Gotta love the Israeli reps penchant for blaming others for doing what they do - couldn’t have come up with a better metaphor if i tried
Israel - Palestine Discussion | Post Respectfully | Discuss more, tweet less
- Thread starter esmufc07
- Start date
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/midd...-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd/index.html
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center
They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being “a paradise for interns”; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.
According to the accounts, the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.
...
He was arrested on December 18, he said, outside Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where he had been working for three days after fleeing his hospital in the heavily bombarded north. He was stripped down to his underwear, blindfolded and his wrists tied, then dumped in the back of a truck where, he said, the near-naked detainees were piled on top of one another as they were shuttled to a detention camp in the middle of the desert.
A week into his imprisonment, the detention camp’s authorities ordered him to act as an intermediary between the guards and the prisoners, a role known as Shawish, “supervisor,” in vernacular Arabic. According to the Israeli whistleblowers, a Shawish is normally a prisoner who has been cleared of suspected links to Hamas after interrogation.
For that, al-Ran said he was given a special privilege: his blindfold was removed. He said this was another kind of hell. “Part of my torture was being able to see how people were being tortured,” he said. “At first you couldn’t see. You couldn’t see the torture, the vengeance, the oppression. “When they removed my blindfold, I could see the extent of the humiliation and abasement … I could see the extent to which they saw us not as human beings but as animals.”
...
Al-Ran’s account of the forms of punishment he saw were corroborated by the whistleblowers who spoke with CNN. A prisoner who committed an offense such as speaking to another would be ordered to raise his arms above his head for up to an hour. The prisoner’s hands would sometimes be zip-tied to a fence to ensure that he did not come out of the stress position.
For those who repeatedly breached the prohibition on speaking and moving, the punishment became more severe. Israeli guards would sometimes take a prisoner to an area outside the enclosure and beat him aggressively, according to two whistleblowers and al-Ran. A whistleblower who worked as a guard said he saw a man emerge from a beating with his teeth, and some bones, apparently broken.
That whistleblower and al-Ran also described a routine search when the guards would unleash large dogs on sleeping detainees, lobbing a sound grenade at the enclosure as troops barged in. Al-Ran called this “the nightly torture.” “While we were cabled, they unleashed the dogs that would move between us, and trample over us,” said al-Ran. “You’d be lying on your belly, your face pressed against the ground. You can’t move, and they’re moving above you.”
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center
They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being “a paradise for interns”; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.
According to the accounts, the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.
...
He was arrested on December 18, he said, outside Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where he had been working for three days after fleeing his hospital in the heavily bombarded north. He was stripped down to his underwear, blindfolded and his wrists tied, then dumped in the back of a truck where, he said, the near-naked detainees were piled on top of one another as they were shuttled to a detention camp in the middle of the desert.
A week into his imprisonment, the detention camp’s authorities ordered him to act as an intermediary between the guards and the prisoners, a role known as Shawish, “supervisor,” in vernacular Arabic. According to the Israeli whistleblowers, a Shawish is normally a prisoner who has been cleared of suspected links to Hamas after interrogation.
For that, al-Ran said he was given a special privilege: his blindfold was removed. He said this was another kind of hell. “Part of my torture was being able to see how people were being tortured,” he said. “At first you couldn’t see. You couldn’t see the torture, the vengeance, the oppression. “When they removed my blindfold, I could see the extent of the humiliation and abasement … I could see the extent to which they saw us not as human beings but as animals.”
...
Al-Ran’s account of the forms of punishment he saw were corroborated by the whistleblowers who spoke with CNN. A prisoner who committed an offense such as speaking to another would be ordered to raise his arms above his head for up to an hour. The prisoner’s hands would sometimes be zip-tied to a fence to ensure that he did not come out of the stress position.
For those who repeatedly breached the prohibition on speaking and moving, the punishment became more severe. Israeli guards would sometimes take a prisoner to an area outside the enclosure and beat him aggressively, according to two whistleblowers and al-Ran. A whistleblower who worked as a guard said he saw a man emerge from a beating with his teeth, and some bones, apparently broken.
That whistleblower and al-Ran also described a routine search when the guards would unleash large dogs on sleeping detainees, lobbing a sound grenade at the enclosure as troops barged in. Al-Ran called this “the nightly torture.” “While we were cabled, they unleashed the dogs that would move between us, and trample over us,” said al-Ran. “You’d be lying on your belly, your face pressed against the ground. You can’t move, and they’re moving above you.”
It is the same place where people like Dr Adnan Al Bursh were taken and tortured to death.
Good.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Last edited:
Regardless of how many children you kill and mutilate, using a portable shredder in public will always be the goofiest thing.
They're displacing more people from the north and Rafah and haven't stopped bombing both areas since last night.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Terrible news.
