Share:
Receive up-to-date news by subscribing:
Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
November 2023
Over the course of the past 6 weeks it has become apparent that consideration of “facts on the ground” resulting from the attack carried out by Hamas on the 7th October - and the response of the Israeli military machine - more than suggests a high level propaganda exercise on the part of those with most to lose by revealing the truth viz Netanyahu and his cabal of racist, genocidal murderers. No more is this apparent than from the accounts of events from those Jewish Israelis caught up in the Hamas attack together with a sober analysis of the nature of the destruction left behind. This can be found in the following articles:
Middle East Monitor: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231030-report-7-october-testimonies-strikes-major-blow-to-israeli-narrative/amp/
Electronic Intifada: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
Electronic Intifada: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-admits-burning-hundreds-people-7-october
Grayzone: https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/27/israels-military-shelled-burning-tanks-helicopters/
Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies
(source Law for Palestine) :
· Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant announced: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.” (October 9, 2023). For further details, click here
· The Israeli ambassador to the European Union and NATO, Haim Regev, claimed that, “Israel is ‘not violating humanitarian law’ in the war on Hamas” in the Gaza Strip. He added that Israel’s goal is to eliminate Hamas while avoiding harming innocent people. (October 11, 2023). For further details, click here
· Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said that, regarding the Israeli attack on Gaza “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy,”. (October 11, 2023). For further details, click here
· Israeli Communications Minister formulates emergency regulations that would allow him to direct police to arrest civilians, remove them from their homes, or seize their property if he believes they have spread information that could harm national morale or served as the basis for enemy propaganda. (October 15, 2023). For further details, click here
· The Commissioner General of the Israeli Police addressing the Palestinians in Israel: Those wishing to show solidarity with Gaza are invited to join the buses heading in that direction. The protest permits will not be granted. Any individuals detained will be treated as criminals. (October 17, 2023). For further details, click here
· Haaretz newspaper: A draft law allowing Israel to place security prisoners and detainees on mattresses on the floor instead of beds and waive living-space requirements was approved for submission to the Knesset in the last two voting rounds. (October 17, 2023). For further details, click here
· The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced that his government has amended firearm licenses for citizens and settlers, allowing many of them to obtain these weapons. (October 19, 20023) For further details, click here
· The Israeli government has approved regulations allowing it to shut down foreign news channels during a state of emergency due to the war with Hamas if national security is harmed. Communications Minister ShlomoQarai called for the closure of Al Jazeera based on accusations of its incitement against Israel. The regulations will allow the Minister of Communications to issue an order to stop broadcasting media outlets and close their offices. (October 20, 20023) For further details, click here
· The Israeli Ministry of Health and various hospitals have announced that they will not provide medical care to detainees of October 7 attack from Gaza. (October 22, 2023) For further details, click here
How Britain broke International Law S Jabarin & R Wilde M/Weiss 29/09/2023
. . . The Balfour pledge itself is merely a political statement. It is of dubious legal standing as a binding commitment made when the UK had no authority over Palestine. What makes it significant politically, practically, and legally is something else with a different date. . . Thus, as a matter of international law, it is the Mandate Agreement, not the Balfour Declaration as such, that is the key legal instrument. That Agreement entered into force on September 29, 1923 — one hundred years ago today. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/09/how-britain-broke-international-law-to-stop-palestinian-independence-100-years-ago/?ml_recipient=100742436524917976&ml_link=100742170510624072&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-08&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines
Suicide in Gaza Tareq S Hajjaj M/Weiss 05/10/2023
Over the past two decades, suicide cases in Gaza have steadily climbed. The reason for this shouldn’t be surprising to even the casual observer — for most young people in Gaza living under inhumane conditions, their outlook on life is not gray but black, the result of continuous shocks, wars, and two decades of being cut off from the outside world. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/suicide-in-gaza/?ml_recipient=101199236376299128&ml_link=101198936204641621&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-08&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines
