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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
January 2024
Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies [source Law for Palestine]
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proposed amendments to the government budget, whereby NIS 900 million ($240 million) of funds would be reserved for settlement development and Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) projects. Smotrich justified this suggestion by saying that these funds had been promised to the parties within the framework of coalition agreements to achieve their preferred goals, including the development of settlements and projects related to “Jewish identity,” and also ultra-Orthodox educational and cultural projects. (November 26, 2023). For further details, clickhere
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir: “For the sake of the children who have not yet returned, for the dead who will no longer return, and so that the horrors of October 7 will never return, we must return and crush Gaza with all our might, destroy Hamas and return to Gaza, without concessions, without deals and with maximum force.” (December 1, 2023). For further details, clickhere
In his tweet on the X platform, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called on the Prime Minister to officially announce the end of the truce and the severing of all deals with Hamas. Smotrich stressed that a “half-war” situation should not be allowed, and stressed the importance of continuing the war until Hamas is eliminated, hostages are returned, and insisted on refraining from returning to a ceasefire. (December 1, 2023). For further details, clickhere
The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has asked for “clarifications” from the Israeli Board of Grievances regarding “an alternative location for the family of terrorists.” He criticized the Board’s decision to delay the closure of the homes of terrorists in Jerusalem suggesting that the Board is “concerned with housing the families of terrorists rather than the security of the citizens of Israel.” (December 1, 2023). For further details, clickhere
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published an interactive map dividing the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small areas to notify civilians of areas active in combat. He asked the Palestinians to follow their area number and IDF updates through various media outlets. The IDF may use the map to call on Palestinians to evacuate when the ground operation expands south. (December 1, 2023). For further details, clickhere/here
Amid revelations concerning the licensing regulations enforced under Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has expedited thousands of civilian gun permits, claiming it enhances public security against terror attacks, the head of the gun licensing department at the National Security Ministry has resigned.(December 4, 2023). For further details, click here
The District Court in Jerusalem has resumed the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges. The trial and all non-urgent cases were suspended for two months due to the Hamas attack in October. After the state of emergency ended, the court revisited the case. The charges against Netanyahu include bribery and fraud in multiple cases. (December 5, 2023). For further details, click here
The Israeli Prime Minister affirmed that Israel would oversee security matters in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war. He also emphasized that Israel would not permit the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza under any circumstances. (December 12, 2023) For further details, click here
A coalition of settler organizations funded by the state of Israel held the ‘Practical Preparation for Gaza Settlement Conference.’ (December 20, 2023). For further details, click here
The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has called on the Israeli National Security Advisor, Tzahi Hanegbi, to freeze the decision allowing around 8,000 Palestinian workers to work in the settlements of the West Bank and Area C of the Palestinian territories. He also urged for an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss this issue. He emphasized that the safety of the residents of “Judea and Samaria” (West Bank) is as important as the safety of other Israeli citizens. (December 20, 2023). For further details, click here
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Israel will continue the fight until the elimination of Hamas, emphasizing his determination to achieve specific objectives: dismantling Hamas, releasing hostages, and removing all threats from Gaza. He announced that all Hamas fighters have only two options: surrender or death. (December 20, 2023). For further details, click here
The Israeli police announced that 19 prison guards were questioned in connection to the fatal beating of a security prisoner (Thair Abu Asab) last November. Police said the guards have since been conditionally released from custody. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, voiced his support for the guards who had been questioned. He said: “We need to remember that our prison guards are dealing with the scum of the earth, murderers, who pose a security threat. I would suggest not defaming the guards.” (December 24, 2023) For further details, clickhere
In a recent cabinet meeting, the Israeli government greenlit a proposal follows the request of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to allocate $20 million for the enhancement of security infrastructure in unauthorized West Bank settler outposts. The approved funds are earmarked for approximately 70 illegal outposts, often referred to as “young settlements,” which have never been officially authorized by the Israeli government. (December 24, 2023) For further details, click here
Benjamin Netanyahu announced three prerequisites for Peace: Destroying Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, and deradicalizing the Palestinian society. He also discussed the establishment of a security zone around Gaza, stressing that Israel must retain security control over the Strip in the future. (December 25, 2023). For further details, click here
Knesset member and former UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said that the State of Israel has received inquiries from countries willing to take in refugees from the Gaza Strip including countries in South America and Africa, noting that this is considered “voluntary migration” for Palestinians who wish to leave. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he is ready to encourage voluntary immigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, but that Israel’s issue is finding countries to accept the refugees (Dec 26, 2023). For further details, clickhere
Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that Israel will not extend the visa of the UN organization’s employees in Israel, criticizing the organization for hypocrisy. He stated that the actions of the UN were a justification for war crimes and a disregard for acts of rape against Israeli women. He stressed his refusal to cooperate with those who support Hamas propaganda. (Dec. 26, 2023). For further details, click here
In response to Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Erdogan is not in a position to preach morality to others. Netanyahu noted that the IDF is the most moral army in the world, fighting against Hamas-ISIS, which he described as the most heinous and brutal in the world. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantzpointed out that Hamas was the organization that perpetrated a despicable massacre, and that removing the threat of Hamas from the citizens of Israel is an existential necessity and an unparalleled moral imperative. (December 27, 2023).
