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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
August 2024
Source: Law for Palestine
Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies:
Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the Chairman of the Law and Constitution Committee in the Knesset, Simcha Rotman, that would effectively bar administrative detention, or detention without trial, for Jews, leaving it permissible only for for non-Jews – Palestinisns. (June 30, 2024).
Israel has announced the appointment of Ron Shapira as its ad hoc judge in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. Shapira will replace Aharon Barak. Previously, Shapira had criticized the ICJ, describing it as intellectually dishonest and manipulative. At that time, he stated that sending a distinguished legal expert like Aharon Barak did not reflect respect for the court’s decision-making process. (July 1, 2024)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “We are advancing to the end of the stage of eliminating the Hamas terrorist army. We will achieve our objectives: Returning our hostages, eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, ensuring that Gaza will not constitute a threat, and also returning our residents securely to their homes in both the south and the north.” (July 1, 2024)
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant signed off on a decision to address basic humanitarian needs of displaced Gaza civilians, including electricity and sewage plants. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the move as “madness”, and accusing him of contributing to the rehabilitation of Gaza. Smotrich also expressed his dissatisfaction with the release of al-Shifa Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salmiya (July 2, 2024).
The Israeli “Supreme Planning Council” announced a plan to build 6,016 new housing units in dozens of settlements across the West Bank. This includes expanding the Givat settlement by more than 1,000 units and constructing a new neighborhood in the Yakir settlement, which will be built across the road leading to the settlement, effectively creating a new settlement. Additionally, 3 outposts will be legalized in existing settlements. (July 4, 2024)
The Israeli government announced the largest seizure of “state lands” in the West Bank since the Oslo Accords, designating 2,965 dunams in the Jordan Valley as “state lands.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the move, along with the scheduled approval of thousands of new settlement housing units, stating that these moves were designed to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state. (July 3, 2024)
The Jerusalem Municipal Court ruled to demolish the headquarters of Wadi Hilweh Information Center, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the grounds of “unlicensed construction.” This building has existed long before the occupation of Jerusalem. Additionally, a fine of 20,000 shekels was imposed on the center’s director. The center was given one year from the issuance of the decision to comply. (July 3, 2024)
Likud Party MP Amit Halevi has proposed a law titled: “Bill for the protection of Israeli public figures against the activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against the State of Israel, 2024.” The law includes provisions that prevent states, organizations, and entities from engaging with the ICC and imposes penalties on those who do so. (July 5, 2024)
The Knesset’s Legislation Committee has approved a draft law granting the Israeli Antiquities Authority powers to operate in the West Bank, claiming these areas are steeped in Jewish history and unrelated to the Palestinian Authority. The project aims to extend Israeli antiquities laws to include the West Bank and equate the status of antiquities in Israel with those in the West Bank, which could imply the annexation of parts of the West Bank. (July 8, 2024)
The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has approved (here) three draft laws aimed at significantly restricting UNRWA’s activities. The first project stipulates a ban on UNRWA’s operations in Israeli territories, effectively removing its presence in East Jerusalem. The second project will classify UNRWA as a terrorist organization and require Israel to sever ties with it. The third proposal will strip UNRWA employees of the legal immunities and privileges granted to United Nations staff in Israel. (July 9, 2024)
The Israeli mission to the United Nations in Geneva rejected the statement by UN experts announcing the spread of famine in Gaza, considering that the mentioned experts, who joined the statement, are spreading misinformation and supporting Hamas propaganda. The mission emphasized that Israel has consistently enhanced its coordination and assistance in delivering humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip. It also claimed that Hamas members are stealing the aid and deliberately withholding it from civilians. (July 9, 2024)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank if the International Court of Justice declares the settlements illegal, pledging to work towards “the application of de facto sovereignty” in the West Bank no matter what happens. “In the meantime, until the application of sovereignty, I will continue, with God’s help, on my path of working for the development of the settlement [movement], for the application of de facto sovereignty and to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state through massive construction, regulating settlements, building roads, and other measures in the field,” Smotrich added. (July 15, 2024)