shoot-to-cripple policy Stuart Littlewood Redresss Info& Analysis 07/10/2023
But Israel’s “shoot-to-cripple” policy isn’t new. Back in 2018 I told how retired trauma surgeon David Halpin, who had often worked as a volunteer in Gaza hospitals, drew attention to it in January 2011: “The deliberate injury of the limbs of 23 boys by high velocity weapons has been logged and described by Defence for Children International Palestine Branch (DCI-P) since March 2010. Read more: https://www.redressonline.com/2023/10/israel-continues-its-shoot-to-cripple-policy-targeting-youngsters-with-impunity-and-still-no-sign-of-sanctions-from-the-self-righteous-international-community/
“Al-Aqsa Flood.” M C Murphy & A Abunimah EI 07/10/2023
Hamas launched a surprise operation on an unprecedented scale against Israel early Saturday, which the resistance group’s military chief Muhammad Deif said was codenamed “Al-Aqsa Flood.” The day marks a tremendous strategic failure and defeat for Israel, even as it bombs Gaza in retaliation. After hours of public silence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price” as fighting continued in several locations near Gaza between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli forces. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/hamas-fighters-gaza-storm-israel-capture-and-kill-soldiers/38631
The October failures Miko Peled M/Weiss 07/10/2023
An Israeli reporter broadcasting live from Tel-Aviv now said that “Israelis thought that the era of big wars is over,” as scenes of fighting with Palestinian fighters in Sderot and other Israeli settlements are shown in real-time. What Israelis forgot, or perhaps never realized, is that Israeli soldiers are not brave and certainly not invincible. For decades now, it has been shown that, fighter-for-fighter, the Israelis are inferior to their Arab counterparts. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/the-october-failures/?ml_recipient=101475929036948828&ml_link=101475925705623475&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-09&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Manual+-+Oct+8+2023
A dose of its own medicine? Stuart Littlewood Redress Info & Analysis 08/10/2023
And excuse me, since when did the aggressor, Israel, which has maintained a murderous and illegal military occupation of the Palestinians’ homeland since 1948 and a cruel blockade on Gaza since 2006 (all condemned by multiple UN resolutions), have a right to defend itself against legitimate Palestinian resistance? Read more: https://www.redressonline.com/2023/10/did-hamas-just-give-israel-a-dose-of-its-own-medicine/
Israel cuts off food , . . to “human animals” M C Murphy EI 10/10/2023
While Palestinians in Gaza were pulling victims of Israeli strikes from the rubble, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant announced on Monday that “we are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed.”
“We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly,” he said of Gaza’s population of more than two million Palestinians, half of whom are children, and most of whom are refugees from areas beyond the Gaza boundary breached by guerrillas on Saturday. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-cuts-food-water-millions-palestinians-it-calls-human-animals
No proof Palestinian fighters ‘beheaded’ babies Dave Reed M/Weiss 11/10/2023
Press Release: Islamic University of Gaza Suffers Severe Damage Due to Gaza City Bombardment
Gaza City, October 11, 2023 - Extensive sections of the Islamic University of Gaza have incurred substantial damage and significant material losses due to the Zionist bombardment that targeted Gaza City from Monday, October 9, 2023, till Wednesday 11, 2023. The buildings at the university's main campus were severely damaged, including their equipment, laboratories, and furniture.
Israel's airstrikes targeted the university buildings and numerous ministries, headquarters, and government institutions adjacent to the university. These attacks resulted in extensive damage surrounding the university.
The university urgently appeals to all international institutions, organizations, and bodies to intervene swiftly and take effective measures to protect the institutions serving all Palestinian people from these aggressions.
Furthermore, immediate action is needed to ensure the rights of students and the educational process are safeguarded against these assaults. We call upon the free world to promptly counter the discriminatory policies of the occupation and confront its arbitrary attacks on the educational process.
The University extends its call to academic institutions, universities worldwide, their staff, and their unions to stand in solidarity with the Islamic University of Gaza and Palestinian universities. It urges them to condemn the racist attacks on Palestinian educational and academic institutions.
