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Palestinian Red Crescent calls for pressure on Israel over fate of missing staff, child

Press TV – February 8, 2024

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in the Gaza Strip has called on the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli regime to reveal the fate of two of its staff and a six-year-old Palestinian girl who have been missing for a week.

PRCS made the appeal in a social media post on Thursday, 122 hours after the disappearance of their staff members Youssef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoon as well as Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City.

“We urgently appeal to the international community to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Hind and the PRCS team,” the group said.

On January 29, Hind was traveling in a car with her uncle Bahsar Hamada, his wife and their four children, fleeing the brutal bombardment by the Israeli regime.

On their way, Hamada’s car was stopped by the Israeli military. The stoppage was followed by a shower of bullets at Hamada’s car, which killed him, his wife and three of their children on the spot.

Layan Hamada, 15, survived with her cousin Hind. Layan was shot dead as she was speaking on the phone with the PRCS crew while Hind was still trapped inside the vehicle.

Around 6 pm local time, the PRCS team reached the area to rescue Hind who as per the last update remained trapped alone in a car with the dead bodies of her uncle, aunt and cousins scattered around her.

The PRCS team had informed and coordinated with the Israeli authorities before dispatching an ambulance to the location but the NGO lost all contact with its crew after the team went to retrieve the girl.

Since then, demands for answers have been mounting over the fate of Hind and the PRCS medical workers.

Hind’s mother, Wisam, has also issued appeals to international rights organizations for help in finding out what happened to her daughter.

Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 27,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 67,000 others.

February 8, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Albanese: Israel is still practicing ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem

Palestinian Information Center – February 8, 2024

GAZA – The United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said on Wednesday that Israel has never respected the international law and has been allowed to violate it since 1967. It is still carrying out acts of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The famine suffered by the residents of the Gaza Strip is unparalleled in the whole world, she said, stressing the necessity of taking all required measures to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Albanese said, in a press statement, “the more aid and ceasefire are delayed, the greater the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip will be.”

She accused Israel of ignoring the International Court of Justice’s ruling by killing more civilians everyday in Gaza, calling on world countries to put pressure on Israel by halting mutual commercial trades.

Albanese said she was shocked to know that member states of the International Court have recently attacked UNRWA, noting that the international community is capable of stopping the ongoing massacres carried out by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation’s ongoing aggression on the blockaded Gaza Strip has so far led to the martyrdom of 27,708 people and the injury of 67,147 others, in addition to the enforced displacement of more than 85 percent (about 1.9 million people) of the Strip’s population, according to official authorities and international bodies and organizations.

February 8, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Washington inching closer to a war with Iran

By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – 08.02.2024 

An Iran-US war would be an ideal scenario for Israel. On the one hand, Israel is systematically killing and driving the Palestinians out of their homes, which is allowing it to impose the so-called one-state solution. In this context, if the US plunges into a war with Iran and can inflict a lot of military and economic damage on Israel’s biggest enemy state in the region, that is the best possible scenario for Israel’s future standing in this region. On the one hand, US military engagement in the ongoing war will increase, and on the other hand, a US war on Iran might limit the extent to which Tehran can provide support to Hamas against Israel. This war is no longer a distant possibility, especially after the recent strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and wounded at least 34 others. Biden, who immediately accused the Iran-backed militia known as The Islamic Resistance based in Syria and Iraq, has vowed to retaliate. The target is Iran, even though Iran has officially denied supporting this group for striking the US. Nonetheless, US counterstrikes are going to happen, especially because Washington is already striking the Houthis in Yemen to control the Red Sea.

With these upcoming strikes, the US will be involved in at least three fronts, i.e., against Hamas, against the Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance. (This is in addition to the US involvement in Ukraine against Russia.) With deepening US involvement in the Middle East and against Iran, Washington is directly stepping into a sort of quagmire that it took 20 years to get out of in Afghanistan.

A war in the Middle East will not be too much different from the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although a direct war with Iran would also mean going against a force that is much more organized, better equipped, and bigger than Saddam Hussain’s Iraqi army or the Taliban in Afghanistan. There are more than 45,000 US troops on the ground throughout the Middle East. There are another 15,000 personnel on board two aircraft carrier groups. If the US starts a war, Iran does have the capability to hit these targets, or the so-called Iran-backed groups can do the same.