The Israeli Knesset passed a resolution by 68 votes to 9 rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, even as part of a negotiated settlement. The resolution was co-sponsored by parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, right-wing opposition parties, and even received support from Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party. The resolution considered the establishment of a Palestinian state an existential threat to Israel, potentially leading to Hamas taking control and turning it into a radical Islamic terror base. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commented on the decision, saying that a Palestinian state cannot be established because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people. (July 18, 2024)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that the anticipated International Court of Justice decision would not impact Israel, describing the court as a political and anti-Semitic body. He asserted that Israel’s right to its lands stems from God’s promise, the Bible, and its long history, emphasizing that actions on the ground, not international resolutions, determine reality. Smotrich rejected any concession or sharing of lands with the Palestinians. (July 19, 2024)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, stating, “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland. No absurd opinion in The Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.” The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also labeled the opinion as fundamentally wrong, arguing that it ignores the security threats Israel faces from Hamas, Iran, and other groups, as well as the events of October 7. Israeli Minister Israel Katz contended that the opinion is fundamentally warped, one-sided, and wrong, disregards the historical facts of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, and is detached from the current reality, including security threats and the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. He emphasized Israel’s need to defend its territory and citizens and warned that the opinion encourages extremists and the Palestinian Authority to continue on the path of defamation and baseless mud-slinging. (July 19, 2024)
The Knesset General Assembly approved three bills in its first reading targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The bills include prohibiting UNRWA operations on Israel, withdrawing legal privileges and immunities from UNRWA employees, and classifying the UNRWA as a terrorist organisation while enforcing the severing of relations with it. (July 22, 2024)
The “Knesset” General Assembly approved the Israeli government’s decision to transfer responsibility from the Israel Land Authority to the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, with the support of 55 Knesset members and the opposition of 51. The Israel Land Authority grants permission to Ben-Gvir to demolish homes in the Arab communities within the Green Line territories using the claim of alleged aunauthorised construction, noting that such operations have not been executed within the Jewish community. (July 25, 2024)
Emergency statement - crisis in the West Bank JVP M/Weiss 01/07/2024
While international attention has been focused on the catastrophe in Gaza, another crisis is unfolding in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. . . . Since October 7, 2023, more than 544 Palestinians have been killed (including 126 children) and over 5,200 injured (including 800 children) by the Israeli military and Jewish settlers in Jerusalem and the West Bank (6/16/24). The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner decries “day after day of unprecedented bloodshed…The killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable, and must cease immediately. Israel must not only adopt but enforce rules of engagement that are fully in line with applicable human rights norms and standards.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/emergency-statement-on-the-health-and-human-rights-crisis-in-the-west-bank/?ml_recipient=125746963621610648&ml_link=125746959020459845&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-07-27&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation
Speechless in Shujaiya Osama Abu Jaser EI 03/07/2024
The attack occurred while I and my new neighbors were collecting wood near Gaza’s boundary with Israel.Suddenly, we found ourselves being showered with shells. We were shocked to see a large number of tanks approaching us. Next we heard a series of explosions shaking the entire neighborhood. We remained where we had been collecting wood for about 20 minutes. Then we left the wood behind us and – moving between the trees – slipped back to Shujaiya as the shells rained down all around us. On the way back, we saw buildings collapsing with their inhabitants still inside them. Other people managed to flee.
A girl walking barefoot with a bag on her back was crying in the street. When I asked her why she was crying, she said that all of her family had been killed. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/speechless-shujaiya/47491
Atrocity amnesia undercuts UN report Shahd Hammouri M/Weiss 03/07/2024
The deficiencies of the reports, which narrate some of the major events and provide legal analysis, include the absence of the term “genocide” to describe the ongoing onslaught in Gaza; a lack of discussion of the role of incitement to genocide by third states and international media; a forced two-sided balancing narrative; good-faith engagement with Israel’s bad-faith human shielding argument; the absence of tangible recommendations for third states and corporations; an uncritical reliance on Israeli sources while ignoring the work of Arab and independent media. These faults are just the tip of the iceberg. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/atrocity-amnesia-undercuts-un-commission-report/47496
Where are you originally from? Shaimaa Abulebda EI 05/07/2024
One of the first things I noticed about schools growing up in Gaza is that we have two different uniforms. With a child’s curiosity I asked my family about the girls’ outfits.