Islamic University of Gaza
Journalists spread unverified claims Ali Abubimah EI 12/10/2023
As the latest atrocity stories have spread, Sarah Leah Whitson, the former Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, warned, “unless you’ve got some hard facts (not more allegations) to support gruesome allegations of decapitated babies and mass rape – which [the] Israeli army says it can’t confirm – please take a pause from asserting it has happened.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/biden-lied-about-seeing-photos-beheaded-israeli-children
Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights Tareq Shrourou 13/10/2023
A legal briefing on starvation of civilians in Gaza. It can be read here (the latter link is the PDF version):
https://lphr.org.uk/latest-news/lphr-legal-memo-on-starvation-of-civilians-in-gaza/
The short briefing concludes with a number of urgent and essential asks that we are widely circulating. In addition, in the context of the evacuation order issued overnight, LPHR has been in touch with partner organisations and relevant officials in the UK to clarify that civilians do not lose their protected status under international humanitarian should they decline or are unable to leave their homes, because such a decision does not amount to participating directly in hostilities.
Preparing to commit genocide Yumna Patel M/Weiss 13/10/23
Israel has already dropped more bombs on Gaza in six days than the U.S. dropped on Afghanistan in a single year. Now, the Israeli military is ordering over one million Palestinian civilians to flee their homes. This is genocide and ethnic cleansing. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israel-is-preparing-to-commit-genocide/?ml_recipient=101931694751221578&ml_link=101931267125151566&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-09&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines
Killing spree in West Bank Tamara Nassar EI 13/10/2023
Israeli settlers and soldiers have killed at least 35 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry. At least five of those were killed by settlers, the UN monitoring group OCHA reported, and at least seven were children. Israeli forces have injured hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them children.
The Israeli authorities are also imposing severe movement restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/settlers-go-killing-spree-west-bank
An international law of double standards? Lawrence Davidson RI & A 14/10/2023
. . . if you are the victim of… state violence you have no right of self-defence, and certainly no right to replicate your oppressors’ inhuman tactics. If you attempt it, your actions become terrorism. It suggests an unspoken international law of double standards. . . the policy of persecution practised by Israel towards the Palestinians (putting the people of Gaza “on a diet” of rapid impoverishment) can also be readily interpreted as terrorism (or, at least, premeditated torture). In this way, it can be argued, the Israelis set the standard for the Palestinians’ violent reaction. Read more: https://www.redressonline.com/2023/10/israel-the-west-and-gaza-an-international-law-of-double-standards/
How and why Israel’s disinformation campaign is enabling its massacre in Gaza Abdaljawad Omar M/Weiss 13/10/2023
Raz Segal Israeli historian, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University says it is "A Textbook Case of Genocide: Israel has been explicit about what it’s carrying out in Gaza. Why isn’t the world listening?”
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/16/raz_segal_textbook_case_of_genocide
Mazin Qumsiyeh 17/10/2023
Israel’s spin about hospital massacre quickly comes apart Ali Abunimah EI 17/10/2023
Israel may kill “600,000 civilians,” says Israeli ambassador Asa Winstanley EI 19/10/2023 Israel could kill as many as “600,000 civilians” in Gaza, the entity’s ambassador to the UK suggested on Tuesday. In a blood-curdling TV interview with celebrity presenter Piers Morgan, Tzipi Hotovely compared Israel’s attacks on Gaza to Britain’s attacks against German civilians during World War II. “There were many, many civilians [that] got attacked from your attacks on German cities,” she said. “Dresden was a symbol, but you attacked Hamburg, you attacked other cities, and altogether it was over 600,000 civilian Germans that got killed.” Hotovley continued by comparing the Palestinians to the Nazis: “Was it worth it in order to defeat Nazi Germany? And the answer was yes.” Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israel-may-kill-600000-civilians-says-ambassador
Massacre in West Bank refugee camp Tamara Nassar EI 20/10/2023
Israeli forces continued to besiege Nur Shams well into Thursday evening, while cutting off water and electricity. Israeli military bulldozers raided the camp, destroyed sections of the main street and restricted movement. Israeli soldiers ransacked homes and vandalized public and private property. Israeli forces fired ground and air strikes and bulldozed sections of the road “reportedly to neutralize explosives planted in the ground,” the UN monitoring group OCHA said. On Thursday evening, Israeli forces bombed a house in the camp, Wafa news agency reported. “The damage to infrastructure and homes is yet to be assessed,” OCHA added. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-commits-massacre-west-bank-refugee-camp
Amnesty International Report:20/10/2023 Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza
30% of Gaza's buildings are damaged. Before this genocidal onslaught and
even under the blockade and siege with most supplies forbidden, 500 trucks
came into Gaza EVERYDAY. Now The criminal Biden administration boasts of
allowing 20 trucks for 2.3 million starving, thirsty people.
Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, Jerusalem IDs, face harassment, persecution Yumna Patel M/weiss 21/10/2023 Palestinian Citizens of Israel and residents of occupied Jerusalem are being targeted over their social media activity. Any expressions of Palestinian identity, or support for Gaza, is getting people fired from their jobs, expelled from universities, arrested, and doxxed online by right-wing Israeli groups. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/in-witch-hunt-palestinians-with-israeli-citizenship-jerusalem-ids-face-harassment-persecution-amidst-gaza-war/?ml_recipient=102754731141629642&ml_link=102754727981221626&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-14&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+22+-+Manual
War against Palestinian prisoners Basil Farraj M/weiss 21/10/2023
Starting on October 7, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) closed all prison sections, confiscated television sets from prisoners, cut off electricity for all electrical devices, restricted access to water, transferred and isolated prisoners, closed the prisons’ canteen, and limited prisoners’ access to food. The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Prisoners Affairs warned of a starvation campaign inside prisons. The IPS has also banned family visits and imposed severe restrictions on lawyers’ communication with prisoners. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israel-steps-up-its-war-against-palestinian-prisoners/?ml_recipient=102754731141629642&ml_link=102754728010581767&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-14&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+22+-+Manual
Reports indicate Israeli forces responsible for Israeli civilian and military deaths Anon M/weiss 22/10/23
Many details of what transpired on October 7 continue to be shrouded in mystery, including how the 1,200 [figure is updated although, apparently, only the names of c900 victims have been made available] Israelis who died were killed. A growing number of reports indicate the Israeli military was responsible for civilian and military deaths.
Complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza – a blueprint Jonathan Ofir M/Weiss 23/10/25
An Israeli think tank with ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a report on October 17 promoting the "unique and rare opportunity" for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.” Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israeli-think-tank-lays-out-a-blueprint-for-the-complete-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/?ml_recipient=102935046514541704&ml_link=102935042575041982&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-15&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+24+-+Manual
Israel furious that elderly captive spoke of humane treatment by Hamas Ali Abunimah EI 24/10/2023 Israeli propaganda officials are reportedly upset because elderly Israeli woman Yocheved Lifshitz said that she was treated well while she was detained by Hamas in Gaza over the last two weeks. “I’m hearing criticism from sources dealing with Israeli hasbara in recent days. The fact that they allowed Yocheved Lifshitz to make a statement on a live broadcast was a mistake,” Amichai Stein, a journalist with Israel’s state broadcaster Kan, tweeted on Tuesday. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-furious-elderly-captive-spoke-humane-treatment-hamas
Drone kills three children in Jenin Tamara Nassar EI 26/10/2023
“We are aggressive,” Brigadier General Avi Bluth, head of Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, added. “We are going to see more offensive operations to cleanse terrorist nests like what was done in the Nur Shams refugee camp,” he added, referring to a massacre in the refugee camp located in the northern occupied West Bank where US-supplied Israeli Apache helicopters killed 10 Palestinians, including four children. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israeli-drone-missile-kills-three-children-jenin
A day at Haifa Court Yoav Haifawi M/Weiss 25/10/2023
Some of my friends who have posted verses from the Koran on their Facebook pages during these difficult days have found themselves behind bars, so I thought that maybe, in the Jewish state, posting a verse from the Bible would be safer. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/a-day-at-the-haifa-court/?ml_recipient=103115485732668619&ml_link=103115482312213615&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-15&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+26+-+Manual