An Israeli military official announced that an Israeli strike that killed dozens of people in the Maghazi camp in the center of the Gaza Strip earlier this week was carried out using improper ordnance, causing collateral damage which could have been avoided. The Israeli forces regretted the harm to those civilians, stressing that they had targeted Hamas members. (December 28, 2023). For further details, click here
Israel rejects with disgust the case filed by South Africa in its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) related to committing a genocide in Gaza. It states that South Africa’s claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis and constitutes a despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court. Israel accused South Africa of cooperating with a terrorist organization and called on the ICJ and international community to completely reject South Africa’s baseless claims. (Dec. 29, 2023). For further details, click here
A mass extermination factory – Israel’s use of AI Yuval Abraham www.972mag.com 30/11/2023 Compared to previous Israeli assaults on Gaza, the current war — which Israel has named “Operation Iron Swords,” and which began in the wake of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 — has seen the army significantly expand its bombing of targets that are not distinctly military in nature. These include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, which sources say the army defines as “power targets” (“matarot otzem”). Read more: https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/
Death and destruction Sarah Algherbawi EI 01/12/2023
When I had to evacuate with my family three times in less than 48 hours, twice at 4 AM, when my little children were sleeping and I woke them up terrified from their temporary beds and ran into the street to save our lives. When I had to evacuate for a fourth time from al-Karama, the neighborhood where I live in northern Gaza, to the south, leaving everything behind as if it never existed. When I was connected to the internet for the first time in weeks and saw videos of people who had literally lost everything and everyone. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/my-children-ask-about-death-and-destruction/41991
Alleged sexual violence relied on non-credible witnesses Anon M/Weiss 01/12/23
The most concerning aspect of the report is the fact that every single witness and “expert” in the CNN report proves to either be lacking in credibility or have ties to Israeli government officials and institutions. A deeper examination of the CNN report shows a series of manipulations and professional failures, including the fact that all witnesses that CNN claims to have “found” were featured in previous reports pitched and coordinated by the Israeli government . . . Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/cnn-report-claiming-sexual-violence-on-october-7-relied-on-non-credible-witnesses-some-with-undisclosed-ties-to-israeli-govt/?ml_recipient=106461206627223159&ml_link=106461109909718417
Ordered to evacuate – then arrested Aseel Mousa EI 02/12/2023
Samira left Jabaliya along with her husband, two sons, a daughter-in-law and her 3-year-old grandson Adam. . . . “There was a large number of people in a state of panic,” Samira said. “The occupation had tanks surrounding us and the soldiers were aiming their guns at us. The soldiers hurled insults at us. The language they used was offensive. The scene was extremely distressing. “I saw bodies along the road,” Wissam – Samira’s daughter-in-law – said. “The smell was very bad.” “We saw the belongings of displaced people – bags, mattresses and blankets – thrown on the road. The occupation had forced people to leave their belongings behind.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-orders-people-evacuate-then-arrests-them/42101
Horrors we could never imagine Ghada Abed EI 03/12/2023 The Islamic University of Gaza was destroyed by Israel in October. It is now barely recognizable. I graduated from this university in 2016. The places where I used to study are all gone. It is not the only college that has been targeted. Al-Aqsa University and al-Azhar University have been bombed, too. The entire education system in Gaza has been severely affected. Students have not been able to attend school since the beginning of the current war. . . . When my father told me about the atrocities carried out during Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 1967, I was initially in disbelief. Could such things really happen? Now I believe him fully. More than 50 years later, we are witnessing horrors with our own eyes. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/horrors-we-could-never-imagine/42176
World shrinks for Gaza’s children Mahmoud Alyazji EI 03/12/2023
“I want to go back to my bed and my desk,” she said. “I want to do my homework and go on a school trip.” In her grandmother’s house, it was even hard to go to the bathroom. Despite the chaos and fear that surrounded her, Tala continued to study. It was her only escape from the endless reminders of the war. But studying was extremely hard. The lack of electricity and internet access made it difficult. And the noise and limited space in her grandmother’s house made it hard to concentrate. Tala’s health suffered too. When I spoke to her, she had been sick for over a week. She had a sore throat and a high temperature that went up to 39.5 degrees Celsius. Her parents couldn’t take her to hospital. It was too dangerous and there was a lack of transportation. They couldn’t even provide clean water to drink. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/world-shrinks-gazas-children/42191
One family’s harrowing journey out of Gaza City Zakaria Baker M/Weiss 04/12/23 The beginning of the displacement is as follows: An Israeli intelligence officer called one of my cousins. There were about 20 of us sitting on chairs. The bombing of Al-Shati Refugee Camp did not stop for a single second. The missiles that were fired at the camp – we couldn’t see or hear them. They were barrel bombs. When they were dropped on a residential block of six or seven houses, they destroyed them completely. The scariest and most painful thing is that these missiles are fired at houses crowded with people. The bodies in Al-Shifa Camp are still under the rubble. We could smell the bodies. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/there-were-bodies-everywhere-horrific-scenes-enough-to-make-a-stone-cry-one-familys-harrowing-journey-out-of-gaza-city/?ml_recipient=106736758112126476&ml_link=106736680907573046
Genocide in service of Nakba 2023 Nour Odeh M/weiss 04/12/2023
One goal was crystal clear from the beginning: widespread destruction and industrial-scale slaughter. The Israeli Prime Minister invoked passages of scripture that describe exacting revenge on the Amalek, thus promising genocidal violence and destruction. This was complemented by a plethora of officials vowing to “eliminate everything in Gaza” and turn it into “a city of tents” while others normalized the promised slaughter by systematic dehumanization in which Palestinians were called “human animals”, and “children of darkness”. High-level officials, including the Israeli President, even went as far as saying that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/genocide-in-service-of-nakba-2023/?ml_recipient=106736758112126476&ml_link=106736680943224649
We blew up Israeli houses on 7 October, says Israeli colonel Asa Winstanley EI 05/12/2023 Erez told the podcast there had been “tons of openings in the fence” with Gaza and that “thousands of people in every type of vehicle, some with hostages and some without” were moving back and forth between Gaza and the Israeli settlements and that “it was an impossible mission” for the aircrews to distinguish between Palestinian fighters and Israeli detainees/ Asked by Haaretz interviewer Lior Kodner about “rumors that the army exploded all kinds of houses inside the settlements” and about the Hannibal Directive, Erez confirmed that the air force did indeed “explode houses” but insisted they never did so “without permission.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/we-blew-israeli-houses-7-october-says-israeli-colonel
A “honeymoon” of humiliation Dima Ashour EI 05/12/2023
Her mother’s assurance about Israel not arresting children has turned out to be inaccurate.