The recent attack in Jordan has after all shown that the US air defense is far from impenetrable. This war, in this sense, could inflict a lot more damage to the US military forces than did the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Still, many people in the US want Washington to tackle not just the so-called Iran-backed militias, but Iran itself. A report in the NATO-backed Atlantic Council says,

“In recent weeks, Iran has waged a shadow war against the United States and its interests in the Middle East, and now three US service personnel are dead and dozens more injured … Washington could sink the Iranian navy, like then-President Ronald Reagan did in the 1980s. It could strike Iranian naval bases. It could target the Iranian leadership, following in the footsteps of then President Donald Trump’s killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. It could seize this opportunity to degrade Iran’s nuclear and missile program—which must be addressed soon regardless”.

Wesley Clark, a retired general who was once NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, wrote on X that “The US should stop saying, ‘We don’t want to escalate.’ This invites them to attack us. Stop calling our strikes ‘retaliation’. This is reactive. Take out their capabilities and strike hard at the source: Iran.” From within the US political class, Senator Tom Cotton (Republican), known for his staunch criticism of the Biden administration’s Iran policy, insisted that the deaths of the three US troops warranted a “devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East”.

With the Biden administration also fanning such ideas out, it means that targeting Iran will become an issue that may have bi-partisan support in the US. Within the US political system, if an issue has bi-partisan support, it tends to minimize the political risk for the given President. In other words, if the Republicans want Biden to retaliate against Iran, it means that they will not be able to criticize him for starting another war. It was the Trump administration that targeted Iran much more directly when it killed Sulemani in Iraq than the Biden administration has done in the past three years.

This is on top of the fact that a growing political opinion in the US points to the inability, or unwillingness, of Washington to hit Iran directly, i.e., inside Iran. This, some hawks have argued, encourages Iran to adopt an aggressive policy vis-à-vis the US, although it does not explain at all why Iran, a much smaller political and economic power than the US, would create such situations that might throw its country into a long turmoil.

Although the Biden administration is more likely to hit the so-called Iran-backed groups in the first round of counterstrikes, there is little gainsaying that this will add to the difficulty of managing the Middle East in a way that minimizes the possibility of war. It will only make a direct war much more possible.

The only geopolitical deterrent the US might consider seriously is whether or not it will have the support of the Middle Eastern states themselves against Iran, for a wider war in the region would jeopardize these states too in the sense that it will cause the conflict to spread and major middle eastern states, such as Saudi Arabia, are in the middle of massive modernization projects. A wider war in the region would disrupt this process, which is why they are more likely to oppose a US bid to wage a direct war. At the same time, given Israel’s position, it is likely to continue to push for, or create conditions, for a war against Iran to accomplish its key objectives, i.e., developing a Greater Israel and eliminating the main regional opposition to it.

Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research-analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs.

February 8, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas response to proposed ceasefire has embarrassed Netanyahu

By Motasem A Dalloul | MEMO | February 7, 2024

The Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, has handed over its response to the initial ceasefire deal recommended by a Qatari, Egyptian, French, Israeli and American summit held in Paris last week.

Media reports stated that the proposed deal stipulated a temporary truce for a certain time, during which Hamas, which also represents other Palestinian resistance factions, releases Israeli prisoners in Gaza, in return for a generous flow of humanitarian aid and release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners enduring inhumane conditions in Israeli jails.

Initially, Hamas set its conditions on the deal and said it would study it and consult other factions before giving its final response.

Hamas stressed that it needed a comprehensive cessation of Israeli aggression and a complete withdrawal of the Occupation Forces from Gaza, providing shelter for the displaced people, reconstruction and lifting the 18-year-old Israeli siege and carrying out a serious prisoner exchange.

Israel, the US and others had waited for the response from the Palestinian factions in order to finalise the sought ceasefire deal.

During this time, when Hamas was studying and consulting fellow factions, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, blamed the Palestinian Movement for continuous massacres his country’s army committed against the Palestinians.

At the same time, Netanyahu told families of the Israeli prisoners and other Israeli people and politicians who called for him to stop the war and surrender to Hamas — agree to a prisoner swap — that the ball was in Hamas’s court.

Finally, Hamas handed over its detailed response. It presented a three-stage-deal, with each stage lasting 45 days, starting with the first stage, from cessation of Israel aggression, withdrawal of Israeli Occupation Forces from populated areas, release of batches of prisoners, rebuilding hospitals and important civilian infrastructure, up to the daily entry of 500 trucks of the needed humanitarian aid and fuel.

