gaza uninhabitable for people. Many Palestinian Gaza say they know that. Like all the people, they will die someday. But the tragedy is that they don't get to live. That's why they took it to the streets in March and to this very day. Even though the numbers of very youthful young kids, each and every one of them have his own story and has his own life was taken away from him or her. However, they're still determined. On the other hand, in recent weeks, Israel has met unarmed protests with live sniper fire, killing dozens and injuring thousands. That means there is a policy. There is a policy to target these youth, to target them either to harm them, to make them unable to walk later on and to send a message to other youth not to take part. Because if you do, this is their result. Human rights organizations have condemned the Israeli military for using deadly force against peaceful protesters. Palestine has called for military embargo. A lot of unions and political parties have joined. Barcelona, Jeremy Corbyn, Amnesty. A lot of artists are still boycotting concerts because of Israel's complicity in denying Palestinian rights. Even Israelis themselves are scared of Israel today. Natalie Portman didn't receive her prize in Tel Aviv because that came right after land day, right after 50 people lost their lives while protesting peacefully. So you talked a lot about the conditions in Gaza right now. What is the situation with the thousands of injured who have been injured during the great return march protests? Unfortunately, these are the numbers that we don't usually pay as much as attention as we do to the number next to it, which is the toll of killings. The injuries are a lot of them. Just yesterday, over 1,000, which means that will affect the toll of killings. That will affect how many lives are we losing. Israel is denying medical treatment. Hospitals not only do they lack electricity, they also lack medical equipment. They lack human capacity of doctors. They lack expertise. And of course, it controls all the medical treatment, even the very hard critical cases of injuries that got permits and managed to make it to the West Bank have only been got permit with no parents or any companion to help. So it's only been based on people from West Bank to help with the injuries. I myself met a little kid, 12 years old, who came to Ramallah after he got shot and lost his leg. He lost his lower leg. Unfortunately, I asked doctors. And doctors say, because of lack treatment and because of lack medicines, they need to act quick. They need to act quick when dealing with cases. That's why many kids are losing their legs, because there is not enough equipment and capacity to deal with each case as it should be. No, you talked a little about the BDS campaign and the military embargo. What are the other campaigns that you guys are working on? And do you feel like it's a moment where people are joining the BDS campaign more? I think Gaza itself is a message of hope and it's a message of positivity, even though that we're listening to a lot of bad and hard news for us to follow even with. Like, we didn't even have enough time to write the news because the number just kept going on. However, there is positivity and it's in Gaza and that's where we get our positivity from, from all the youth who wake up in the next morning and go to popular, to resist peacefully, they're really right to be. Of course, BDS has called for other campaigns as some might know that Argentina's playing a game soon with Israel. So there's a huge campaign and a petition is up to call Messi, Lionel Messi and the team to withdraw and not to take part. We made a campaign on Giro d'Italia as well, which is a global race that also took part in Jerusalem as part of celebrations for the establishment of Israel. Quote unquote. And we're intensifying our campaigns against G4S, HP, Caterpillar and all the complicit companies that take part in Israeli settlements and who are complicit in Israeli violations of human rights and Palestinian human rights. Well, I think that's all we have time for. I just want to thank you so much for sharing that with us. Thank you for watching the Dawn News and please follow us.