Women in Gaza are facing a healthcare catastrophe Afaf Alnajjar M/weiss 25/10/2023 As the violence escalates during the current genocide, the essential healthcare needs of women are facing an extreme crisis. . . Here are some of the stories of the healthcare plight faced by women, expectant mothers, and female healthcare professionals in Gaza during the ongoing 19 days of bombing. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/women-in-gaza-are-facing-a-healthcare-catastrophe-under-israeli-bombardment/?ml_recipient=103115485732668619&ml_link=103115482338428019&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-15&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+26+-+Manual
Israel - a full-scale dictatorship Yoav Haifawi M/weiss 26/10/2023
One woman came to sit near me and took the first banner, still half-rolled. A second one half-appeared: “Stop the Fire Now!” in Hebrew. It was only seconds before the two of us were violently carried away by police. A third man who shouted “why are you doing this?” was also violently detained. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israel-is-now-a-full-scale-dictatorship/?ml_recipient=103203817507522456&ml_link=103203814406883057&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-15&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+27+-+Manual
Israel inflicts new hell on Gaza MC Murphy EI 29/10/23 Palestinians in Gaza, now cut off from communication with the rest of the world, were enduring another night of hell late Saturday as Israel intensified its bombardments across the territory over the last day. Israel continued to intensively bomb the northern and eastern areas of the Gaza Strip late Saturday, particularly in Beit Hanoun, while Palestinian resistance continued to fire rockets towards Israel, reaching as far as Tel Aviv and Ashkelon. The United Nations said on Saturday evening that “fragmented information available indicates that the past 24 hours … have witnessed the most intense Israeli airstrikhttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-inflicts-new-hell-gaza-heaviest-bombing-yetes and artillery shelling” since the military campaign began on 7 October. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-inflicts-new-hell-gaza-heaviest-bombing-yet
US Jewish Studies’ scholars speak out Open Letter M/Weiss 29/10/2023
With the U.S. government, universities and media publications in the U.S censoring the most urgent calls against perpetuation of crimes against humanity, many claiming that such censorship shows support for the safety of Jews worldwide, Jewish Studies’ institutions must demonstrate that de-escalation is the only ethical path forward. Many of us have spent our academic careers fearful of the consequences we may face for criticizing the Israeli state and Zionism. The bloodshed over the last 21 days – all entirely preventable – is a direct consequence of our silence. We must change. We must do better. Never again must mean never again for anyone. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/jewish-studies-scholars-say-jewish-studies-must-demand-a-ceasefire/?ml_recipient=103480706088306277&ml_link=103480702349084317&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-16&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Oct+30+-+Manual
Israel’s lies and deception Stuart Littlewood R Info & Analysis 30/10/2023
You cannot behave like psychopaths and disguise it forever. You cannot trample other peoples’ rights and freedoms, and destroy their property, and expect to be loved. You cannot keep your jackboot on your neighbour’s neck for 75 years and expect to call yourself civilised and in tune with Western values. You cannot steal his lands, water and livelihood at gunpoint and claim the moral high ground.
And you certainly cannot create a wholesome brand image from bullshit. Read more: https://www.redressonline.com/2023/10/israels-lies-and-deception-how-they-bamboozle-the-west-into-support/
An open letter to Israelis from Israelis: we deserve the truth Anon M/Weiss Open Letter 31/10/23 We know what the purpose of this propaganda is. More than 8,500 indigenous Palestinian children, women, and men have been exterminated – and the number rises as we write. Many are trapped under the rubble of their homes, dying slowly. Others are facing thirst, starvation, and infectious diseases. At the same time, senior Israeli figures, even our president, keep howling that there are ‘no innocent civilians’ in Gaza. Read more: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/an-open-letter-to-israelis-from-israelis-we-deserve-the-truth-about-october-7/?ml_recipient=103661585049846924&ml_link=103661581788776372&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-11-16&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+-+Nov+1+-+Manual
Hugh Humphries
Secretary
Scottish Friends of Palestine 0141 637 8046 info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org