Hamas stressed, in the second stage, on full cessation of aggression and complete withdrawal of the Israeli Occupation Forces from Gaza, the release of the remaining prisoners, the reconstruction of homes, retention of the flow of humanitarian aid and fuel, as well as guaranteeing unhindered access to the Rafah Crossing for fuel, treatment and other purposes.

The Palestinian Movement stated that the third stage stipulates complete ceasefire, exchange of prisoners’ bodies, accepting a three-year-timetable for the complete reconstruction of Gaza, reassurance of the resumption of all activities of UNRWA and agreeing on a concrete plan for a Palestine State.

Israeli media, including Kan public broadcaster reported that Netanyahu had accepted a potential ceasefire between the stages of the deal without even referring to his war cabinet. He decided to talk to the press on Wednesday. Nothing has yet emerged about his intentions, but analysts and commentators had their say.

Israeli journalist, Moshe Yair, commented: “Hamas embarrassed Netanyahu. It presented a clever response that did not show full acceptance or full objection of the deal. At the same time, it returned the ball to Netanyahu’s court, putting forth its own demands.”

Muna Omari, an Arab-Israeli journalist, said: “Whether it was positive or negative, Netanyahu’s response [Hamas reply] would infuriate the Israelis. “  She stated that, if he accepted Hamas’s demands, he would anger his extremist allies, and if he rejected them, he would anger the Liberals, families of the prisoners, the wounded soldiers, the deep state and the economy.

Even his genocide sponsors, the American administration, put forth several measures in front of him to push him to give up his arrogance. The US administration expressed it optimism about Hamas’s reply; however, it said a deal could be reached in two weeks. The US Congress did not approve the $17 billion aid package to Israel.

The ICJ has changed its head and assigned an Arab Lebanese judge, and Saudi Arabia reiterated its firm stance that there would not be normalisation of ties except after cessation of the aggression on Gaza and accepting the creation of a Palestinian State.

Following Hamas’s reply, Netanyahu has become surrounded by nightmarish and embarrassing scenarios from which he must choose one, and every one of them would cause him a problem.

February 7, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , | Leave a comment

Palestinian Information Center director Gharabli martyred in Israeli strike

Palestinian Information Center | February 7, 2024

GAZA – The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) has mourned the tragic loss of its office director in Gaza, Dr. Rizq al-Gharabli, who was martyred on Tuesday during relentless Israeli attacks on Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Gharabli’s death brings to 123 the number of Palestinian journalists who have been martyred since the Israeli occupation state started its genocidal war on Gaza.

The Government Media Office announced yesterday the martyrdom of Dr. Gharabli in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Khan Yunis.

Last Monday, the International Federation of Journalists organized a rally outside the European Union headquarters in Brussels in solidarity with the journalists in Gaza and in protest at the European silence on Israel’s crimes against civilians, especially journalists.

The participants in the protest carried placards and banners that said “Freedom for Palestinian journalists,” “Israel, stop killing journalists in Gaza” and “Journalists in Gaza, we are with you.”

February 7, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

Saudi Arabia names conditions for Israel deal

RT | February 7, 2024

Saudi Arabia will not establish formal ties with Israel until it recognizes an independent Palestinian state and ceases its “aggression” against Gaza, the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh has said.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry revealed it had informed the US “that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and all Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip.”

“The Kingdom reiterates its call to the permanent members of the UN Security Council… to expedite the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the ministry continued, declaring that this would help ensure “that a comprehensive and just peace is achieved for all.”

The statement did not specify whether Israel must also recognize a Palestinian state in order for a deal with Saudi Arabia to go ahead.

While the US is reportedly considering whether to recognize Palestinian statehood, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to entertain the idea. Instead, he has insisted on “full Israeli security control over the entire area west of Jordan,” a description that includes land considered Palestinian under the 1967 borders.

The term “1967 borders” refers to Israel’s frontiers as they stood before the Six-Day War. A return to these lines would see Gaza expand, while Israel would relinquish its claims to the West Bank, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem, and would withdraw its security forces and settlers from these areas.

The Saudi statement came a day after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that talks on a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel were “ongoing,” and that the US had received “positive feedback from both sides.”

Saudi Arabia did not join its neighbors, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, in recognizing Israel under the Abraham Accords, brokered by former US President Donald Trump in 2020.

