"As a Jew, my relationship with Israel developed against a backdrop of the separation barrier, settlements and the open air prison that is Gaza. The repetitive and incessant violence that occur in the occupied territories is devastating. Watching the news this weekend as more rockets and retaliatory attacks erupted once again towards Gaza, it would be easy to give in to a sense of hopelessness."

"On Saturday, apartheid Israel decided to launch yet another murderous campaign of bombardment against one of the most densely populated areas on earth. Again, the victims were children and women. Fourteen-month-old Palestinian toddler, Siba Abu Arrar, was killed along with her pregnant aunt, Falastine, who succumbed to her wounds shortly after American-made, Israeli warplanes targeted their home in Zeitoun neighbourhood."

"Palestinian militant groups — specifically Hamas and Islamic Jihad — launched nearly 700 rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel responded with a barrage of air and tank strikes, totaling about 350 by Monday morning, reports the Guardian. Israel also used targeted airstrikes, and reportedly killed a midlevel Hamas operative while he was in a car on a Gaza street."

"Rockets and missiles fired from Gaza killed four civilians in Israel while Israeli strikes killed 19 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, in surging cross-border fighting on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to continue "massive strikes" against Gaza's ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad in the most serious border clashes since a spate of fighting in November."

"What lands Palestinians in Israeli prisons are acts of resistance - from writing a poem about the struggle against the occupation to carrying out an attack against Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian land. For the Israeli occupation, however, every act of Palestinian resistance or defiance is either classified as a form of "terrorism" or "incitement" that cannot be tolerated."