As for the Israeli ambassador: Israelis do tend to do these things. Remember Netanyahu with the picture of the bomb few years back? Terrible mentality.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
The Israeli offensive on Rafah started with sealing off of Rafah & Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings. For 5 days now, no aid, medicine, or fuel have entered Southern Gaza, where the majority of the population is. That means the population is on fast track to starvation
UN agencies say they will run out of food supplies today & that fuel for hospitals may not last until Sunday. Staff of UN agencies & international humanitarian organizations are either huddled in their offices West of Rafah or are being displaced like the multitudes they serve
First order of forced displacement covered eastern parts of Rafah, including the government hospital (Abu Youssef AlNajjar). Today, Israel ordered the forced displacement of the center of Rafah (3 major refugee camps & packed neighborhoods), including the remaining hospital.
Since the start, Israeli bombardment of homes in east & west Rafah has not stopped from the air, ground, and sea. That means 100s of thousands in tents not ordered to leave have lived through heavy bombardment with nowhere to go. Meanwhile, bombing across Gaza has escalated.
By tomorrow, the handful of hospitals that are struggling to stay open will begin to shut down. Patients in the ICU and NICU will be at risk of death because there will be no fuel to power their life support machines. If this sounds familiar, that's because it is.
There is a cash crisis in Gaza. Even families receiving help from their siblings abroad have no way of getting cash. People are being ordered to go to AlMawasi, a small sand dune area without water, sanitation, infrastructure, services, or hospitals. People are on their own.
Emotionally & psychologically, this is a harder displacement. For many thousands, this is the 3rd, 4th, 5th time or more to be forcibly displaced. For 1000s others, it's their first; where their predecessors had hope of returning home, they know how this horror show goes.
Today, the Israeli army also ordered the forced displacement of the densely populated areas in Jabalia, where the army said it will be carrying a violent offensive. Tens of thousands are being displaced to the West, where Israeli army is bombing homes & leveling neighborhoods.
In Gaza City, Israeli troops have re-invaded Al-Zaytoun area for the third time, forcing thousands to flee without notice. Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli troops have once again employed the brutal tactic of leveling entire neighborhoods.
The Israeli Cabinet approved expanding the Rafah offensive. Biden drew a very elastic red line he keeps stretching. But Netanyahu knows he will get away with it. Why? Because that's been the story for decades.
The most illuminating example is US saying annexation of the West Bank was a red line. Netanyahu went ahead with annexation without calling it such, allowing Washington to split hairs & say de facto annexation & administrative annexation aren't full-blown annexation
On FR, the Biden admin issued a report that cleared Netanyahu to continue receiving US military aid. Never mind the damage to the admin's credibility, this report is more proof that Israel will push ahead with Rafah offensive without consequence. More horrific days are ahead.
UN agencies say they will run out of food supplies today & that fuel for hospitals may not last until Sunday. Staff of UN agencies & international humanitarian organizations are either huddled in their offices West of Rafah or are being displaced like the multitudes they serve
First order of forced displacement covered eastern parts of Rafah, including the government hospital (Abu Youssef AlNajjar). Today, Israel ordered the forced displacement of the center of Rafah (3 major refugee camps & packed neighborhoods), including the remaining hospital.
Since the start, Israeli bombardment of homes in east & west Rafah has not stopped from the air, ground, and sea. That means 100s of thousands in tents not ordered to leave have lived through heavy bombardment with nowhere to go. Meanwhile, bombing across Gaza has escalated.
By tomorrow, the handful of hospitals that are struggling to stay open will begin to shut down. Patients in the ICU and NICU will be at risk of death because there will be no fuel to power their life support machines. If this sounds familiar, that's because it is.
There is a cash crisis in Gaza. Even families receiving help from their siblings abroad have no way of getting cash. People are being ordered to go to AlMawasi, a small sand dune area without water, sanitation, infrastructure, services, or hospitals. People are on their own.
Emotionally & psychologically, this is a harder displacement. For many thousands, this is the 3rd, 4th, 5th time or more to be forcibly displaced. For 1000s others, it's their first; where their predecessors had hope of returning home, they know how this horror show goes.
Today, the Israeli army also ordered the forced displacement of the densely populated areas in Jabalia, where the army said it will be carrying a violent offensive. Tens of thousands are being displaced to the West, where Israeli army is bombing homes & leveling neighborhoods.
In Gaza City, Israeli troops have re-invaded Al-Zaytoun area for the third time, forcing thousands to flee without notice. Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli troops have once again employed the brutal tactic of leveling entire neighborhoods.
The Israeli Cabinet approved expanding the Rafah offensive. Biden drew a very elastic red line he keeps stretching. But Netanyahu knows he will get away with it. Why? Because that's been the story for decades.
