The Peruvian Shot in Gaza

In April 1919, in Amritsar, Punjab, a detachment of British Indian Army Marines fired 1,650 shots at a unarmed crowd of civilians gathered in a walled garden to celebrate the Baisakhi Festival and to peacefully protest against the arrest of two of its leaders. A total of 379 people were killed and more than 1,000 were seriously injured.

In the following survey, the commander, brigadeiro general Reginald Dyer, admitted to knowing that there were many women and children in the crowd, but stated that the massacre was necessary because they represent a political danger. By its action, it was warned and transferred, but not punished in any other way. Upon returning to England, he was acclaimed as a national hero by the elitist bankers and merchants who profited from the continuous subjugation of the Emperor’s Indian subjects – King George V.

In December 2020, a team of sixteen Spanish hunters slaughtered with assault weapons a total of 540 animals (mainly deer and wild boars) contained in the 1,700 hectares of the wall private property known as Torre Bela, in Azumbaja. When asked, they claimed that their action had been promoted by a group of entrepreneurs to whom 775 hectares had been assigned to allow the installation of a “photovoltaic center”. It was also claimed that the property had a tourist importance as a destination for select guests of rich corporations.

Publication in the average photographs of the dead animals arranged in military formation and hunters adopting macho poses has caused a wave of protests of activists for the rights of animals and Portuguese hunters, who considered illegal and anti -sport killing! However, the official investigation of the police, the Public Prosecution Service and several official bodies (ICNF, Authority, Tourism) was hampered by the inevitable secret of justice and anonymity initially granted to owners and promoters.

In January 2025, RTP issued a bulletin informing that the Bella Tower Herdade is involved in a new controversy because the workers of Herdade have received orders to capture deer and other wild animals with nets and ropes, where they are left to starve and thirst.

In the US, a common source of entertainment is Turkey Shoot, where the unfortunate birds are identified with numbers and then taken to a room where shooters gain awards for the speed of destruction.

Why, you may well ask, if you should make so much fuss on these examples of animals to be massacred in confined spaces, when death and mutilation are everyday occurrences in slaughterhouses and war theaters? The global blood headquarters corollary lies in the long history of imperialism, which defines wild and domestic animals, slaves, hired workers and even warriors such as disposable objects or “things”, with insignificant status or legal value, if any. This position then allows them to be mistreated and slaughtered by the ruling classes without fear of retaliation.

This is the unfortunate case of the two million Palestinians who subsist in their homeland, Gaza; A 365 km² coastal strip, in which they were trapped by a security fence on three sides and armed naval patrols. Of this population, 47% are under 18, while only a small number managed to survive beyond the retirement age.

It was in 1948 that the military power of the new Israeli state imposed the first relocation for refugee camps those who had their homes and farms destroyed. During the following years, the besieged Palestinian people suffered deprivation, humiliation, hunger and executions in increasingly abominable proportions in the hands of their oppressors, who reject any motion of the UN to the restoration of the borders and the reunification of Gaza with the West Bank as a single sovereign state.

Recent statements by Israelite ministers of the nationalist government echoed the popular songs of « death to all Arabs. » Yoav Gallant, the « defense minister, » said: « There will be no electricity, food or fuel. We are fighting human animals and acting accordingly. » Bezabel Smotrich, the Minister of Finance, speaking at a conference of militant settlers on May 6, stated that over the next six months, the entire population will be transferred to the Morag corridor, a narrow strip of land between Khan Youis and the Egyptian border. Israel’s defense forces (IDF) will then complete the devastation of the center and northern Gaza, regardless of the loss of lives of those who do not want or cannot leave their land. The reconstruction of Gaza on the vacant lots will be started to create the “Florida de Israel” designed by President Trump with, undoubtedly, for the forced labor of the humanitarian area (refugee camps) of the corridor.

The Peruvian shot, which has been a repetitive feature of 28,000 days of occupation, will undoubtedly continue, regardless of whether these intentions are materialized or not, and their perpetrators will remain immune to the accusation, as are the past generals and hunters.