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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ 3 hours ago
JuliusHackebeil said:
LurkerJ said:

I always ask my pro Palestinian friends to not waste too much time debating whether Hamas or IDF is at fault and just concede this fight early on and shift the conversation to the ongoing annexation of the west back, the violations of the Israeli violent settlers there, and how the absence of Hamas in the West Bank meant Israel gets away with crimes without much media coverage

So my point to you, go read about the ongoing crimes and violations in the West Bank and tell me Israel how Israel is also the good people there.

That exact topic is adressed quite well in the video I linked. Atleast much better than what I could produce here in text.

That exact topic has been ruled over by the highest court in the world. This hasbara barrister is of course free to challenge the ICJ. Doubt she will be able persuade the judges with her smooth talking. Israel has been illegally occupying the Westbank since 1967 according to the ICJ.

https://www.icj-cij.org/node/204176
Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024
Case 186 - Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem


In layman's terms

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/experts-hail-icj-declaration-illegality-israels-presence-occupied

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/icj-israel-occupation-ruling-1.7266424
Israel's settlement policies on Palestinian territories violate international law, the International Court of Justice in The Hague said on Friday.



And then there's the Settler terrorism

https://www.btselem.org/topic/settler_violence

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena-israelpalestine/246-stemming-israeli-settler-violence

And it's nothing new, book published in 2012 about rising Settler terrorism in the West Bank
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41720862

Heck even the US draws a (small) line when it comes to the Settlers
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2622
Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Hilltop Youth, a violent extremist group that has repeatedly attacked Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian homes and property in the West Bank, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14115.

This group even went a bit too far for the IDF
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-freezes-operations-of-hilltop-youth-unit-linked-to-anti-palestinian-violence/


A photo of Palestinians bound and stripped after being apprehended by IDF soldiers and settlers in the central West Bank village of Wadi al-Seeq on October 12, 2023.


They are far from the only ones though
https://acleddata.com/2024/06/10/civilians-or-soldiers-settler-violence-in-the-west-bank/




https://ig.ft.com/west-bank/
How extremist settlers in the West Bank became the law

These settlers are fully backed by the government, Smotrich in particular next to Ben G'vir who is an ultranationalist settler leader.




Btw Natasha flat out lies about the borders at 50 minutes in, conveniently ignoring the 1947 UN partition plan. The West bank was never part of Israel.



She says Israel recovered that territory in 1967, Israel never had it.



That video is full of lies, disinformation and twisting facts. She does that all the time, arguing based off a false premise.

Read the (updated) OP if you want to know how it all went down.

Last edited by SvennoJ - 1 hour ago

Around the Network
SvennoJ 3 hours ago

UN peacekeeping chief meets government, army leaders in Lebanon

We reported earlier that the UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that redeploying the Lebanese armed forces in southern Lebanon would constitute “an absolutely central element” of any ceasefire agreement.

He has since met with Lebanon’s parliament speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri, Defence Minister Maurice Sleem, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.

Lacroix also sat down with representatives of countries that provide troops to UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

Those forces have come under fire from the Israeli military dozens of times in the weeks since Israel significantly ramped up its attacks on Lebanon and launched a ground invasion of the southern parts of the country.

https://x.com/UNIFIL_/status/1857093582131171750


Israel’s maximalist demands unlikely to lead to ceasefire with Hezbollah

As Israel sends mixed messages about a ceasefire with Hezbollah, analysts say the war is likely to intensify in the coming months.

On November 6, Israel’s top general, Herzi Halevi, told reporters the army was drawing up plans to expand its campaign against Hezbollah. At the same time, he claimed Israel was amping up diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire.


US ambassador presents draft ceasefire proposal in Lebanon

US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa A Johnson has presented a draft proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon to to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, officials sources told Al Jazeera.

The sources said the paper presented to the Lebanese official contained ideas that required further discussion and noted that communication between Beirut and Washington had been activated following progress on negotiations.



