Tag: palestine

The Enduring, Racist Trope of Palestinian ‘Rejectionism’

Since the beginning of the Zionist project in Palestine, large efforts have been exerted to paint all resistance to its colonial endeavors as irrational and at odds with progress and modernity. 

From the onset, Theodor Herzl, founder of political Zionism, envisioned that local Palestinian Arabs would welcome the progress brought by Zionist colonizers and greet them with open arms. Those who did not, or the “penniless” ones who could not contribute to this new society, would be “spirited” across the border.

Contrary to Herzl’s predictions, the Zionist colonial project was largely met with resistance. Rather than understanding this for what it was — the natural response of indigenous people toward colonialism — the majority of Zionist leaders dismissed this opposition as regressive and rooted in a fear of ingenuity and prosperity.

Later, Palestinian resistance would be characterized by charges of anti-Semitism and senseless bloodlust.

This deliberately manufactured dichotomy between the prosperous and civilized Settler and the regressive and rejectionist Arab standing in the way of progress set the tone for developments between Palestinians and Zionist settlers for decades to come. 

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UN Report Details Israeli War Crimes During First Months of War on Gaza

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) provides a detailed analysis of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli assault on Gaza. The report finds both sides committed war crimes but concludes there is no evidence to support the claim that Hamas engaged in mass rape during its rampage in southern Israel. The COI found evidence of Israel intentionally killing civilians and Israeli forces engaged in acts of sexual torture. 

The report’s analysis of the events on October 7 concluded Hamas intentionally targeted two dozen civilian targets, leading to hundreds of deaths. The COI found evidence that members of Hamas committed sexual assaults on Israelis, with some female bodies found undressed. 

However, the report debunks the widespread claim that top Israeli and US officials have often repeated that Hamas engaged in mass rape during its attack. “The Commission has reviewed testimonies obtained by journalists and the Israeli police concerning rape but has not been able to independently verify such allegations,” the report says. “Additionally, the Commission found some specific allegations to be false, inaccurate or contradictory with other evidence or statements and discounted these from its assessment.”

While the assertion that Hamas engaged in mass rape on October 7 has been widely discussed in the US media, the Palestinian accusations that Israeli forces have systematically engaged in horrific sexual violence have gone largely unreported. 

The COI found evidence to back the Palestinian claims that Israel is engaging in systemic sexual torture and humiliation. “Based on testimonies and verified video footage and photographs, the Commission finds that sexual violence has been perpetrated throughout the [Israeli enforced] evacuation processes.” The report continues, “Palestinians were made to watch members of their family and community strip in public and walk completely or partially undressed while subjected to sexual harassment.”

The Israeli forces inflicted sexual torture on males, according to the COI. “Males were repeatedly filmed and photographed by soldiers while subjected to forced public stripping and nudity, sexual torture and inhumane or cruel treatment,” the report found. 

The COI concluded that the Israeli forces were authorized or allowed to engage in the sexual abuse. “The Commission concludes that forced public stripping and nudity and other types of abuse by Israeli military personnel were either ordered or condoned.” It adds, “These acts were intended to humiliate and degrade the victims and the Palestinian community at large by perpetuating gender stereotypes that create a sense of shame, subordination, emasculation and inferiority.”

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Yemen strikes UK warship in response to Israel’s Nuseirat massacre

Yemen’s Armed Forces announced on 9 June several operations in the Red and Arabian Seas, including the targeting of a UK warship. 

The operations were carried out as a response to Israel’s massacre in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June, which killed nearly 300 Palestinian civilians during an operation to retrieve four living Israeli captives. 

“In response to the Zionist enemy’s crime in the Nuseirat camp yesterday … The missile force carried out a military operation targeting the British warship destroyer (Diamond) in the Red Sea with a number of ballistic missiles, and the hit was accurate,” said army spokesman Yahya Saree.

“The naval forces, missile force, and unmanned air force of the Yemeni [army] also carried out two joint military operations against two ships belonging to companies that violated the decision to ban access to the ports of occupied Palestine. They are the NORDERNEY ship, which was directly hit, causing a fire to break out, and the MSC TAVVISHI ship, in the Arabian Sea, which was directly hit,” Saree added.

“The two operations were carried out with a number of naval and ballistic missiles and drones.” 

The UK maritime security firm Ambrey reported on Sunday that a cargo transport vessel flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda was hit by a missile 83 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Aden. The British Maritime Trade Operations Authority reported on Saturday another incident on a ship 80 nautical miles southeast of Aden.

Saree’s announcement came a day after 274 Palestinians were killed and nearly 700 injured during an Israeli military operation to rescue captives in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Israeli undercover units, aided by US forces, infiltrated Nuseirat disguised as displaced civilians and using an aid truck as cover before indiscriminate bombardment wreaked havoc upon the camp 

Four prisoners were retrieved alive, and one Israeli officer was killed. The spokesman for Hamas’ Qassam Brigades said a number of Israeli captives were killed in the operation.  