A brief answer was often offered to this innocent question: Girls who go to government schools wear dark green uniforms while those who attend United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees schools wear blue-and-white striped ones. (Boys wear blue shirts or T-shirts and jeans, no matter what school they attend.)
When I attended school, I eventually came to understand the actual reason for wearing different uniforms. This was brutally revealed when I was asked a frequent question while elementary school, a question that declared my status in Gaza: Where are you originally from? Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/where-are-you-originally/47521
No respite for Nuseirat Dima Ashour EI 08/07/2024
He immediately told his mother Nour that the Israeli military was approaching in tanks. “We must leave now,” he said. Nour instructed the family to grab the bags they had already packed for emergencies and head for their grocery store in the center of the camp. She felt that the store would be safer than their home. Two of Nour’s children went first. Nour and Abd al-Rahman set out shortly after them. The journey to the store was terrifying. Israel was attacking the camp from both the air and the ground. Buildings were being destroyed. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/no-respite-nuseirat/47571
Revisiting Jurisdiction at the ICC: Challenging Attempts to Block Accountability for Israeli Officials James Henderson Law for Palestine 10/07/2024
On the 27th June, the Pre-Trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) granted leave for written submissions on jurisdictional issues concerning the issue of arrest warrants for Israeli nationals.[1] This decision was in response to a request made by the United Kingdom on 10th June, which raised concerns regarding the ability of the State of Palestine to grant jurisdiction to the ICC over Israeli nationals given that under the Oslo Accords Palestinian authorities do not have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals.[2] In effect, the UK is raising the argument of ‘nemo dat quod non habet’ – ‘no one can give what they do not have’.
This is not a new argument before the ICC. Read More: https://law4palestine.org/revisiting-jurisdiction-at-the-icc-challenging-attempts-to-block-accountability-for-israeli-officials/
Israel’s . . . own army deliberately killed Israelis on October 7 James North Mweiss 10/07.2024 In other words, some — possibly many — of the Israeli deaths that day, including civilians, were deliberately caused by Israel’s own military. How this is not news is incomprehensible. But, three days later, in the New York Times: not a word. The Washington Post: nothing. CNN: nothing. National Public Radio: nada. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/israels-leading-paper-says-its-own-army-deliberately-killed-israelis-on-october-7-but-in-the-u-s-media-silence/?ml_recipient=126562368125667036&ml_link=126562358206138333
West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse Qassam Muadi Mweiss 11/07/24
“Palestinians in the West Bank have been expecting the bare minimum from the PA — just to be able to provide regular salaries and some law and order,” Zayne Abudaka, a Palestinian economist, activist, and entrepreneur, tells Mondoweiss. “But the fact that the PA relies so much on an income that can be withheld by Israel makes it unable to do the minimum expected from it. This increases social pressure in the streets. “In the long run, the situation will get out of control, but I don’t believe either Israel or the U.S. will let the PA fall,” Abudaka says. “The PA is an important part of the economic system enabling business in the West Bank and maintaining security control, and even Smotrich, who withholds the customs money, knows this.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/why-the-west-bank-is-on-the-verge-of-economic-collapse/?ml_recipient=126652956665710331&ml_link=126652951193192259
Women in Gaza three times more likely to die during childbirth N Barrows-Friedman EI 13/07/24 Miscarriages in Gaza have skyrocketed 300 percent since before 7 October 2023, according to reproductive health experts. And women are three times more likely to die in childbirth. Israel’s ruthless and deliberate targeting of hospitals and health clinics over the last nine months is compounded with a lack of critical supplies and medications necessary to ensure safe deliveries. But this is just part of the crisis, healthcare workers say. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/women-gaza-three-times-more-likely-die-during-childbirth-experts-warn
Disappearing West Bank land Tamara Nassar EI 13/07/2024
Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-far-right Israeli finance minister, is attempting to streamline the process of legalizing and recognizing outposts under Israeli law by providing them with basic services and creating facts on the ground. As part of Smotrich’s push to legalize over 60 outposts in the occupied West Bank, he is now instructing ministries to put them “on the same legal footing as regular settlements,” The Times of Israel reported. At a private conference of the Religious Zionism Party which was held at a settlement outpost near Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, Smotrich discussed creating a “legalization bypass route” for outposts, by funding and providing service. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-quietly-disappears-west-bank-land
Testimonies from the Mawasi massacre: Tareq Hajaj Mweiss 14/0720/24
Shaima Farwaneh, 16, was near the site of the massacre when it happened. She was preparing to make breakfast for her family when the bombs fell. People and sand scattered everywhere, limbs that were once attached to bodies flying over their heads. “A leg hit me, and I saw dismembered bodies a few meters away,” Shaima told Mondoweiss. “I saw a young child screaming. He lost his lower limbs and was crawling on his hands and screaming. The bombs didn’t stop, and suddenly the boy disappeared. I saw how he vanished before me while we ran and lowered our eyes to the ground, unable to do anything but run.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/testimonies-from-the-mawasi-massacre-90-people-buried-in-the-sand/?ml_recipient=126834134660154814&ml_link=126834125911885426
Israelis invading Gaza display extreme cruelty Khuloud R Sulaiman EI 15/07/24
The soldiers ordered the women in the house to hand over their phones.