“The soldiers arrested a Palestinian child – 12 years old – who was walking with us,” Reema said, weeping. “I don’t know what he did to get arrested. Maybe he wasn’t as strong as my mother asked me to be.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/honeymoon-humiliation/42296
‘Findings’ without evidence Soheir Asaad, Muna Haddad & Rania Muhareb M/Weiss 05/12/2023 Two days into the since-interrupted truce that gave Palestinians in Gaza a moment to take in the destruction and devastation and search for their dead, Human Rights Watch (HRW) saw fit to publish a misleading report that could only serve to undermine Palestinians’ suffering and credibility, even as Israel intensifies its genocidal onslaught. HRW’s latest report claims to present “findings” on the Al-Ahli Hospital attack in Gaza on October 17, which killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians, among them patients, healthcare workers, and those internally displaced from Israeli airstrikes. Read on: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/findings-without-evidence-human-rights-watchs-report-on-the-al-ahli-hospital-attack/?ml_recipient=106823622329369672&ml_link=106823505595598685
How to become a ‘terrorist’ group - report the rape of a Palestinian child Tamara Nassar EI 06.12.2023
“I was part of the human rights vetting process for arms going to Israel, and a charity called Defense for Children International - Palestine drew our attention at the State Department to the sexual assault, actually the rape, of a 13-year-old boy that occurred in an Israeli prison in the Moskobiyyeh.”[an interrogation and torture facility in Jerusalem]. “We examined these allegations, we believe they were credible, we put them to Israel, to the government of Israel. And you know what happened the next day? The IDF [Israel’s military] went into the DCIP offices and removed all their computers and declared them a terrorist entity.”
DCIP was one of six prominent Palestinian human rights groups to be declared “terrorist organizations” by Benny Gantz, Israeli defense minister at the time, in October 2021. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-criminalized-group-following-report-raped-palestinian-child
How Israel starved a sick child of oxygen Sewar Elejla EI 08/12/2023
The scene at the emergency department was harrowing. “I saw a decapitated female body and doctors trying to revive her sister nearby. I had to wrap a child’s wound with gauze despite how it needed stitches. There was no choice. A girl with an amputated arm and a woman with shrapnel in the chest needed a transfer to al-Shifa but it was impossible. All of this happened amid a communications blackout with no way to reach anyone, including ambulances.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-israel-starved-sick-child-oxygen/42476
Gaza - Stripped, blindfolded taken to an unknown location M/Weiss 08/12/23
Chilling footage shows scores of Palestinian men detained by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, stripped down to their underwear, blindfolded, and handcuffed. Despite Israeli claims that these men are Hamas fighters who surrendered, a number have been identified as journalists, shopkeepers, or other civilians who had sought refuge in UNRWA schools in Beit Lahia.
These images emerge amid reports of Palestinian men executed in front of their families in northern Gaza, or otherwise killed by Israeli snipers despite waving white flags. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-63-israeli-army-rounds-up-strips-and-blindfolds-civilian-men-in-gaza-takes-them-to-unknown-location/?ml_recipient=107008540340651180&ml_link=107008477007709958
Wanton destruction of mosques and churches Eman Alhaj Ali EI 09/12/2023
This week, the Great Mosque in Gaza City was subjected to an Israeli airstrike. Also known as the al-Omari mosque, it is 1,400 years old. It was a place of serenity. Now a large part of it is destroyed. Once a hub for prayers and enlightenment, Its grandeur was woven into the fabric of our region. One of the largest mosques in Palestine, it housed a library of documents and rare books within its walls. It was a vital repository of knowledge. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/wanton-destruction-mosques-and-churches/42521 and SEE https://electronicintifada.net/content/does-israel-want-wipe-gaza-map/42601
Escalation of Israeli violence before Oct 7th Aseel Mousa EI 08/12/2023
But, as Israeli journalist Gideon Levy wrote in Haaretz on 16 November, “the next surprise won’t come as a surprise.” “Behind all this is the same Israeli arrogance that allowed the surprise of 7 October to occur,” he wrote. “The Palestinians’ lives are seen as trash. Dealing with their fate and the occupation is seen as an obsessive nuisance. The prevailing idea is that if we ignore it, the stars will somehow align.” . . . Israeli escalations have intensified in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza since the formation of the Netanyahu government. From 1 January to 30 September 2023, “the Israeli army and settlers killed 234 Palestinians, including 45 children, in the occupied Palestinian territory,” according to rights group Al Mezan. And before 7 October, the total number of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel was 4,746. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-violence-escalated-leadup-7-october/42431
I used to think the term ’Judeo-Nazis’ was excessive Jonathan Ofir M/Weiss 08/12/23 The late Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz applied the term “Judeo-Nazis” back in the late 1980s when he referred to former Supreme Court Judge Meir Landau, who effectively legalized torture, by that description. He made his arguments strongly: “The State of Israel represents the darkness of a state body, where a creature of a human form who was the president of the Supreme Court decides that the use of torture is permitted in the interest of the state.” . . . King wrote that “The IDF is exterminating the Nazi Muslims in Gaza” and that “we must up the tempo”. “If it were up to me,” he added, “I would bring 4 D9’s [bulldozers], place them behind the sandy hills and give an order to bury all those hundreds of Nazis alive. They are not human beings and not even human animals, they are subhuman and that is how they should be treated,” King said. He ended by repeating Netanyahu’s biblical Amalek genocidal reference: “Eradicate the memory of the Amalek, we will not forget.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/i-used-to-think-the-term-judeo-nazis-was-excessive-i-dont-any-longer/?ml_recipient=107095366126535812&ml_link=107095298867725791
Despite lack of evidence, allegations of Hamas ‘mass rape’ are fuelling Israeli genocide in Gaza Kareena Pannu M/Weiss 08/12/2023