SvennoJ 3 hours ago

UN peacekeepers report exchange of fire with unknown armed forces in Lebanon

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said its soldiers engaged in an exchange of fire with unknown assailants, but no one was hurt.

UNIFIL said in a statement that one of its patrols noticed a cache of ammunition near Qallawiyah, but it continued on its route. When peacekeepers later exited their vehicle to remove debris from the road, two or three unknown people “fired approximately 30 shots in the direction”, prompting the soldiers to return fire and move to safety.

“No one was hurt and there was no damage to the vehicles. It is unclear if the discovery of the weapons cache and the attack are directly linked. We have launched an investigation.”

UN forces have repeatedly come under fire by the Israeli army, which has demanded their evacuation from southern Lebanon as it keeps advancing with a ground operation.


Video shows Israeli strike on Beirut suburbs

A video posted by the Quds News Network shows the moment an Israeli strike hit a building in southern Beirut earlier today and the widespread destruction caused by ongoing air raids in the area.



Translation: Watch | The occupation’s aircraft launched violent raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut this evening. 


Israeli army claims southern Beirut strikes targeted Hezbollah weapons storage

The Israeli army has issued a statement claiming that the air strikes launched earlier on Beirut’s southern suburbs were targeting Hezbollah’s weapons storage.

The statement said the Lebanese group “systematically embedded its terrorist infrastructure amidst the Lebanese civilian population”. It did not provide evidence to back up the claim.


Israeli air raids reported across Lebanon

At least five people have been killed in Israeli air raids across southern and eastern Lebanon, National News Agency is reporting.

One person was killed in al-Bazaliyah in the Bekaa Valley. Strikes were also reported in Rasm al-Hadath, Taraya and Sareen. In southern Lebanon, strikes were reported on the towns of Qanarit, Zeita, Anqoun and Bnafoul. One Lebanese and three Syrians were killed in Bayadah, the agency reported.


Israeli air strike targets civil defence centre in east Lebanon

An Israeli air strike has targeted the civil defence centre in the vicinity of the city of Baalbek, in the Baalbek-Hermel governorate, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

It added that the strike hit while 20 members were inside.

The Baalbek-Hermel governor posted on X that 12 bodies have been recovered from the site, but the process of removing the rubble is ongoing.



Translation: Scenes of destruction in the town of Douris in Baalbek.


Four paramedics killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

At least six people, including four paramedics, have been killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Arabsalim, in southern Lebanon, the Ministry of Health said. The National News Agency reported several strikes in southern Lebanon, including one in the centre of Nabatieh that destroyed a commercial complex.



SvennoJ 3 hours ago

London court to hear case on UK’s F-35 components exports on Monday

Two human rights groups opposed to Israel’s war on Gaza are continuing their legal action against the British government’s decision not to ban exports of components used in Israeli F-35 fighter jets and other weapons.

The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Al-Haq said the Royal Courts of Justice of London will hold a session on Monday to hear the case on the lawfulness of the exemption for the key fighter jet parts from a UK arms suspension.

“The ongoing challenge could also be expanded to include the UK government’s lack of red lines for imposing a full export ban on weapons to Israel as the groups this week sent the government notice of the intention to take fresh legal action,” the two groups said.


Turkish activists demonstrate on ship carrying arms to Israel

Earlier this month, Turkish activists staged a protest on the MV Kathrin, a German ship that was reportedly carrying eight shipping containers of 150,000kg (331,000 pounds) of explosives to Israel’s largest defence contractor.

The ship had been turned around from several other countries as well before reaching Turkiye.

https://x.com/ajplus/status/1857122324341834204



Netanyahu’s chief of staff suspected of manipulating timeline of conversations on October 7

Israeli police suspect that PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, tried to alter the timelines of the leader’s conversation surrounding the October 7 attacks.

Braverman sought to access the transcripts and timestamps of the calls between Netanyahu and his military secretary Avi Gil to change them in favour of Netanyahu, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

Netanyahu was reportedly first informed of the Hamas attack around 6:29am shortly after air raid sirens sounded across the country, and had two conversations with Gil.