As part of the naval campaign waged by the Ansarallah movement and the armed forces of Yemen’s Sanaa government in solidarity with the people and resistance in Gaza, Yemeni forces have recently expanded their operations against Israeli maritime interests to include the Mediterranean Sea.

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Israel perpetrated Nuseirat massacre to ‘block’ ceasefire deal: Hamas

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas movement’s political bureau, says Israel launched its bloody massacre and captive rescue operation in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp Saturday to block a ceasefire deal.

Speaking with Al Jazeera Arabic on 10 June about the US-proposed ceasefire deal and prospects for ending the war, Haniyeh said Israel attacked the Nuseirat camp, killing at least 274 Palestinians and retrieving four Israeli captives to block any agreement that would end the war.

Israeli forces bombed various civilian areas of Gaza from the air to create chaos and pave the way for Saturday’s operation while executing Palestinians in cold blood in their homes where no Israeli captives were present.

Haniyeh also accused the US of being a part of the attack, saying the Biden White House is “no less criminal” than the Israeli leadership.

A video posted by an Israeli soldier showed the captives being extracted by helicopter from the beach in Gaza where the US built a floating port, allegedly to deliver humanitarian aid.

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Reality Check for ‘Queers for Palestine’ Delivered Directly From Palestinian Leaders-“Homosexuals Should Be Thrown Head First From The Rooftop Of The Tallest Building”

Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against civilians, groups like “Gays for Palestine” and “Queers for Palestine” have become a vocal and visible part of pro-Hamas rallies on American college campuses and in protests in the streets of American cities.

Recently, “Queers for Palestine” blocked the exit to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, while chanting“Free, free Palestine!” and holding up banners.

And while these groups may passionately and enthusiastically yell anti-Semitic genocidal chats like “From the River to the Sea,” perhaps they should take a beat and really listen to what prominent Palestinian Islamic, political, and cultural figures really think about them.

MEMRI shared a collection of statements from Palestinian leaders, which state, in the strongest terms, that the Palestinian people “will not accept a single homosexual” on the land of Palestine and that homosexuals “should be thrown head first from the rooftop of the tallest building.”

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US Admits Role In Israeli Rescue Operation That Killed Over 200 Palestinians

The United States has denied ongoing allegations that it was militarily involved in Israel’s Saturday raid on a central Gaza Hamas stronghold which returned alive four hostages who had been kidnapped on Oct.7. 

“Well, the one thing I can say is that there were no U.S. forces, no U.S. boots on the ground involved in this operation. We did not participate militarily in this operation,” US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan said in a CNN interview on Sunday. There have been widespread claims that US special forces advisers were on the ground in some capacity, but this hasn’t been met with confirmation.

However, it has been reported that “A U.S. official told Axios the U.S. hostage cell in Israel supported the effort to rescue the four hostages.” The precise level of ‘support’ and details of this involvement hasn’t been revealed, but The New York Times has so far described that US officials in Israel had been “providing intelligence and other logistical support.”

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The No-Rules International Order

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It covers our entire surface, at some points only as thin as a piece of paper and at other points about half as thick as a credit card.

The skin, which protects us from all manner of germs and other harmful elements, is fragile and unable to defend humans from the dangerous weapons we have made over time. The ancient blunt axe will break the skin with a heavy blow, while a 2,000-pound MK-84 “dumb bomb” made by General Dynamics will not only obliterate the skin, but the entire human body.

Despite a May 24 order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Israeli military continues to bomb the southern part of Gaza, particularly the city of Rafah. In blatant disregard of the ICJ’s order, on May 27 Israel struck a tent city in Rafah and murdered 45 civilians. 

U.S. President Joe Biden said on March 9 that an Israeli attack on Rafah would be his “red line,” but – even after the tent massacre – the Biden administration has insisted that no such line has been violated.

At a press conference on May 28, communications adviser to the U.S. National Security Agency, John Kirby, was asked how the U.S. would respond if a strike by the U.S. armed forces killed 45 civilians and injured 200 others. 

Kirby responded:

“We have conducted airstrikes in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, where tragically we caused civilian casualties. We did the same thing.”

To defend Israel’s latest massacre, Washington has chosen to make a startling admission. Given that the ICJ has ruled that it is “plausible” that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, could it be said that the U.S. is guilty of the same in Iraq and Afghanistan?

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Beyond Bombs – Infectious Diseases Plague Over 1.5 Million Displaced in Gaza

At least 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have contracted infectious diseases due to the displacement caused by the Israeli war on Gaza, the Strip’s government media office 

In a statement released on Friday, the office reported that 1,477,748 displaced Palestinians have contracted infectious diseases due to being uprooted from various areas in the Gaza Strip.