Israel’s secrecy remains deafening; the IOF exclusively screened a 47-minute compilation of “raw footage” to invited journalists, as opposed to sharing the footage with news agencies to report on and verify independently (Al Jazeera journalists, notably, were not invited to attend). Amongst those invited, journalist Owen Jones saw no “conclusive evidence” for torture, sexual violence, rape, or beheadings. Furthermore, despite calling on the UN to condemn Hamas’s acts of sexual violence, Israel refuses to cooperate with a UN commission of inquiry into sexual violence committed by Hamas on the ludicrous basis that the UN has “an anti-Israel bias.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/despite-lack-of-evidence-allegations-of-hamas-mass-rape-are-fueling-israeli-genocide-in-gaza/?ml_recipient=107095366126535812&ml_link=107095298882405862
Democracy gets even thinner in ’48 Palestine Yoav Haifawi M/Weiss 09/12/2023
With all this repression, Israel tried to keep a semblance of democracy, mostly for international public relations. For this purpose, they allowed the participation of some Arab or Arab-Jewish parties in the Knesset under the election law, which obliges every party willing to take part to support the nature of Israel as a Jewish state. With the strengthening of overtly fascist parties and their prominent role in Israeli-Jewish politics, public opinion, and the state apparatus, many ask how thin margins for “tolerated” Palestinian political activity may survive. . . . . We are now finding out. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/democratic-margins-get-even-thinner-in-48-palestine/?ml_recipient=107185983868372659&ml_link=107185903496070228
Kenzi Adam al-Madhoun loved to swim Amjad Ayman Yaghi EI 10/12/2023
The 5-year-old received a swimming certificate this past August. She would swim with her father at the beach or in pools. On 21 October, an Israeli bombing injured Kenzi and she had to have her right arm amputated. The bombing killed her grandfather and injured her mother Yusra el-Khairy, her grandmother and her aunt. . . Kenzi’s right hand, all the way up to her shoulder, was amputated shortly after the bombing. She also had a fractured skull, a broken pelvis and a broken leg. Surgeons performed a third operation on her bladder, which had been ruptured. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-israel-caused-young-swimmer-lose-arm/42531
Are human rights really universal? Various contributors M/Weiss 10/12/2023
. . . with the passage of the infamous UN Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine. Prior to the resolution’s passing, a UN sub-committee on the question of Palestine urged that acting without retaining an opinion on partition from the International Court of Justice “would amount to a confession that the United Nations are determined to make recommendations in a certain direction, not because those recommendations are in accord with the principles of international justice and fairness, but because the majority of the delegates desire to settle the problem in a certain manner […].” This recommendation, and the desires of the indigenous Palestinian people, were ignored with the passing of the partition resolution on November 29, 1947. This day is now annually, and unironically, observed by the UN as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/are-human-rights-really-universal-palestine-and-the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-75-years-later/?ml_recipient=107276567517857337&ml_link=107276518382634702
The rush to preserve the sperm of slain soldiers . . . Izzeddin Araj M/Weiss 10/12/23 Families of three fallen soldiers arrived with an unusual request — to extract sperm from their deceased sons’ bodies. . . . Servicemen are revered as the embodiment of national masculinity, and the act of posthumous fatherhood is perceived as a homage to these fallen soldiers — a means to ensure their legacy endures. . . . This practice sheds light on the complex role of the medical institution within a settler colonial order — a role underscored by recent events such as a petition signed by numerous doctors urging the army to target hospitals in Gaza. But more significantly, it illustrates a unique Israeli way of militarizing reproduction, where medicine, masculinity, and militarism intersect, ultimately fostering a settler colonial fantasy in which violence against the indigenous population is not only sought after but closely tied to the envisioned future of the settler nation.Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-rush-to-preserve-the-sperm-of-slain-soldiers-exposes-the-deep-militarism-of-israeli-society/?ml_recipient=107276567517857337&ml_link=107276518408849118
“horrific crimes” against starving civilians in Gaza M C Murphy EI 11/12/2023
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for an “urgent international investigation” into field executions, torture and threats of rape against Palestinians by Israeli ground forces in Gaza. Palestinians arrested in their homes and later released told the Geneva-based group that they were stripped naked and attacked with “machine guns, electric cables and cold water.” A 16-year-old boy told the Euro-Med Monitor that Israeli forces stormed his family’s home in Shujaiya, near Gaza City, after they were besieged for a week without food or water. “He stated that over the past few days, Israeli forces killed everyone in his neighborhood who tried to leave their home, including [his] brother,” the rights group said. The boy’s family were “gathered naked and handcuffed before being violently assaulted and beaten,” Euro-Med Monitor added. The teen “still does not know what happened to his mother and sisters, who were captured and kidnapped by the Israeli army.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-committing-horrific-crimes-against-starving-civilians-gaza
Israel admits . . . Asa Winstanley EI 12/12/2023
Israel’s army on Tuesday admitted that an “immense and complex quantity” of what it calls “friendly fire” incidents took place on 7 October. . . . It is the first known official army admission that a significant number of the hundreds of Israelis who died on 7 October were killed by Israel itself, and not by Hamas or other Palestinian resistance factions. . . . but the IDF [Israeli military] believes that … it would not be morally sound to investigate” them. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israel-admits-immense-amount-friendly-fire-7-october
Trauma skyrockets for Gaza’s children Abubaker Abed EI 12/12/2023
Mustafa Abu Zir is fearful for the future of Palestinians’ mental health in Gaza. The psychotherapist, who is from Gaza but is now based in the Netherlands, said that Israel’s nonstop wars on Gaza will only deepen the current mental health disaster. “We will surely see PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], panic, fatigue, anxiety, depression and nervousness,” he said. “Children, who should have an enjoyable childhood, will now be unable to live a normal life.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/trauma-skyrockets-gazas-children/42636
Why is the UN genocide office silent? Ali Abunimah EI 13/12/2023
Alice Wairimu Nderitu has one job that’s spelled out in her official title: She’s the UN secretary-general’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide.
Yet while human rights groups, independent UN experts and genocide scholars are ringing the alarm bells over Israel’s extermination campaign in Gaza, Nderitu has remained silent.
