Quoting Imma Era: "The thought that Netanyahu is using our children as human shields in the face of his domestic challenges is shocking and contrary to what is required of the Prime Minister to do at this time... We will not agree that our children will be used as flak jackets for a government that has lost public trust."

Israel is violating the #ceasefire agreement, with Israeli media and social media trolls claiming the #Hamas repeatedly refused to release hostages. It's a pretext. #Hamas was willing to release all hostages under specific conditions: a complete cessation of hostilities, the release of prisoners, and guarantees for its survival.

The timing of the attack, many observers in Israel are suggesting, is driven by coalition considerations, including appeasing political factions, rather than a genuine strategy to defeat #Hamas. The offensive endangers hostages, reducing their chances of survival due to the consequences of #IDF bombings.

The organization "Imma Era" (Alert or awoken Mother), which unites mothers of female and male combat soldiers, stated that "returning to fighting less than a day after the announcement of the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet raises serious questions about the timing of the decision. The thought that #Netanyahu is using our children as human shields in the face of his domestic challenges is shocking and contrary to what is required of the Prime Minister to do at this time. We will not agree that our children will be used as flak jackets for a government that has lost public trust."

Yair Golan, the chairman of the Democrats, stated that "the soldiers at the front and the hostages in Gaza are just pawns in Netanyahu's game of survival," as he fears public protest against the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet.

Ben Gvir welcomed the return to fighting, saying that "this is the right and moral step," and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that the move had been planned in recent weeks, since the new Chief of Staff took office.

See report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/18/israel-gaza-strikes-deaths-latest-update

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-03-18/ty-article/00000195-a7d0-dee5-a195-fff5b4600000 or https://archive.ph/T3fZ4

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#OatmealQuotes

#Palestine-Israel / Legal analysis of Israel's proposed Citizenship Amendment, a legal disenfranchisement of Arab citizens' children born in Gaza​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ (by Yael Ronen, a professor of international law)

The proposed amendment to Israel's Citizenship Law, as announced by the Ministry of Interior on March 3, 2025, represents a significant deviation from #Israel's established “jus sanguinis” citizenship framework by denying citizenship to children of Israeli citizens born in "enemy states" or Gaza.

This legislative initiative, which fails to acknowledge its disproportionate impact on Arab Israeli citizens despite legal requirements to do so, contravenes Israel's obligations under international conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The amendment's purported justification—that children born in these territories inherently possess "identification and loyalty" to those entities—lacks empirical foundation and conflicts with established legal principles regarding citizenship acquisition, thereby constituting what critics characterize as a demographically motivated policy that further marginalizes an already vulnerable population segment within Israeli society.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hebrew https://www.regthink.org/child-citizenship-revocation

@palestine
@israel
#IsraelOccupation
#Nakba

#syria
#israeloccupation
@palestine

"In a brazen declaration of expansionist Zionist ambitions, an Israeli Knesset member has openly called for Syria to be placed under the regime’s full control...“Damascus must be under full Israeli control, and we will ensure that it comes under our control.”"
He continued: “Syria must be completely subordinate to us, as must Jordan, without any military capabilities.”
Great Israel plan in the making

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/03/10/744244/Israeli-Knesset-member-full-control-of-Syria

Quoting Nesrine Malik: Israel is engaged in "a forever war of permanent vengeance"

The occupation forces continue killing Palestinians despite a supposed ceasefire, with over 100 Palestinians killed in #Gaza since January. Israel is deliberately blocking humanitarian aid as collective punishment, causing starvation and the freezing deaths of babies in torn tents.

In the West Bank, almost 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 through deliberate settler violence and military attacks. Nearly half of all Palestinian children killed in the West Bank over the past 20 years were killed just in the last year, including documented shootings of children as young as two years old.

The occupation forces are systematically destroying infrastructure, forcibly displacing 40,000 Palestinians, targeting medical facilities, and expanding illegal settlements.