Riyadh and West Jerusalem were on the cusp of a deal before the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October, with Washington offering the Saudis a defense pact with the US in exchange for recognizing the Jewish state. However, Saudi officials suspended negotiations in response to Israel’s bombing of Gaza, and reports at the time suggested that the kingdom would insist that any future deal include significant concessions to the Palestinians from the Israeli side.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday. A readout of the meeting from the US State Department made no mention of an independent Palestinian state. Instead, it said the pair had discussed the need for “an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

February 7, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Col. Douglas MacGregor on Iran

IfAmericansKnew | February 5, 2024

Colonel Douglas MacGregor is a 28-year veteran of the US Army who previously served as Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Defense. During this interview with Redacted’s Clayton Morris, he explains that Iran did not perpetrate the recent attack that killed three American servicemen and he describes the long effort to get the US to attack Iran on behalf of Israel. Colonel McGregor explains that such an attack would be disastrous on every level.

This excerpt is from a longer, excellent interview that can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-Ktsau_iM (If Americans knew added the image of the New York Times advertisement and the photos of Gaza.)

Israel and Israel partisans embedded in the US government previously pushed the US into the disastrous Iraq War. See https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-loyalists-embedded-in-u-s-government-pushed-us-into-iraq-war/ and https://israelpalestinenews.org/pentagon-officer-described-how-israelists-manufactured-anti-iraq-disinfo-that-led-to-war/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjzD5zTLepc

This is not the first time the US has been used to deliver oil to Israel. See the account by Gary Vogler, a former US Army officer who served as a senior oil consultant for US Forces in Iraq. See https://israelpalestinenews.org/oil-for-israel-the-truth-about-the-iraq-war-15-years-later/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK-LFOpVowg

For more information on israel-Palestine go to https://ifamericansknew.org/

February 7, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gaza’s resistance groups announce response to 2nd truce proposal

Press TV – February 6, 2024

Resistance movements in the Gaza Strip, which has endured some four months of a genocidal Israeli war, have announced their response to a proposal for a second truce in the brutal military onslaught.

On Tuesday, the movements responded to the proposal that had been hammered out among Egypt, Qatar, the US, and the Israeli regime during talks in Paris late last month.

The proposal reportedly features three phases, the first of which envisages release of Israeli civilians in exchange for Palestinian prisoners throughout some six weeks. Upon potential success, this would lead to two more phases of swap that would include male Israeli troops.

Responding to the proposal, however, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said in a statement that any agreement had to feature a “comprehensive and complete ceasefire.” Such a deal also had to ensure implementation of relief operations, provision of shelter for the displaced Gazans, enablement of the territory’s reconstruction, lifting of a siege that the Israeli regime has been simultaneously enforcing against the coastal sliver, and completion of prisoner exchange, the group added.

Hamas, meanwhile, vowed that Gaza’s resistance groups would “continue to defend our people, on the path to ending the [Israeli] occupation, and achieving their (the Palestinian people’s) legitimate national rights to their land and sanctities.”

Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas’ official, similarly affirmed that the group sought “a comprehensive ceasefire.” “We will not move to another phase until our goals and demands are achieved,” he said, adding, “Our people do not want a truce only to go back to their homes and then be bombed by the occupation.”

Mohammed al-Hindi, deputy secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas’ fellow Gaza-based resistance group, likewise, laid emphasis on the need for the Israeli aggression to stop, the regime’s forces to withdraw from the territory, and efforts to be made towards enabling reconstruction of the war-hit coastal sliver.

“Our response to the framework agreement was in essence consistent with our constants, with minor modifications to the wording,” he said.

Ihsan Ataya, member of the Islamic Jihad’s Political Bureau, separately asserted that any agreement had to feature opening of Gaza’s crossings to humanitarian aid.

He also noted that the Israeli regime and the United States — Tel Aviv’s biggest supporter — had realized that they could not determine Gaza’s future, and that “nothing can change politically in Gaza.”

Around 27,600 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and adolescents, have died in the war that the Israeli regime began waging last October following Operation al-Aqsa Storm by the resistance movements, during which hundreds were taken captive.

A first truce took effect between the two sides last November, which saw the release of 105 Israeli captives held in Gaza and 240 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israeli regime. The deal also allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza, but the aid supplies were far below what was needed amid the all-out Israeli siege.

February 6, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

Euro-Med: Detainees kidnaped from Gaza faced grave Israeli violations

Palestine Information Center – February 6, 2024

GENEVA – New testimonies received by Euro-Med Human Right Monitor from recently released Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip, including women and children, have revealed their exposure to torture and ill-treatment by the Israeli occupation army.