Several weeks after the attack, Gil received information that Braverman had approached a staff member in the PM’s office to gain access to one of the conversations, which took place on a secure phone. Gil reported the matter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Braverman was at the centre of a case involving the alleged extortion of a senior officer in Netanyahu’s military secretariat to gain access to the logs of meetings held early in the war.

Trying to rewrite history as usual.



SvennoJ 3 hours ago

UN report on Israeli conduct encouraging: BDS

The report from the special committee of the UN’s human rights office that we just described tells companies to divest from investing in Israel to avoid contributing to the war on Gaza.

The purpose of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is to end Israeli genocide and apartheid, Shir Hever, a coordinator with the movement, told Al Jazeera.

“This is a welcome report by the UN committee. The divestment is one thing that corporations are obligated to do for moral, ethical, legal and practical reasons. But it’s not just divestment,” he said.

Hever said concerned parties must stop sending weapons or any other assistance that could be used in the war.

“The UN itself does not have the power to force corporations to take actions,” he said. “But states have an obligation to force their corporations to take this action. And also the employees have an obligation. So, this is something new and encouraging.”


Recommendations in UN special committee report binding in light of Genocide Convention

The report from the special committee of the UN’s human rights office leaves “no doubt about its interpretation”, says Triestino Mariniello, professor of law at Liverpool John Moores University.

“The committee is confirming that Israel is committing genocide through several violations of international law,” Mariniello, who is a member of the legal team representing Gaza victims before the International Criminal Court, told Al Jazeera.

These violations include mass killings, causing serious bodily and mental harm, imposing harsh conditions of life, forced displacement and deprivation.

While the report is not itself binding for UN member states, Mariniello said its recommendations are binding in light of the Genocide Convention, which obliges member states to adopt all possible measures to prevent genocide and punish those responsible for committing it.



US ‘unequivocally disagrees’ with UN finding on Israel’s genocide in Gaza

US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel has rejected the findings of the report by the UN that Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“This is something we would unequivocally disagree with. We think that kind of phrasing and those kinds of accusations are certainly unfounded,” he told reporters about the report that also said Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war.

Patel also questioned a report by Human Rights Watch that said Israel’s forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amounts to “crimes against humanity”.

Translation: The co defendant / co-conspirator enters a not guilty plea.



Around the Network
SvennoJ 3 hours ago

Letter by 88 Democratic lawmakers calls for sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers

A letter calling on President Biden to sanction far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich before he departs the White House in January has been signed by 88 Democratic lawmakers.

The letter, which was submitted on October 29 but publicised today, expressed deep concern about “the rise in settler violence, settlement expansion, and measures adopted to weaken the Palestinian Authority and otherwise destabilise” the occupied West Bank.

It said the two ministers have been fuelling violence in the occupied territory, which has consisted of multiple Israeli attacks and raids per day, during which homes are destroyed, livestock are stolen and Palestinians are killed or wounded.

“With radical officials in the Netanyahu government continuing to enable settler violence and enact annexationist policies, it is clear that further sanctions are urgently needed,” the lawmakers wrote.

Eight Jewish lawmakers are also among the signatories.

Congresswoman Tlaib calls on Blinken to resign after aid deadline passes

The first Palestinian American woman to serve in the US Congress says Antony Blinken must resign as secretary of state after his deadline for Israel to ramp up aid to Gaza passed without any consequences.

Rashida Tlaib, pointing to a picture of a starving Palestinian child, said Blinken set a 350 trucks per day goal for humanitarian aid, but only 57 trucks entered per day in October – even if official Israeli figures can be taken at face value.

“This week, Mr Speaker, Secretary Blinken exposed his lie by announcing that there will be no change to any policy, despite admitting that the Israeli government has failed to comply with all of their demands,” Tlaib said.

“Secretary Blinken has continued to lie to Congress and should resign.”



SvennoJ 3 hours ago

Belgium condemns Israel for trying to annex occupied West Bank

Belgium’s foreign ministry strongly condemned a statement by Israel’s far-right economy minister, Bezalel Smotrich, calling for “exercising sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank.