[…] The playbook and justifications are eerily similar to those used in Gaza. Targeting militants becomes the explanation for a whole range of ruinous activities, including but not limited to: destroying infrastructure, driving people out of their homes with no right of return (40,000 so far, in less than two months, according to Unrwa, the UN aid agency), targeting medical facilities and personnel, flattening entire neighbourhoods and that most lethal policy, loosening military rules of engagement to allow soldiers more leeway and mandate to open fire. According to Unrwa, “the use of airstrikes, armoured bulldozers, controlled detonations, and advanced weaponry by the Israeli forces has become commonplace” in the West Bank, and is “a spillover of the war in Gaza”. The result is an assault in the West Bank that is as historic as it was and is in Gaza.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/10/ceasefire-palestinians-gaza-israel-west-bank

@palestine
@israel
#GazaGenocide
#israelWarCrimes
#IsraelOccupation
#SettlerViolence

#Eurovision / Israel still allowed to maintain access to platforms of cultural diplomacy despite an ongoing genocide

Israel's strategic deployment of cultural representation in the face of allegations of genocide is relentless. While facing #ICJ investigation and scholarly condemnation of a genocide that has resulted in over 46,000 Palestinians deliberately and systematically murdered by the #IDF (using U.S.-supplied weaponry,) Israel's Eurovision participation—featuring a survivor of the October 7 attack—is attempting, once again, to instrumentalize personal victimhood in service of state legitimation.

It’s difficult to ignore the fact that this centering of Israeli suffering within international cultural forums occurs simultaneously with the systematic marginalization of Palestinian perspectives and experiences. The disproportionate media attention given to Israel's Eurovision candidacy, relative to, say, coverage of ongoing genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, not to mention a brutal occupation, reflects broader patterns of narrative control that obscure accountability for actions against an occupied population.

As one Israeli commentator wrote, “the song written for her [Yuval Abraham] by Keren Peles lacks even a trace of originality and freshness, resembling something more on the level of a young talent night at an unpopular brasserie - and conveys an oppressive sense of extra effort to be appealing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​[…] And if that doesn't help either, one can always say that the problem isn't the lyrics, the melody, the French, the clip, the Keren, or the Peles: in the end, everyone is antisemitic.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hebrew https://www.ynet.co.il/entertainment/article/bjkqmw3s1x

@palestine
@israel
#GazaGenocide
#IsraelOccupation
#eurovision2025
#yuvalabraham
#antisemitism
#hasbara

#syria
#israeloccupation
@palestine

"The corporate media hasn’t bothered telling you that Israel is at war with Syria" They've been insisting that Syria was “liberated”
"By attacking Syria, Israel has violated the 1974 Disengagement Agreement after claiming without basis that it had “collapsed”"
"Israel is denying Syrians sovereignty over their land and plans to balkanise it, presumably so Syria’s resources can be looted with minimum fuss"
Brilliant article

https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/nobody-bothered-to-tell-you-israel

Quoting Joe Sacco: “There is a fair chance that no one will be held accountable for what Israel - and the United States and much of Western Europe - have done to Gaza”

“Civilising has always been the West's default burden and mass murder the shiniest tool in its box. The Americans had their 'manifest destiny', the French had their Algeria, the British had their Kenya, the Australians had their Tasmania and the Germans... And now together they have Gaza."
https://english.hathalyoum.net/articles/152320-cartoonist-joe-sacco-on-gaza-is-this-land-ground

Acclaimed comic creators Art Spiegelman ("Maus") and Joe Sacco ("Palestine") have collaborated on a three-page comic strip published in the Guardian and in the New York Review of Books https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2025/02/27/never-again-and-again-gaza-sacco-spiegelman/, titled "Never Again." The comic depicts the two artists, represented by their signature characters, visiting a devastated Gaza and discussing the ongoing war. They grapple with the phrase "Never Again," the cycle of violence, and the Israeli response to October 7th.

A notable panel portrays #Netanyahu as a green, inhuman figure emerging from a pile of eyeballs, with the artists commenting on his strategy of "extermination" rather than mere revenge.