On 15 October, Nderitu did issue a statement strongly condemning – no less than three times – Hamas for attacking Israel on 7 October. She apparently accepts as fact all of Israel’s unverified and quickly unraveling claims about that day. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-un-genocide-office-silent-about-gaza
Israel killing children in Jenin with drones Tamara Nassar EI 15/12/2023
Israel’s campaign of killing and destruction of the refugee camp’s infrastructure also involved the Israeli military firing drone missiles and Energa anti-tank rifle grenades into at least 10 homes in Jenin and its refugee camp, destroying them completely, Wafa news agency reported. Army bulldozers caused extensive damage to Jenin and its refugee camp’s infrastructure, including streets, water, electricity and sewage networks. Israeli forces also bombed commercial shops and a barbershop, burned and destroyed fruit and vegetable stands as well as Palestinian vehicles in the area, and seized a number of them, Wafa news agency reported. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-killing-children-jenin-drones
The Role of the ICRC in Gaza Lillian Robb Law for Palestine 16/12/2023
On 29 November 2023, the bodies of five premature Palestinian babies were found in Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, a full three weeks after their deaths. The bodies were decomposing, still lying in their hospital beds. Israeli forces ordered patients and staff to leave the hospital in early November, despite the logistic impossibility of doing so. The hospital was hit by an Israeli bombardment on 9 November, rendering it inoperable, and the staff and patients were forced to evacuate. Dr. Mustafa Al Kahlot, director of the hospital, said that he had tried to save the lives of the five children before it was too late by requesting help from international organisations including the ICRC but received no answer.[1] The incident has given rise to accusations of negligence on behalf of the ICRC in responding to calls to save the lives of children and patients in Gaza, a repeated accusation, as well as calls for investigations regarding the conduct of evacuations. Read more:
Getting serious about halting Israeli genocide M Benjamin & N Davies M/Weiss 16/12/2023
Another powerful instrument the world can use to try to compel an end to this massacre is the Genocide Convention, which both Israel and the United States have ratified. It only takes one country to bring a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Convention, and, while cases can drag on for years, the ICJ can take preliminary measures to protect the victims in the meantime. . . . So which country will step up to bring an ICJ case against Israel under the Genocide Convention? Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/getting-serious-about-halting-israeli-genocide/?ml_recipient=107823954387797204&ml_link=107823874148664710
And
Time to seek provisional measures at the International Court of Justice to prevent genocide D Machover and Adri Nieuwhof M/weiss 22/12/2023
Israeli forces also have intentionally targeted the health system in Gaza, attacking buildings, materials, medical units and transport, and personnel wearing distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, like the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. These war crimes resulted in the collapse of the health system in Gaza, a tragedy for the thousands of injured who now lack the needed medical treatment. In addition, Israeli army chiefs and government officials have been clear about their criminal intention to use starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, depriving them of water, electricity, and food indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies — all flagrant war crimes contrary to the Rome Statute. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/time-to-seek-provisional-measures-at-the-international-court-of-justice-to-prevent-genocide/?ml_recipient=108367502391641306&ml_link=108367421864150443
Palestinians shot in church, UNRWA warns of flight to Egypt Mustafa Abu Sneineh EI 17/12/23 The PA’s Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs said on Sunday that female prisoners from the Gaza Strip detained at Damoun Prison are facing harsh repression, including beatings and strip searches, on a daily basis The Commission recorded the case of an 80-year-old woman from Gaza who was detained by Israeli forces. “[She] was walking on a crutch and without a cover on her head. Her body and clothes were full of blood and she did not know anything. It seemed that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” her lawyer told The Commission. “All female prisoners from Gaza Strip arrived at the prison in a deplorable condition, in all respects, health, physical and psychological,” The Commission report added. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-72-israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-in-church-unrwa-warns-of-mass-flight-to-egypt/?ml_recipient=107823954387797204&ml_link=107823874086798712
Gaza and the end of Orthodox Judaism Michael Lesher M/weiss 17/12/2023
In my view, the evil we face among the religious Jews today – and we must not let this community off the hook with bromides like “Zionism isn’t Judaism” – is not simply, or even fundamentally, about a particular religious ideology or some lunatic romantic nationalism masquerading as a religious creed. Our problem is broader and deeper than that. Those responsible for preserving an ancient teaching have corrupted it to such a level – and have dragged down the minds and consciences of their followers to such a level in the process – that it doesn’t really matter what they believe. For, in truth, they don’t believe in anything. They have sacrificed their independence, have surrendered their souls, and are more or less mindless tools of the rabbinic and lay elites that govern their lives.
And that is why, at a word from the thugs who govern Israel, they are prepared to say anything – absolutely anything, any lie at all, no matter how false or vile or degrading or stupid – in order to be on what they think is the right side of power. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/gaza-and-the-end-of-orthodox-judaism/?ml_recipient=107910848067929706&ml_link=107910720390170056
Shame on Israel for exploiting the Holocaust to justify genocide Sig Giordano M/weiss 18/12/2023 My grandparents’ story of surviving the Holocaust . . . Zionists have long sought to paint Holocaust victims as weak to make the case for the founding and then maintenance of the state of Israel. These moves began even before the Holocaust when some Zionists aligned themselves with the eugenic racial science of the day, arguing that Jews must purify their own race creating their own strong breed. Arthur Ruppin, a leading social scientist and head of the World Zionist Organization’s Palestine office in the early 20th century, promoted the settlement of Palestine as the answer to the dangerous results of “racial-mixing” for European Jews. He was not alone, as many Jewish intellectuals argued that forming the Zionist state would allow Jews to “regenerate their own bodies” which were degenerated by the conditions of both assimilation and oppression in Western and Eastern Europe, respectively. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/shame-on-israel-for-exploiting-the-holocaust-to-justify-genocide/?ml_recipient=108005087130945476&ml_link=108005040680076592
Our stories matter Rana al-Shorbaji EI 19/12/2023
I missed my bedroom in Gaza. It was my sanctuary. Yet my bedroom is now gone, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. Imagining the joy that my family experienced in that home is painful, as it can never be recreated. My uncle’s wife Fadwa was a woman who deeply loved her home and family. Despite the growing unrest in Gaza, she declared that she would never leave her home. It was not just a physical connection that she had to her house but a spiritual one. She was moored to the life that she had created in that home. However, she was forced to evacuate by Israel, like the vast majority of people in Gaza. It was a matter of survival. What a heartbreaking moment: steadfast for so long, then forced to abandon her sanctuary.