“And all the soldiers sat next to each other, looking at the photos [on the phones] and laughing,” Sara said. During the several hours they spent in the house, the soldiers ate, drank juice and smoked in front of the hungry family. Before they eventually left the house, the soldiers kicked Sara and used their weapons to beat her in various parts of the body.
The soldiers then ordered her and the other women to leave the house. When Sara’s mother begged that Muhammad be brought to her, a soldier pushed her outside.
The soldier told her that she no longer had a son named Muhammad. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/troops-invading-gaza-display-extreme-cruelty/47741
186,000 Palestinians or more killed in Gaza Owen Schalk MRonline 15/07/2024
A new study by the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet estimates that the current death toll from Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip—which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has described as “plausible genocide”—is at least 186,000. This would translate to nearly eight percent of Gaza’s population. Read more: https://mronline.org/2024/07/15/lancet-186000-palestinians-or-more-killed-in-gaza/
Survivors tell of al-Mawasi massacre horror Doaa Shaheen EI 17/07/2024
In minutes, Israeli war planes dropped a reported five 2,000 pound bombs on the area – an area the Israeli military had designated a “safe zone,” and which was filled with people who had been forcibly displaced from elsewhere in Gaza. Tala’s slender body was sent into the air. Her plate of yellow lentils turned scarlet after being mixed with her blood. Naglaa, Tala’s mother, told The Electronic Intifada what she saw: “I was waiting for Tala to arrive when the world turned upside down. We heard massive explosions. Everything was destroyed. I could no longer see anything,” she said. She ran to find her daughter at the food distribution point, but all she saw was blood and torn-apart bodies. “I began yelling and weeping. And I screamed out to her, hoping she was alive and could hear me.”Naglaa found Tala’s small hand next to a plate of lentils. Then she found her daughter’s left foot. And the horror continued.
“I found pieces of my daughter’s body on a tree,” Naglaa said. “I started screaming in terror.”
Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/survivors-tell-al-mawasi-massacre-horror/47776
19 JULY 2024
ADVISORY OPINION
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ARISING FROM THE POLICIES AND PRACTICES
OF ISRAEL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY,
INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM 19/07/2024
Read here: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf
SEE ALSO: ICJ ruling offers some vindication after 76 years of Palestinian struggle; Israeli strikes keep killing Gazans – Day 286
How Israel massacred Israeli children then blamed it on Hamas Asa Winstanley EI 19/07/24 All of their Palestinian captors, bar one, who’d surrendered, were also killed. Two other Israelis survived to tell the story of how Israel’s military killed its own civilians that day. The head of Israel’s national rescue unit then lied to the world’s press about it, claiming that “eight babies” had been executed by Hamas at the home. Colonel Golan Vach claimed that the Palestinian fighters had murdered the Israelis, when in fact his own “rescue” forces had been responsible. “They were concentrated there and they killed them and they burned them,” Vach claimed of the nonexistent dead babies. No bodies of babies from the home were ever produced. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/how-israel-massacred-israeli-children-then-blamed-it-hamas
The end of Israel’s economy Shir Hever Mweiss 19/07/2024
The physical destruction in Israel inflicted by the war is minimal in comparison, and yet one thing has been destroyed: the country’s future. The economic indicators speak of nothing less than an economic catastrophe. Over 46,000 businesses have gone bankrupt, tourism has stopped, Israel’s credit rating was lowered, Israeli bonds are sold at the prices of almost “junk bonds” levels, and the foreign investments that have already dropped by 60% in the first quarter of 2023 (as a result of the policies of Israel’s far-right government before October 7) show no prospects of recovery. The majority of the money invested in Israeli investment funds was diverted to investments abroad because Israelis do not want their own pension funds and insurance funds or their own savings to be tied to the fate of the State of Israel.