Euro-Med Monitor cited revelations of crimes such as forced nudity, sexual harassment, and threats of sexual torture, and called for urgent international action to stop these violations.

“Testimonies from a group of recently released detainees who spent varying lengths of time in Israeli jails and detention centers were provided to the Euro-Med Monitor team. These individuals confirmed that they were subjected to severe beatings, dog attacks, strip searches, and denial of food and bathroom access, among other cruel practices that amount to torture.”

The most disturbing testimonies Euro-Med received concern female detainees who were directly sexually harassed.

Euro-Med quoted those female detainees, who preferred to remain unidentified due to safety concerns, as saying that “Israeli soldiers had harassed them by touching their genitals as well as making them remove their headscarves.”

Additionally, Euro-Med confirmed that “the soldiers forced the female detainees and their families into providing information about others by threatening to indecently assault and even rape them.”

A 70-year-old man who requested anonymity spoke with a Euro-Med team as well. “[Israeli soldiers] took me from my house in the neighborhood of Al-Amal in Khan Yunis,” the man, identified only as “M.N,” stated. “I told them that I was sick and could not move, but they did not care. They forced me to take off my clothes. They took me to a demolished house; I had the impression that I was used as a human shield.”

M.N. explained that the Israeli soldiers made more arrests later on and “led us to a detention facility that was nothing more than an iron cage for severe torture”. He spent 10 days confined to the prison.

“We were subjected to daily insults and beatings,” M.N. added. “We went four days without drinking [anything]. They poured water on the ground in front of us as a form of torture. We were made to sit on our knees, given little food, and only allowed to use the restroom once.”

“They asked us to evacuate, so I left with my family west of Khan Yunis,” reported another man, identified only as “K.H.N.” due to safety concerns. “[Israeli soldiers] arrested me at the checkpoint and forced me to take off my clothes. I was severely beaten. Blankets soaked with water were draped over us. We did not drink any water and were abnormally cold.”

K.H.N. stated that the Israeli army “later transferred us to another place, where we were subjected to another form of torture. Every new place had a unique method of torture. I was struck in the head by an officer, who continued to hit me after I complained.” The severe cold prevented him from falling asleep, he told Euro-Med.

“They arrested me from Beit Lahia, and forced me to completely undress,” a third man, identified as “M.W.”, told Euro-Med. “They detained me in an open area and severely beat me; I felt their hands scour my body. After severely beating me with rugs and rifle butts, they hung me by my legs. I was exposed to severe beatings for 4 to 6 hours [per day].”

He added: “They threatened to rape my family, and asked for information that I did not know. They forced us to insult certain factions and personalities, to support Israel, and to say that the dog that was attacking us was ‘a crown on our heads.’”

“They arrested me at the checkpoint on Salah al-Din Road,” a woman, identified as “G” told Euro-Med. “They asked me to head to a sand berm, where they blindfolded me, searched me with their hands, and asked me about Hamas and the tunnels.”

“Then they moved me to an open area, then [transferred] me to a detention center, where I was forced to take off my clothes,” G said further. “They provided me with nothing but [house clothes] and no underwear.”

The woman told Euro-Med that she was questioned multiple times while in custody. “Every time I was stripped nude, with the female soldiers putting their hands on me, while male soldiers occasionally made rude comments, harsh insults that I cannot [repeat], and rape threats.”

According to Euro-Med, a recent report by Israel’s own media on the detention center housing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip shows that Israel practices systematic torture, in violation of human rights agreements that were explicitly designed and implemented to prevent torture. The report shows detainees being shackled and forced to sit on the ground in iron animal-like cages — in accordance to Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant’s October 2023 remarks that the Palestinians in Gaza are “human animals.”

Euro-Med accused the Israeli occupation forces of forcibly hiding Palestinian detainees and subjecting them to brutal violence and even severe torture from the very first moment of their arrest right up until the moment of release.

Euro-Med also accused the Israeli occupation authority of refusing requests from multiple human rights groups, including Israeli ones, seeking information about Gazan detainees.

“Detainees from the Gaza Strip are being held in newly-established Israeli army detention facilities scattered throughout the Negev and Jerusalem, where they endure severe abuse, torture, and starvation,” Euro-Med said.