The comic explores themes of #genocide, anti-Semitism, the justification for Israel's existence, and the trauma inflicted on both sides. The artists conclude by holding flags stating "Never Again... For Anyone!" and advocating for a just solution.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/literature/2025-02-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/00000195-1e06-dd3a-a797-ff87554d0000

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#GazaGenocide
#GraphicalJournalism
#GraphicNovels

#Palestine / Israeli Knesset approves bills to criminalize cooperation with ICC and ban entry of individuals supporting international prosecution of soldiers

The Israeli Knesset has advanced two controversial pieces of legislation. The first, approved in a preliminary reading, would impose a five-year prison sentence on anyone, including citizens, public bodies, and organizations, who "provides services" or "makes resources available" to the #ICC in The Hague. The burden of proof would be on the accused to demonstrate they were unaware their actions aided the ICC. Legal experts warn this could even apply to sharing social media posts of potential war crimes.

[…] Dr. Tamar Megiddo, an expert in international law, warns that "the definitions of this dangerous bill are so broad that even someone who shares a photo or video on social media of a soldier documenting himself committing what appears to be a war crime is exposed to imprisonment." She added that if the proposal is approved, any journalist who publishes an investigative report that could testify to a crime committed by #IDF forces would also be exposed to imprisonment.

The second bill, approved in its second and third readings, bans entry and residency in Israel for non-citizens who have denied the October 7th massacre or the #Holocaust, or who have supported the prosecution of Israeli security forces in international courts. This expands a 2017 law that banned entry to those calling for a boycott of Israel.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-02-19/ty-article/00000195-1e04-de67-abb7-3f87dcca0000](https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-02-19/ty-article/00000195-1e04-de67-abb7-3f87dcca0000 or https://archive.is/zCqOx

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/2025-02-19/ty-article/00000195-1eb3-df71-a5fd-debb982f0000](https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/2025-02-19/ty-article/00000195-1eb3-df71-a5fd-debb982f0000 or https://archive.is/qCc7J

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#BDS
#GazaGenocide

#Palestine / Israeli court extends again ban on Al Jazeera on grounds of ties to Hamas and “threat to National Security”

An Israeli District Court has approved the extension of restrictions on Al Jazeera's broadcasts until the end of March, ruling that the broadcasts continue to pose a real threat to the country's security.

The restrictions, based on a law preventing foreign broadcasts from harming state security, were initially imposed due to Al Jazeera's alleged ties to #Hamas. The court cited recent intelligence and broadcasts that justify the continued ban, including content that could incite violence.

The judge dismissed Al Jazeera's claim that the restrictions are politically motivated, highlighting the ongoing close relationship between Hamas and the news channel.

Hebrew https://www.the7eye.org.il/543977

Immediately after the law was enacted, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Al Jazeera itself petitioned against it, claiming it was unconstitutional. The petition has not yet been decided, and the hearing is scheduled for April.

This is what the al-Jazeera “ban” looks like in Israel (see image). All news channels live stream its feed. Seems indeed the only danger must be Al-Jazeera disrupting Israel’s narrative that its occupation forces are fighting to defend Israel, not to ethnically cleanse #Gaza.

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#AlJazeera
#Censorship

#TV [Channel 4, UK] / Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone

The documentary "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone," filmed by remotely instructing two local cameramen, captures the lives of displaced Palestinian children within the ever-shrinking "safe zone" in southern Gaza during the recent conflict. The film follows children like 13-year-old Abdullah, 10-year-old aspiring chef Renad, and 11-year-old hospital volunteer Zakaria, showcasing their resilience and determination to survive amidst destruction and loss. It highlights their matter-of-fact coping mechanisms, while also presenting horrific scenes of violence and the devastating impact of Israeli bombings, including a new perspective on the widely-seen burning of Sha’ban al-Dalou. Despite the grim realities, the children's spirit offers a sliver of hope.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/17/gaza-how-to-survive-a-warzone-review-these-incredible-children-offer-a-sliver-of-hope