Then, the unthinkable happened. An Israeli sniper shot Fadwa in her lung and in her stomach on al-Saftawi street. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/our-stories-matter/42941
Cries for help Ghada Abed EI 19/12/2023
As I scrolled through social media websites, the usual stream of photos, videos and updates took a somber turn. My feeds were now filled with pleas from people desperately seeking help. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/cries-help/42961
Dozens killed at al-Shifa hospital M C Murphy EI 20/12/2023
Israel massacred Palestinians throughout Gaza on Monday and Tuesday, killing dozens of people at al-Shifa hospital and forcing the closure of al-Ahli hospital, the only partially functioning medical center in the north of the territory. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza reported on Tuesday nearly 19,700 fatalities in Gaza since 7 October, with another 52,600 wounded. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with some 8,000 people reported missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Unprecedented famine and disease borne from Israel’s siege is causing a secondary wave of mortality that the UN’s humanitarian chief warns may soon outpace the death toll from the bombing. Israel struck Rafah, near Gaza’s boundary with Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge after intensive bombing and destruction in the north of the territory and in eastern Khan Younis. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-forces-closure-gaza-hospitals-kills-dozens-al-shifa
Extrajudicial killings Leila Warah M/Weiss 21/12/2023
“More than a thousand detainees, including the director of al-Shifa Hospital, are being subjected to brutal torture and severe beatings,” Barghouti said in a statement.
“The Israeli interrogators use torture with electricity, waterboarding, hanging stress positions, and psychological pressure,” he continued, noting prisoners said they were held in a makeshift detention camp in Beersheba, also known as Bir as-Sab, and that several elderly and sick prisoners were killed as a result of the torture.
“The detainees are held in barracks that are unfit for life, exposed to the cold, and are given scarce food,” Barghouti said. “No one, including the Red Cross, is allowed to contact them or know anything about them.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-76-extrajudicial-killings-of-men-in-front-of-their-families-in-gaza/?ml_recipient=108179043469231682&ml_link=108178702494336029
Creativity still shines amid a genocide W J Y Al-Hallaq EI 21/12/2023
During these wintry nights, my family gathers around a candle. Lighting a fire is not an option. There is a concern that Israel might mistake any fire as a resistance operation and bomb the home where the fire has been lit. Despite our fears, my family has shown some ingenuity in ensuring that we have hot drinks at night. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/creativity-still-shines-amid-genocide/43046
Gaza’s churches under attack Ruwaida Amer EI 23/12/2023
Ramez al-Souri lost three children during the attack on the Church of Saint Porphyrius. Israel’s attacks are carried out with weapons supplied by the US. “I left my home and came to the church because it was supposed to be a safe place,” al-Souri said. “My children were sleeping in the building. Suddenly the place was bombed with a missile from a warplane.”
He added, “I cannot believe that I lost my children. I feel like I am in a nightmare. America and Israel killed my children while they were sleeping in a place of worship.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazas-churches-are-under-attack-christmas/43101
Meta Systemically Censors Palestine Content Juan Cole Human Rights Watch 23/12/2023
Meta’s content moderation policies and systems have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook in the wake of the hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 51-page report, “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook,” documents a pattern of undue removal and suppression of protected speech including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about Palestinian human rights. . . . “Social media is an essential platform for people to bear witness and speak out against abuses while Meta’s censorship is furthering the erasure of Palestinians’ suffering.” Read more: https://www.juancole.com/2023/12/instagram-systemically-censoring.html
Gaza’s workers without pay Khuloud R Sulaiman EI 22/12/2023
Israel is responsible for transferring tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority. During the war, Israel has reduced the amount of revenue it hands over.The reduction is based on the amount which the PA allocates to Gaza. Withholding this money is a form of collective punishment and illegal under international law.My brother-in-law Abed works for the administration in Gaza. He has not received any wages for the past three months. The administration has been struggling to pay its employees’ wages ever since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007. During the war, payments have halted completely. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/wages-arent-being-paid-gazas-workers/43071
Israeli general killed Israelis on 7 October then lied about it A Abunimah &
D Sheen EI 24/12/2023 In an interview with Ilana Dayan, the host of Israeli Channel 12’s prestigious investigative program Uvda on 26 October, Hiram gave a false account of the efforts to rescue civilians in Be’eri. He also fabricated atrocity propaganda, claiming that Palestinian fighters had tied up and executed in cold blood 10 civilians in the kibbutz, eight of them children.These sorts of lurid stories – amplified by Israeli leaders and relayed directly to the White House and world media – played a direct role in inciting Western governmental and public support for Israel’s genocidal response. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-general-killed-israelis-7-october-then-lied-about-it/43176
Field execution cases in Gaza Euro-Med Monitor 25/12/2023
On 10 November 2023: Israeli forces killed Bashir Hajji, 71, of Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighbourhood. Hajji was shot by Israeli forces while attempting to cross Salah al-Din, the Strip’s main road. His murder occurred shortly after the Israeli army published a picture showing one of its soldiers talking to Hajji; in the picture, the soldier is pretending to be protecting and assisting Palestinian civilians during their displacement.Read more: https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6058
Gaza’s health system ‘decimated’ by Israeli bombardment M Abu Sneineh M/Weiss 26/12/2023 The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Tuesday that its offices in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, were attacked by Israeli artillery shelling, destroying the upper floor. Several displaced Palestinians sheltering in the building were injured.
PRCS said that an ambulance crew “miraculously” survived the Israeli shelling on Monday while they were transporting the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Al-Katiba neighborhood in Khan Younis. Israeli forces also arrested several PRCS employees in the Jabalia Ambulance Center in northern Gaza after storming it last week.