Euro-Med pointed out that the number of detainees from Gaza is not known accurately. “The Israeli army recently claimed that there are 2,300 detainees in Gaza; however, estimates based on the testimonies of those released suggest that the actual number of detainees is much higher. One detainee said that Israeli officers had personally informed them that there are thousands of Gazan detainees.”

“Israel’s Sde Teman army camp, located between Beersheba and Gaza, has been turned into a Guantánamo-like prison,” Euro-Med said. “Detainees there are held in extreme conditions akin to open-air chicken cages, without access to food or drink for long periods of time.

Euro-Med highlighted testimonies it had received about the death of two detainees, one of them with an amputated foot, inside the Sde Teman camp.

Euro-Med called on Israel “to promptly reveal the names, whereabouts, and fate of all forcibly disappeared detainees, and to immediately stop its policy of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees.”

Euro-Med emphasized that “Israel’s ruthless assaults on Palestinian detainees, which violate their dignity and purposefully cause them great pain and suffering, are tantamount to crimes against humanity and/or torture, which fall under the purview of war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

Euro-Med stated that “these breaches are related to Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023. Specifically, the killing of Palestinian detainees inside detention centers is considered to be a crime of premeditated murder and an extrajudicial execution. This type of killing is prohibited by international law, especially international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, which considers intentionally killing civilians a war crime, according to the Rome Statute.”

“International law also prohibits arbitrary arrest and unlawful imprisonment, and considers them to be war crimes,” Euro-Med noted. “International law forbids detaining and arresting someone and depriving them of their freedom by failing to provide any information about their whereabouts or fate in an effort to deny them legal protection for an extended period of time. According to the Rome Statute, enforced disappearance is considered a crime against humanity.”

The Geneva-based rights group called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to shoulder its responsibilities and work on confirming and exposing the detention conditions of Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention camps and jails.

Euro-Med also called on the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to launch an urgent and impartial investigation into Israel’s egregious violations in Gaza. “This investigation is needed to probe the Israeli army’s liquidation of Palestinian civilians after their arrest in different areas of the Gaza Strip, to hold those responsible accountable, and to provide justice to all survivors as well as the families of victims.”

February 6, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

At least 135 cases of Israeli crimes against journalists in Palestine were recorded in January – Journalists Syndicate

WAFA | February 5, 2024

RAMALLAH – At least 135 crimes, assaults and violations committed by the Israeli occupation against journalism in Palestine were recorded in January, the foremost of which was the killing of 14 journalists, including eight who were killed by direct missile and bullet attacks against their homes and four others who were killed while on the job, according to the monthly report issued by the Freedom Committee at the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

The report stressed that the Israeli attacks on journalists, including the intentional targeting of their homes and the killing of their families, continued unabated. According to the report, 12 inhabited houses were targeted, which led to the killing of dozens of journalists’ family members.

The report affirmed the Israeli occupation soldiers’ lawless measures against journalists in the West Bank, adding that 50 cases of attacks against journalists were recorded, including detaining press crews, preventing them from doing their job and targeting them with live bullets.

The report stressed that journalists are faced with violence and intimidation, recording at least 26 incidents in which four journalists were brutally injured by bullets and missile shrapnel, in addition to four others who sustained cuts and bruises in Israeli attacks.

The report recorded four cases of beatings, eight injuries by tear gas and sound bombs and seven cases of destruction and seizure of equipment. In addition, the Israeli occupation detained two journalists and stormed press institutions and the homes of three journalists. One journalist was also subjected to prosecution.

The report also cited the complete interruption of communication and internet services for 14 days last month as a result of the Israeli direct targeting of telecommunications towers in Gaza. Several technical staff were killed by the Israeli occupation while attempting to fix the damage, it added.

The commission said that 116 journalists and media workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on October 7.

At least 35 journalists remain behind Israeli bars under harsh conditions that deny them the most basic rights of prisoners enshrined in international laws and conventions, according to the report.

The report added that the fate of several journalists remains unknown after losing all contact with them on October 7.

February 6, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

CNN Staffers Say Network Has ‘Systemic and Institutional Bias Toward Israel’

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | February 5, 2024

Several employees of CNN spoke out against the outlet’s bias towards Israel in its reporting on the war on Gaza. Other US corporate media outlets have shown significant favoritism toward Tel Aviv.

The Guardian reports speaking with six staffers from different newsrooms who said that there is growing backlash against the leadership’s pro-Israel slant. “The majority of news since the war began, regardless of how accurate the initial reporting, has been skewed by a systemic and institutional bias within the network toward Israel,” said one CNN staffer. “Ultimately, CNN’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war amounts to journalistic malpractice.”