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#GazaGenocide

Quoting Uzi Barham: Ben-Gurion, Father of the Nakba? This weighed on him greatly

Baram acknowledges the historical reality of the #Nakba, but he also attempts to reclaim Ben-Gurion's legacy from those who would use it to justify current policies of displacement. He argues that Ben-Gurion, while not without responsibility for the events of 1948, viewed the Nakba as a problem for #Israel, both politically and morally. He cites historical examples of Ben-Gurion's attempts to mitigate the consequences of the displacement, such as his consideration of returning Palestinian refugees.

[…] Ben-Gurion held a consultation with the political leadership (Golda Meir) and with the agency leadership (Moshe Sharett) and said: "We did not expel Arabs from the Land of Israel. First of all, it is necessary to tell the facts how they fled. To the extent that it was known to me, most of the fleeing did so before the establishment of the state. Only the Arabs of Ramle and Lod left their place or were pressured to leave." In this context, Tom Segev writes in his book "A State at Any Cost" that Ben-Gurion was careful to say in the case of the Arabs of Lod-Ramle that "explicit instructions were given not to expel the residents and it turned out that they were forced."

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2025-02-18/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000195-13e4-d0af-a197-dbf53a8b0000 or https://archive.is/PcFhN

Interesting defense of Ben-Gurion's legacy. However, critics would undoubtedly argue that the act of fleeing, as occurred after the Deir Yassin massacre, is functionally equivalent to the expulsion of people at gunpoint. The practical consequences and the established status quo have consistently favored Israel, to the disadvantage of the Palestinians.

@israel
@palestine
@histodons
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes #DeirYassinMassacre #Zionism

#US / Harvard Divinity School administrators resign citing university's tolerance of anti-muslim bias and attacks on pro-Palestinian voices

Two administrators at Harvard Divinity School's Religion and Public Life program have resigned, citing the university's failure to address a hostile environment towards Muslims and those critical of Israel.

Hussein Rashid, the assistant dean, explicitly accused Harvard of tolerating racist and defamatory statements against the program, particularly from Jewish groups like Hillel and #Chabad.

[…] He cited as an example an Instagram post by Harvard Chabad, led by Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, that said: “There are numerous Harvard academic centers that essentially function as Hamas or Palestinian embassies,” citing the Religion in Public Life center “in its entirety,” and concluding, “it’s stunning that there’s no call for some of these centers to be shut down or rebuilt in its entirety.”

https://religionnews.com/2025/02/06/administrators-at-harvard-divinity-school-quit-say-school-condoned-hate/

@israel
@palestine
@academicchatter
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#Islamophobia
#AcademicFreedom

Quoting Michael Sefarad (lawyer specializing in human rights and the laws of war) on how Israel is losing its justification for existence:

[…] "Our state is a racist state, supportive of ethnic cleansing, devours its critics, hates the non-Jews among its citizens, and is devoid of compassion for its people who were kidnapped for no fault of their own. It is a bank that swindles its clients and then also incites against them. What justification is there for its existence?"

Michael Sefarad argues that #Israel is becoming a racist and inhumane state, thus losing its justification for existence. He contends that a democratic state's purpose is to serve its citizens and protect their rights, but Israel is failing to do so. Sefarad criticizes the Israeli government for prioritizing political survival and extremist ideologies over the safety of its citizens, citing the handling of hostages and the suppression of dissent. He points to examples such as the cancellation of a lecture by an author critical of the war, proposed legislation to ban the term "West Bank," and a police raid on a bookstore in East Jerusalem. Furthermore, he asserts that the Israeli regime discriminates against its Arab citizens, creating a system where national identity determines one's opportunities.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2025-02-15/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000194-ffd1-db1f-a5dd-ffd151070000 or https://archive.is/CQGD7

See also:

Israel: what went wrong?