Since October 7, the PRCS, which runs several medical centers and affiliated hospitals in the Gaza Strip, has been operating under dire conditions and a lack of sufficient medical and fuel supplies. At least 284 staff members have been killed in Israeli bombardment since October 7, most of them while on their way to provide first aid and medical services. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-81-who-says-gazas-health-system-is-being-decimated-by-israeli-bombardment/?ml_recipient=108635612227044857&ml_link=108635445239219209
The terror of administrative detention Yoav Haifawi M/weiss 25/12/2023
Administrative detention is an Israeli practice of holding Palestinian detainees without charge or trial. The longest period for a single administrative detention decree is six months, but there is no limit on the number of times that the same person may be detained, in continuity or with some breaks. For this reason, administrative detention is regarded as indefinite detention. . . . One thing that has not changed since October 7 is the fact that the Shabak is the ultimate ruler over 1948 Palestinians. Everybody has “a file,” and the Shabak regularly invites people from all walks of life for “conversations.” Political activists, and not only them, sometimes find themselves subject to intense interrogations. Although more associated with the Israeli occupation’s regime in the West Bank, administrative detention is used in ‘48 Palestine as well, and since October 7, it has been an important way Israel has repressed and terrorized Palestinians. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/how-administrative-detention-is-used-to-terrorize-48-palestinians/?ml_recipient=108635612227044857&ml_link=108635445262287889
Israel accused of harvesting organs Leila Warah M/weiss 27/12/2023
Israel has continued its barbaric and unending attacks on Gaza’s population for yet another day. Over the past 24 hours alone, Israeli forces have killed at least 195 people and injured 325 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Overnight on Tuesday, Israel renewed its attacks on Khan Younis, this time around the vicinity of the Nasser Hospital and the Jordanian field hospital, reported Al Jazeera. The relentless and heavy shelling around the medical facilities follows the same pattern of attack . . . Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-82-israel-accused-of-harvesting-organs-from-dead-gazans/?ml_recipient=108726166978823393&ml_link=108726046715545358
Politicians like Yair Golan gain popularity when they call for genocide Jonathan Ofir M/weiss 26/12/2023 Yair Golan is a well-known general in Israel. He was previously the army’s Deputy Chief of Staff and has occupied a leading position in the left-Zionist Meretz party. Golan has long tried to combine militarism with an ostensible peacenik attitude usually attributed to the left, but it seems his efforts were in vain when he came out in fifth place in the 2022 elections when Meretz failed to make it beyond the electoral threshold. Come October 7, however, Golan made a heroic comeback. He went directly into the battle — borrowing his son’s paratrooper boots . . . Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/in-israel-politicians-like-yair-golan-gain-popularity-when-they-call-for-genocide/?ml_recipient=108726166978823393&ml_link=108726046750148382
Attacks on Palestinian lawyers Alya Zoabi M/weiss 26/12/2023
Since October 7, Palestinian lawyers in Israel have been getting attacked by extremist Jewish Israeli lawyers. It started the day after the events. Arab lawyers have been verbally attacked in WhatsApp groups and asked to immediately condemn Hamas. This was followed by an announcement by the bar association amending its bylaws and regulations to allow it to immediately dismiss any lawyer for “publishing, supporting, praising, or incitement to…Terrorist acts and other crimes stipulated in the Anti-Terrorism Law.”
The incitement campaigns against the Palestinian lawyers have not stopped there. Lawyers have found themselves called terrorists and questioned about old pictures and social media posts connected to Palestine that are not related to current events. These posts have been misinterpreted and mistranslated, their words taken out of context and published in different groups, along with pictures of the lawyers and their family members who have been called terrorists and Hamas supporters and told to go live in Gaza. In addition, complaints have been filed against these lawyers to the bar ethics committee, demanding to disbar them. These slander campaigns have directly damaged lawyers’ reputations with their clients. Several lawyers have even been unlawfully arrested over Facebook posts, with some of them still in prison today, accused of supporting and encouraging terrorism. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/attacks-on-palestinian-lawyers-show-israel-is-not-a-democracy/?ml_recipient=108726166978823393&ml_link=108726046791042861
The Jewish establishment’s blindness Philip Weiss M/Weiss 26/12/2023
[Note: This article concerns the Jewish establishment within the USA. It could be relevant to the UK] It is understandable why Jews have such feelings historically, but they are surely inappropriate to a moment when more than 8,200 Palestinian children have been killed. I say that the relentless focus on Jewish suffering poses a greater risk to Jewish life than antisemitism. Fresh images of maimed Palestinian children are on the news every night, and famine and disease are on the doorstep — and the Jewish establishment is fixed entirely on the atrocities against Jews of 12 weeks ago . . . This conduct fulfills the very worst stereotypes of Jews wielding influence, and other Americans are seeing it. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-jewish-establishments-blindness-to-palestinian-slaughter-also-hurts-u-s-jews/?ml_recipient=108726166978823393&ml_link=108726046767974181
Ethnic cleansing as ‘humanitarianism’ Mitchell Plitnick M/Weiss 28/12/2023
Israel maintains that destroying Hamas will take months and perhaps years. Already, most Gazans are struggling to find shelter, food, and water. Decent medical care has become almost an impossible dream as medical professionals scramble to do what they can without supplies, medical equipment, electricity, or even hospital facilities. Disease, malnutrition, exposure, infection from wounds, horrendous sanitary conditions, and other threats are running rampant. It’s important to realize that the people dying from these causes are not being recorded in the daily casualty counts. All of that is after less than three months. 1% of Gaza’s population has already been killed, and fungal infections are so widespread they’re even killing Israeli soldiers now. Imagine what things will be like in another month, let alone a year. Read now: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/israel-announces-its-gaza-endgame-ethnic-cleansing-as-humanitarianism/?ml_recipient=108911062303114708&ml_link=108911008868730828
The long history of Zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip Mouin Rabbani M/weiss 28/12/2023 With the focus in recent years on the intensified campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, it is often forgotten that, for decades, the primary target for depopulation was the Gaza Strip, particularly its refugee population, which accounts for approximately three-quarters of the territory’s residents. Even before it occupied Gaza in 1967, Israel regularly promoted initiatives to achieve the “thinning” of its refugee population, with destinations as far afield as Libya and Iraq. Not without reason, Israel’s leaders felt uncomfortable with the presence of so many ethnically cleansed Palestinians within walking distance of their former homes. After 1967, it encouraged Palestinian emigration from the Gaza Strip to not only foreign countries but also the West Bank. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-long-history-of-zionist-proposals-to-ethnically-cleanse-the-gaza-strip/?ml_recipient=108911062303114708&ml_link=108911008879216591