“There’s a lot of internal strife and dissent. Some people are looking to get out,” the CNN staffer explained. “Senior staffers who disagree with the status quo are butting heads with the executives giving orders, questioning how we can effectively tell the story with such restrictive directives in place.”

A staffer speaking with the Guardian explained how systemic censorship occurs. “Many have been pushing for more content from Gaza to be alerted and aired.” The source continued, “By the time these reports go through Jerusalem and make it to TV or the homepage, critical changes – from the introduction of imprecise language to an ignorance of crucial stories – ensure that nearly every report, no matter how damning, relieves Israel of wrongdoing.”

The CNN employees say the bias starts at the top, with CEO Mark Thompson. The Guardian obtained emails and members that backed up the accusations made by the CNN staff members. The employees say the slant is causing a backlash.

In one memo obtained by the Guardian, Thompson gave orders that all stories mentioning the atrocities committed by the Israelis in Gaza must mention the war is only occurring because of the Hamas attack on October 7.

The memo reads, “We must continue always to remind our audiences of the immediate cause of this current conflict, namely the Hamas attack and mass murder and kidnap of civilians.” One staffer confirmed that the memo was interpreted “as an instruction that no matter what the Israelis do, Hamas is ultimately to blame.”

CNN’s bias towards Tel Aviv is matched by the Washington Post and New York Times. Writing at FAIR, Julie Hollar explains,” At the New York Times and Washington Post, opinion editors have skewed the Gaza debate toward an Israel-centered perspective, dominated by men and, among guest writers, government officials.”

“While both papers did include a few strong pro-Palestinian voices—their pages leaned heavily toward a conversation dominated by Israeli interests and concerns.” She continued, “That was due in large part due to their stables of regular columnists, who tend to write from a perspective aligned with Israel. As a result, the viewpoints readers were most likely to encounter on the opinion pages of the two papers were sympathetic to, but not necessarily uncritical of, Israel.”

February 5, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | , , , | Leave a comment

University professor sacked for anti-Zionist views wins discrimination case

Press TV – February 5, 2024

A sociology professor sacked by the University of Bristol over his anti-Zionist comments has won a landmark decision by an employment tribunal, which decided that he was discriminated against because of his beliefs.

In its judgment on Monday, the Bristol employment tribunal ruled that Professor David Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as a philosophical belief, which are protected under the Equality Act 2010.

It added that Miller was subject to direct discrimination because of his anti-Zionist beliefs.

Rahman Lowe Solicitors, who represented Miller at court, called the judgement a significant triumph, establishing that anti-Zionist beliefs are legally protected in the workplace.

“Prof. Miller successfully claimed discrimination based on his philosophical belief that Zionism is inherently racist, imperialist, and colonial, [which is] a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, alongside a finding of unfair dismissal,” a statement issued by the solicitors said.

“This judgement establishes for the first time ever that anti-Zionist beliefs are protected in the workplace,” they added.

“I am extremely pleased that the tribunal has concluded that I was unfairly and wrongfully dismissed by the University of Bristol. I am also very proud that we have managed to establish that anti-Zionist views qualify as a protected belief under the UK Equality Act,” Miller said.

Professor Miller was fired by the University of Bristol in October 2021 after he made statements about the role of the Zionist movement in promoting Islamophobia.

Following his dismissal, Miller asserted that he was subject to an organized campaign by groups and individuals opposed to his anti-Zionist views, which was aimed at getting him sacked.

He took the University of Bristol to the Employment Tribunal on the basis of unlawful discrimination for his beliefs in breach of the Equality Act 2010.

In a post on X social media platform after winning the case, Miller said, “This is not just a victory for me, but also a victory for pro-Palestine campaigners across Britain.”

“Over many years, anti-Zionists have faced harassment and censorship in Britain due to the efforts of the Israel lobby. Many people have faced disciplinary procedures and lost their jobs for manifesting their anti-Zionist beliefs,” he added.

Miller expressed hope that “this case will become a touchstone precedent in all the future battles that we face with the racist and genocidal ideology of Zionism and the movement to which it is attached.”

“This verdict is also a vindication of the approach I have taken throughout this period, which is to say that a genocidal and maximalist Zionism can only be effectively confronted by a maximalist anti-Zionism,” he noted.

February 5, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

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