Professor Omer Bartov explores the transformation of #Zionism from a movement of #Jewish emancipation and liberation into a state ideology of ethno-nationalism, exclusion and violent domination of #Palestinians.  He traces the process whereby Israel—whose establishment received widespread international support in the aftermath of the #Holocaust—now stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

https://bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/israel-what-went-wrong

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#GazaGenocide

#Palestine / 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists with majority killed by Israel's occupation force in Gaza

The Committee to Protect Journalists (#CPJ) reports that 2024 saw the highest number of journalist killings since they began tracking data, with at least 124 journalists and media workers killed. A significant majority, nearly two-thirds, were Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in #Gaza. The CPJ documented 85 journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war in 2024, and 78 in 2023.

The CPJ is investigating 20 additional killings where it believes Israel may have specifically targeted journalists. International humanitarian law considers journalists civilians, and targeting them in conflict is a war crime.

https://cpj.org/special-reports/2024-is-deadliest-year-for-journalists-in-cpj-history-almost-70-percent-killed-by-israel/

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#JournalismIsNotACrime
#PressFreedom
#GazaGenocide

#Palestine / Settlers attack Palestinians with clubs and dogs in occupied West Bank village, no arrests made

Dozens of settlers attacked Palestinians with clubs near the West Bank village of al-Minya (المنيا). According to Palestinians, six people were injured, including a pregnant woman who was attacked with stones and clubs, and two others who were injured by dogs set upon them by the settlers. The incident occurred shortly after Palestinians reported to the Civil Administration that settlers had encroached on nearby land. Israeli forces arrived at the scene, but no arrests were made.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-02-14/ty-article/.premium/00000195-059c-d0af-a197-cf9d21f00000 or https://archive.is/4QWYa

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#SettlerViolence
#WestBank

Quoting Gideon Levy on how Trump's approval could push Israel towards full-blown genocide in Gaza

[...] And what if U.S. President Donald Trump suggested setting up death camps for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip? What would happen then? Israel would respond exactly as it did to his transfer ideas, with ecstasy on the right and indifference in the centrist camp.

Gideon Levy argues that Trump is enabling Israel's most destructive impulses regarding Gaza. Levy uses a hypothetical scenario of Trump suggesting "death camps" to illustrate how Israeli politicians might react, suggesting widespread support or indifference. He suggests that Trump's approval of continued attacks and setting "impossible terms" for Hamas is pushing Israel down a dangerous path. Levy warns that the resumption of the "war" could lead to genocide, especially with the potential halting of humanitarian aid. He expresses concern that Israeli society is largely supportive of, or indifferent to, these actions, and that Trump is acting as an "ethical oracle" that could destroy Israel's morality.

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-02-12/ty-article-opinion/.premium/how-would-israel-respond-if-trump-called-for-death-camps-in-gaza/00000194-fb61-d747-afde-fb6149df0000 or https://archive.ph/itIhA

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#GazaGenocide
#OatmealQuotes

#Germany #GenocideWhitewash / Free University surrenders to Israel’s pressure to cancels event featuring UN Special rapporteur on Palestine

The Free University of Berlin canceled an in-person event featuring UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, citing "polarisation and the unpredictable security situation". The university's president, Gunter Ziegler, suggested the event be held online instead. Albanese recently described Israeli practices in the West Bank as "criminal" and warned of "genocidal intent".

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250213-german-university-cancels-event-featuring-un-special-rapporteur-on-palestine/

#Ynet is reporting that the mayor of #Berlin, Kai Wegner, a staunch supporter of #Israel, called for the cancellation of the lecture, as did Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to Germany. "If Albanese speaks at your place," Prosor wrote to Ziegler, "it will be a disgrace to your institution, to the academic community and to the city of Berlin. Instead of confronting hate, you are giving it a platform."

Albanese said this recently:

[…] Whoever speaks about human rights, but remains silent about Palestine, is talking about privileges, not principles.

https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/113986208141661796

@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#FreePalestine
#GazaGenocide