Toys, spices, sewing machines: the items Israel banned from entering Gaza Moustafa Bayoumi & Mona Chalabi Israel-Palestine News 21/07/24 Israel has long maintained a blockade of Gaza, at times allowing only products deemed “vital for the survival of the civilian population” to enter. Gisha, an Israeli human rights group dedicated to the free movement of Palestinians, assembled lists of banned items – from newspapers to notebooks and spices to sweets – from conversations with Palestinian businesspeople and international organizations importing goods into the strip. Read more: https://israelpalestinenews.org/toys-spices-sewing-machines-the-items-israel-banned-from-entering-gaza/
Whitewashing war crimes in Gaza Dan Owen +972magazine 24/07/2024
However, a new report that I authored for the human rights group Yesh Din shows how the main role of Israel’s military law enforcement system is to maintain the appearance of internal accountability in order to shield itself from external criticism. Indeed, +972 Magazine and the Guardian recently revealed that Israeli intelligence agencies surveilled the activities of the ICC, in part to determine which incidents were being referred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation; in doing so, Israel could retroactively open investigations into those same cases and then reject the ICC’s mandate on the grounds of the “principle of complementarity.” Read more: https://www.972mag.com/israel-war-crimes-gaza-whitewash-ffam/
Palestinian Authority abets Israel’s colonial project Tamara Nassar EI 24/07/2024 The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority held a secret meeting with American and Israeli officials in Tel Aviv earlier this month to conspire on “day after” plans in Gaza that would involve the collaborative body in reopening the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/how-palestinian-authority-abets-israels-colonial-project
A high price for water apartheid Fayha’ Shalash EI 25/07/2024
Soon after its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza began in 1967, Israel placed all water resources under its control. Palestinians in the West Bank are blocked from accessing and using freshwater springs. Najib Ladwa is from the village of al-Mazraa al-Gharbiyya, north of Ramallah, a West Bank city.He used to irrigate his crops with water from the nearby Harasha spring. “This spring provided water for the entire village,” Ladwa said. “It was sufficient for our needs and more.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinians-pay-high-price-water-apartheid/47961
Germany is threatening me with prison for this talk on Palestine Ali Abunimah EI 27/07/24 Authorities in Berlin are threatening me with prison for giving a speech via Zoom to an audience in Germany on that country’s role in Israel’s ongoing holocaust against the Palestinian people in Gaza.I gave the talk anyway to thousands of people viewing it online, and you can watch it in the video above. It was part of the Palestine Conference in Exile held online on 25-26 July.About two hours before my scheduled talk on 26 July, I received via a lawyer in Germany a 15-page notice from government authorities in Berlin informing me that I am prohibited from participating in the conference by any means, including online. The penalties include fines and up to one year in prison. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/germany-threatening-me-prison-talk-palestine
Netanyahu’s willing executioners: how ordinary Israelis became mass murderers Faris Giacaman Mweiss 30/07/24
And this desire for retribution did not come out of nowhere. Of course, preexisting racism against Palestinians undoubtedly played a role in the dehumanization that was necessary to accomplish what they did, but that racism was fanned to demonological proportions through the persistent and widespread propagation of atrocity propaganda around the events of October 7, capitalizing upon and in fact building up the rage and desire for retribution among the Israelis who were soon to be conscripted into the army for the genocidal campaign. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/netanyahus-willing-executioners-how-ordinary-israelis-became-mass-murderers/?ml_recipient=128374308631217779&ml_link=128374301770385170
A massacre beside my home Abubaker Abed EI 28/07/24
I turned toward Khadija Girls’ School in my hometown of Deir al-Balah. The school has been transformed into a hospital since the first weeks of the current genocidal war. Approximately 3,000 people were taking shelter in the school. Many doctors and nurses were there, too. I was able to follow what was happening there. But I wish I hadn’t been able to. The things I witnessed will never fade from my mind. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/massacre-beside-my-home/48026?utm_source=EI+readers&utm_campaign=cac6763475-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-cac6763475-299228964
Israeli army probe covered up “friendly fire” killings on 7 October D Sheen & A Abunimah EI 29/07.24 he Israeli army’s first published report about the events of 7 October 2023 praises the general who led Israeli forces in battle at Kibbutz Be’eri on that day for ordering tank fire at a home killing up to 10 civilian captives. The shelling killed almost everyone in and around the house, including dozens of Palestinian resistance fighters. The report amounts to a shoddy cover-up, inconsistent with known facts, and an intentional rewriting of what happened to exonerate Israeli forces of killing their own citizens that day.