The statement did not clarify if any of those affected had recovered. However, it did note that the number of internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip since October 7 has reached two million.

The office also warned that 3,500 children in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starving to death due to the ongoing blockade and the Israeli war.

On Thursday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that nine out of ten children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The statement also highlighted that 10,000 cancer patients are facing life-threatening conditions and require treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Additionally, more than 71 cases of viral hepatitis have been recorded.

Hepatitis A is a highly infectious liver disease caused by a virus, which can spread through consuming contaminated food or water or through close contact with an infected person.

Viral hepatitis has spread in the Gaza Strip, particularly among children, due to poor personal hygiene, lack of clean water, food contamination, and overcrowding in displacement centers.

Since the closure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, following Israel’s control of the Palestinian side on May 7, no patient or wounded individual has been able to leave the Gaza Strip.

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Israel’s progression from Apartheid to Genocide

For Palestinians, Israel’s violence began long before October 7, 2023. The unfolding genocide in Gaza is the latest chapter in a series of Israel’s settler-colonial practices to remove Palestinians by force from their land. These practices began with the inception of the state of Israel.  

The most fateful year in modern Palestinian history was 1948, when David Ben-Gurion unilaterally declared the creation of the state of Israel and armed Zionist militias massacred Palestinians and evicted thousands from their homes at gunpoint. Palestinians know this as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” This is not ancient history. Israeli politicians, before and after October 7, threatened a second Nakba against Palestinians. Israeli forces in Gaza painted graffiti on destroyed homes in Gaza that read, “Nakba 2023.” 

Israel’s apartheid practices against Palestinians also started in 1948, when Israel caged Palestinian communities in Lod, Nazareth, and Haifa in wired areas and issued discriminatory laws against those Palestinians who stayed and those forcibly displaced. Soon after, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 1967 and the discriminatory laws and practices were expanded to the occupied Palestinian territory.  

At the time, Israel described the act of capturing what remained of historic Palestine in 1967 as “finishing the job.” The job was to ethnically cleanse the survivors of the Nakba and capture the territories left unoccupied in 1948. 

Many Palestinians were displaced by war and were now under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip where much of the Palestinian population sought refuge. The capture of Palestinians within the new Israeli State in 1948 and 1967 meant more than 811,000 Palestinians lived under occupation then, and with these two events, all Palestinians were now subject to Israel’s policies of apartheid.  

Soon after Israel captured the Gaza Strip in 1967, for example, it introduced schemes to get rid of the young population of Gaza. In 1969, Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Defense Minister, introduced a plan to transfer young refugees in Gaza to Latin America. Between 1948 and 1967, Israeli army raids into Palestinian refugee camps of Rafah and Khan Younis killed hundreds of Palestinians, some of whom were stood against the famous Barquq Castle Wall and were killed, sometimes in front of their families. 

Today the Barquq Castle itself is in ruins because of Israel’s destruction of Khan Younis.

Throughout the 1970s, Israel exploited Palestinian refugees as cheap labor to build Israeli settlements and with the outbreak of the 1987 Palestinian Intifada, and the mounting Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinians, apartheid practices and laws have only increased, suffocating Palestinians even more and making their lives almost impossible. This has been especially visible with travel restrictions, access to water, land and natural resources, and access to medical care. 

The clearest manifestation of this permit regime, and the brutal realities of Israeli apartheid, has been seen in Gaza.

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The genocide in Israeli prisons

Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians since last October has extended beyond the daily mass death, displacement, and starvation of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Behind the bars of Israeli prisons, Israel has been waging war against Palestinian prisoners, creating conditions that make the continuation of human life impossible. The effects of this brutal campaign have reverberated among prisoners’ families outside of jail, who are watching their loved ones being systematically starved, beaten, tortured, and degraded.

Shortly after October 7, Israel imposed a new set of rules in its cell blocks. In some detention centers like Ofer near Ramallah, the Israeli army was reportedly handed over control of the prison, while the Israel Prison Services guards were given a free hand in dealing with Palestinian inmates inside the jail sections. This shift was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinian detainees who were arrested after October 7, doubling the prisoner population as early on as mid-October. This included prisoners from Gaza, for whom the hardest part of the treatment was reserved.

In mid-May, CNN released an exposé based on the testimonies of Israeli whistleblowers about the horrific treatment of Palestinians from Gaza at the Israeli military base of Sde Teiman, now containing a detention center. The whistleblower testimonies detail a number of medieval practices to which Palestinian prisoners have been subjected, including being strapped down to beds while blindfolded and made to wear diapers, having unqualified medical trainees conduct procedures on them without anesthesia, having dogs set on them by prison guards, being regularly beaten or put into stress positions for offenses as minor as peeking beneath their blindfolds, having zip-tie wounds fester to the point of requiring amputation, and a host of other horrific measures.

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