The most illuminating example is US saying annexation of the West Bank was a red line. Netanyahu went ahead with annexation without calling it such, allowing Washington to split hairs & say de facto annexation & administrative annexation aren't full-blown annexation
On FR, the Biden admin issued a report that cleared Netanyahu to continue receiving US military aid. Never mind the damage to the admin's credibility, this report is more proof that Israel will push ahead with Rafah offensive without consequence. More horrific days are ahead.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Monsters... Despicable...
It's so frustrating. More and more people in Israel realise that this is a mistake that will only lead to the loss of life - of Israeli soldiers as well as people in Gaza - but we're helpless as there's nothing we can do to remove the government led by a bunch of awful, evil people.
I feel for you, my friend.
But, I’m now looking at things differently: Netanyahu formed 7 (!) governments over the past three decades. He’s not a fluke. He represents large swaths of the Israeli public.
I hope for you and for the Palestinians that he goes, but who is going to replace him? Probably someone with more or less the same policies towards Gaza.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Rafah border crossing with Egypt is being bombed.
fecking hell. 
And this is a trustworthy account & clip?
I don't know about the account, but the clip, yes.
The bombing is near the crossing, and the images are taken from the Egyptian side.
That looks like it could very easily lead to a shell landing on the wrong side of the border.
Also, the clip is from a few days ago.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
@Amir and @ScholesyTheWise
How much of Ori Goldberg's analysis (don't know if you heard of him) reflects the state of mind of the Israeli society toward this war and the Palestinians?
How much of Ori Goldberg's analysis (don't know if you heard of him) reflects the state of mind of the Israeli society toward this war and the Palestinians?
Arab-American lives do not matter.
When I reflect on the killing of Abu Akleh, I recognize now that the Biden administration never really tried hard to investigate what happened. That was a sign of what to come since October 7 (in terms of how the Biden administration has handled it).
As for France, I don’t think that’s it’s about fear of riots. I believe that there’s something more genuine in the positions of France that we saw over the past couple of days.
Ahem, can you sum that up a little?
I think it'x six rather than seven.
Anyhow, Netaynahu does represent a large part of the public, but it's a little shallow to look at it just this way. Israel's election system gives him an edge as some parties cling to him because of sectorial considerations and his willingness to allow them budgets that harm Israel on a short term and long term basis, because he's focused on what will keep him in power.
And now he's clearly losing big time in all polls but is refusing any calls for a new election because of that. Meanwhile, aside from Gaza, he's ruining Israel and its future as well.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68999212
Schrodinger's weapons. Simaltaneously too unimportant to bother stopping but also so important that Hamas would be strengthened without them.
Schrodinger's weapons. Simaltaneously too unimportant to bother stopping but also so important that Hamas would be strengthened without them.
Anyone interested in pro Palestinian hip hop, Mic Righteous has just released a new album:
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
"More than 40 women and children were killed... we pulled all these dead children as they were holding hands."
Al Jazeera's @kahlout_moath speaks to survivors of Israel's air attacks on northern Gaza.
https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/1789606358020407344
Al Jazeera's @kahlout_moath speaks to survivors of Israel's air attacks on northern Gaza.
https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/1789606358020407344
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
What is happening in Rafah is a large scale military attack, not a limited operation as described by Israel. According to PCHR’s documentation, at least 116 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the ground operation in #Rafah seven days ago, including 22 women and 38 children. In addition, many have been reported to have gone missing.Widespread displacement across the Gaza Strip due to the forced displacement orders issued by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to Palestinians in Rafah, Jabalya, and Al Zaitoun. UNRWA estimates that 300,000 out of 1.5 million people have now fled Rafah.Displaced people are tired, hopeless and frustrated as many of them have already experienced displacement several times. The displacement conditions are dire and inhumane due to the lack of shelter, food, water, and electricity. In the case people are lucky enough to find a tent, they can not find a place where they can set up one due to overcrowding caused by the forced displacement orders and lack of safe space.Humanitarian aid has not entered Gaza for the seventh consecutive day as a result of Israel’s closure of Rafah and Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings worsening the starvation crisis and threatening the functioning of the remaining hospitals in the Strip primarily due to the lack of fuel. It should be noted that all crossings, whether used for entrance of goods, including humanitarian aid, fuel, or people, into the Strip are now in the control of the IOF.Artillery shellings and fire belts have increased significantly and indiscriminately targeting areas where people were not ordered to evacuate as well as areas that the IOF claims to be a “safe zone”. In the past 37 hours, more than 50 Palestinians have been killed, including a doctor and his son, in the Middle Governorate as a result of intense airstrikes.In conjunction with the ground invasion on Rafah, the IOF are conducting a new military operation Jabalia and Al Zaitoun, north of Gaza, with continued raids, fire belts, and a massive displacement of residents.In sum, Israel is continuing its genocidal military campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza unabated. We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire. ُThis genocide must end now.
They'll say anything to keep the weapons flowing, same with Biden and his report full of contradictions.