“Annexation of the West Bank flagrantly violates international law and the rights of the Palestinian people. This unnecessary provocation only further escalates the conflict,” the ministry said.

Earlier today, Hamish Falconer, the UK’s minister for the Middle East and North Africa, also condemned the Israeli move.


UN confirms Palestinians killed, displaced in occupied West Bank

The latest update from the occupied West Bank by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians between November 5 and 11, including three in air strikes.

On November 12, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old in Nablus, while two Palestinians were killed in Tulkarem two days later. The UN reported that 50 Palestinians, including 23 children, were displaced as nine residential structures were demolished in occupied East Jerusalem.

It noted that the UN Human Rights Office condemned Israeli forces’ “mass arrests, ill-treatment, and gratuitous humiliation of Palestinians during raids in refugee camps and towns” over the past month.

According to the office, Israeli authorities have also reopened multiple checkpoints in the Ramallah governorate in recent weeks, but only for a few hours daily and with “severe access restrictions” in place.



SvennoJ 3 hours ago

Main points on November 14th

  • Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 24 people in the latest 24-hour reporting period, including at least four in the Bureij refugee camp, where Israeli drones bombed a tent housing displaced Palestinians.
  • In Lebanon, four paramedics were among six killed in an Israeli strike on a civil defence centre in the country’s south, while at least eight others, including five women, were killed and 27 wounded in a strike on Baalbek city in the east.
  • Hezbollah claims that, for the first time, it has targeted Israel’s Tel Haim military base in Tel Aviv, some 120km (74 miles) from the Lebanese border, using “qualitative missiles”.
  • Israel’s army has claimed air strikes on Syria’s capital, Damascus, that killed at least 15 people. It said the strikes targeted the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
  • A UN special committee has said Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
  • A Human Rights Watch report has accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has accused the group of “anti-Israel bias and factual distortion”.

Here we go again, in before the spin

Clashes at Paris football stadium as Israel-France face off

Videos circulating on social media show Israeli football fans clashing with French spectators during their teams’ match at Stade de France in Paris. Some of the footage, which has been verified by Al Jazeera, showed Israeli fans beating up the French fans in the stands.

Videos showed the stadium was mostly empty before the start of the match due to security concerns following violent clashes in Amsterdam after a football match last week.

Others showed fans booing and whistling while the Israeli national anthem played. Some clips pointed to clashes outside the stadium as well.

Israeli media reported that internal security agency Shin Bet’s chief Ronen Bar accompanied the Israeli team to France and was at the stadium.

Translation: Major scuffles in the stands. Israeli supporters appear to have attacked French supporters. To be continued …

Last edited by SvennoJ - 2 hours ago

SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Any mainstream media held to account yet? I guess not, lies are par for the course nowadays

What REALLY Happened in Amsterdam



Muslim community reflects on Amsterdam violence one week on

“There is absolutely nothing against Jews. The problem is only with Zionism, and the Netherlands still stands behind what Israel is doing now.”

Members of the Muslim community in Amsterdam reflect on the violence a week ago in the city. Last week Israeli hooligans, supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club, stirred trouble on Wednesday and Thursday in different parts of the Dutch capital ahead of their Uefa Europa League match against Amsterdam club Ajax. Amid the provocations against Arabs in the city, clashes erupted between the Israeli hooligans and some youth before and after the match and late into the night. The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, had also moved a pro-Palestine protest away from the stadium, which was planned by a group of demonstrators who wanted to express their discontent with hosting the Israeli team.

US official’s new shocker, says even UN is wrong to accuse Israel of genocide | Janta Ka Reporter


US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday stunned everyone by announcing even the United Nations were wrong on their latest report on Gaza. Patel said the US strongly disagreed with the latest UN report. This was after a UN special committee said that Israeli policies and practices in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of gen o cide”.

Lol can't even say genocide in the description with You Tube's censorship, but thanks to capitalism, still leaving the damning videos up to make money.