Although the report was supposed to have been written by officers with no connection to those who fought in the battle, one of its authors was Lieutenant Colonel Elihai Bin Nun who fought at Be’eri on 7 October under Brigadier General Barak Hiram, the commander of Israeli forces at the kibbutz on that day, The New York Times revealed. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-army-probe-covered-friendly-fire-killings-7-october/48046
Who are the Syrian Druze of Majdal Shams? Qassam Muaddi Mweiss 30/07/2024 At the center of this escalation and the subsequent Israeli spectacle are the residents of Majdal Shams, who mourned their children in a massive funeral, which was marred by the presence of Israeli politicians like Prime Minister Netanyahu and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Netanyahu spoke to the media, condemning the attack that killed “Israeli citizens,” referring to the deceased as “our children.” But contrary to Netanyahu’s attempt to portray the attack as an attack on Israel, he and Smotrich were met with indignation by hundreds of angry mourners who kicked the politicians out, calling them “murderers” and other expletives on their way out. Read more? https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/who-are-the-syrian-druze-of-majdal-shams/?ml_recipient=128374308631217779&ml_link=128374301785065240
Hubris drives deadly Israeli gamble in Tehran Omar Karmi EI 31/07/2024
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is yet another throw of the dice by a state unhinged by impunity. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/omar-karmi/hubris-drives-deadly-israeli-gamble-tehran
Israeli Lawmaker Says Raping Palestinian Prisoners Is ‘Legitimate’ Dave DeCamp Antiwar 31/07/2024 In a meeting of lawmakers on the day of the arrest, Hanoch Milwidsky, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, was asked if it was legitimate “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum?” Milwidsky replied, “Yes! If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!” According to Haaretz, the Palestinian prisoner who was raped suffered from a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage, and broken ribs and was taken to the hospital for an operation. Read more: https://news.antiwar.com/2024/07/31/israeli-lawmaker-says-raping-palestinian-prisoners-is-legitimate/
UK related articles
Get out of Palestine, it's not your country Sir Alan Duncan Twitter [X] 17/07/24 Former UK minister Sir Alan Duncan urges Israel to end its occupation of Palestine, criticises misuse of antisemitism accusations. Read & listen more: https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1813579392557473805
St Andrews university fires rector from governing body for Israel criticism Areeb Ullah Middle East Eye 01/08/2024 The University of St Andrews said on Thursday that it had removed Stella Maris from her position on the university court after an investigation concluded that she exercised "poor judgment" for sending an email out to all students last November that called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza. She will retain the title and office of rector, a position elected by students, until her term expires in October 2026."The decision to discharge Ms Maris is the conclusion of a lengthy process which began in November 2023 when Ms Maris, as rector, issued a message to all 10,000 St Andrews students offering her personal opinions on the conflict in Gaza and Israel," said St Andrews. Maris, who is an alumnus of the university, also accused Israel in her email of practising "apartheid... siege [and] illegal occupation" in Palestinian lands. Read more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/st-andrews-fires-rector-condemning-israels-genocidal-attacks-gaza
Hugh Humphries
Secretary
Scottish Friends of Palestine 0141 637 8046 info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org