Israel executes Gaza’s elders Ali Abunimah EI 29/12/2023
A musician and retired educator, she had been displaced to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City in early November but according Hammam, “she couldn’t stand being sheltered at the church anymore, so she found a ride to take her back to her house.” “Relatives tried to tell her that she should stay in the church for her own safety … but she was quite an independent woman,” Hammam says. The driver would not risk taking her all the way to her house, so she got out. As she walked the final stretch, an Israeli sniper shot her below the knee and she fell to the ground. . . . The Red Crescent would have to get permission from the Israeli army which – as they habitually do – denied access. . . . she lay bleeding to death within sight of others who could do nothing to help, Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-executes-gazas-elders
Hospital attacked five times in one week N Barrow-Friedman EI 29/12/2023
On Thursday, Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, was targeted for the fifth time in less than a week. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is headquartered at Al-Amal Hospital. . . . T he medical service stated on Thursday that Israeli forces had targeted “the upper floors of the society’s headquarters” with artillery shelling the day before, leading to a number of injuries of some of the 14,000 displaced persons seeking shelter inside the hospital campus. The PRCS added that the Israeli shelling also damaged the radio communication network, “the only means of communication” the service has left, which now “poses a great challenge for emergency crews in reaching the wounded and sick.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israel-attacks-gaza-hospital-five-times-one-week
South Africa files case against Israel at the ICJ for genocide M/weiss Palestine Bureau 30/12/2023 The South African application to the United Nations-run ICJ — which is in charge of prosecuting governments, unlike the more widely known International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals — notably claimed that “acts and omissions by Israel… are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent… to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-85-south-africa-files-case-against-israel-at-the-icj-for-genocide/?ml_recipient=108997925957273272&ml_link=108997837423903980
ZAKA is not a trustworthy source for allegations of sexual violence on October 7 The Short String M/weiss 30/12/2023
ZAKA is a non-governmental religious Haredi organization specializing in collecting dead bodies and body parts from sites of “unnatural” deaths and transporting them to morgues according to strict Jewish religious laws.
The organization was founded in the late 1990s by Yehuda Meshi-Zahav. Meshi-Zahav was previously the leader of “Keshet,” an ultra-Orthodox Jewish terrorist group that targeted forensic pathologists and used explosives against shops selling “secular newspapers.” Meshi-Zahav led ZAKA until 2021, when he attempted suicide after shocking revelations of dozens of rape and sexual assault cases committed by him. Since its inception, the organization — described as a “militia” by the highly esteemed Israeli journalist Yigal Sarna — has been subject to incessant criticism, investigations, and demands to dismantle it. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/zaka-is-not-a-trustworthy-source-for-allegations-of-sexual-violence-on-october-7/?ml_recipient=109089673096202098&ml_link=109088454608946462
South Africa appeals to the International Court of Justice Robert Herbst M/weiss 31/12/2023 On Thursday, December 28, South Africa filed an Application Instituting Proceedings at the International Court of Justice to commence proceedings in a legal forum against Israel for its genocide in Gaza, and to press for “provisional measures” – a preliminary order requiring the Israel Government and military to cease their genocidal acts in Gaza pending a full hearing by the court. South Africa’s Application is 84 pages long and devastating – to the State of Israel, to its Jewish political and military leaders and personnel committing the genocidal acts and speaking openly of their genocidal intent, to those in Israel, America, and Europe standing so firmly in support of them, and to the Jewish people in whose name Israel purports to act. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/south-africa-appeals-to-the-international-court-of-justice-stop-israels-genocide-in-gaza/?ml_recipient=109179185864378076&ml_link=109179049847293338
UK related articles
Puma to end contract with Israel FA Michael Arria M/Weiss 12/12/2023
Puma SE has announced that it will not renew its contract with the Israel Football Association (IFA) in 2024. The news was first reported by the Financial Times, which obtained internal documents pertaining to the sponsorship deal. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/bds-victory-puma-to-end-its-sponsorship-of-israels-national-team/?ml_recipient=107461590310193106&ml_link=107461488295281731
UK “Anti-terror” arrests Asa Winstanley EI 22/12/2023
Napier was charged with “support for a proscribed organization” under the Terrorism Act. In the speech he had also thanked Hamas “for breaking out of the Gaza concentration camp on October 7th.” Greenstein has yet to be charged and was released on bail the same afternoon. His bail conditions include a complete ban on attending any protest in Scotland at all, as well as a ban from entering the center of Glasgow, the city where he grew up and spends much of his time. But both his laptop and phone were seized and not returned. Napier’s phone was also confiscated. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/anti-terror-arrests-uk-over-support-palestinian-resistance
Zionist lobby’s threat to academic freedom Mayssoun Sukarieh M/Weiss 22/12/2023 On its website, the Pinsker Centre foregrounds its commitment to promoting “free speech” on university campuses. But the Centre, which was originally known as the Pinsker Centre for Zionist Education, was founded in 2016 more specifically as a response to what Centre founders called “the threatening spectacles and the annual hysteria of Israel Apartheid Week” and dominance of “pro-Palestinian activism” in UK universities, and as a project to “transform the way in which we promote the case for Israel on campus.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-zionist-lobbys-threat-to-academic-freedom-in-uk-universities/
Weapons trade - court victory for activists Mohamed Elmaazi EI 23/12/2023
“I feel absolutely no guilt about any of my actions,” said Genevieve Scherer, a 77-year-old retired social worker, who was acquitted on the two counts of burglary that she faced. “I think they were prescient really, given the circumstances in which we live.”
“The only reason that a company like Elbit exists is to uphold an apartheid regime, to uphold a human rights abusing regime, to commit genocide against the Palestinian people,” said Caroline Brouard, a medical herbalist, who was found not guilty of possessing materials with intent to commit criminal damage. “It’s indefensible that this company are allowed to manufacture weapons here in the UK” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/court-victory-activists-who-disrupted-israels-weapons-trade/43111
