QuoteIsraelis who dealt with the bodies of victims of Hamas's 7 October attacks on Israel have told British MPs and peers that there was "deliberate, systematic genital mutilation" of female victims and that there was "no question" that some had been sexually assaulted.
Business Secretary and Minister for Women Kemi Badenoch said all the reports must be fully investigated and sexual violence must be condemned. "Rape is not resistance," she stated.
Hamas has denied its gunmen sexually assaulted women during the attacks.
But a senior Israeli police officer said her force had "clear evidence" that rape and other acts of sexual violence had been committed on a scale large enough to define it as a crime against humanity.
Quote from: dsanchez on April 13, 2024, 15:57:07the German police broke up the congress
QuoteInnensenatorin Iris Spranger (SPD) hatte zuvor ein konsequentes Vorgehen der Polizei im Zusammenhang mit dem "Palästina-Kongress" angekündigt. Sie sagte dem rbb, es gebe klare Auflagen für die Veranstaltung und diese müssten eingehalten werden. Sollten bei dem Kongress Hass und Hetze verbreitet werden, werde die Veranstaltung sofort aufgelöst. Man werde insbesondere dann konsequent einschreiten, wenn Teilnehmer das Existenzrecht Israels infrage stellen würden.
Bei der Veranstaltung war eine Videobotschaft des palästinensischen Autors Salman Abu Sitta abgespielt worden. Gegen Abu Sitta liegen ein Einreiseverbot nach Deutschland sowie ein politisches Betätigungsverbot vor. Der inzwischen 86-Jährige soll nach Medienberichten Anfang des Jahres in einem Blog geschrieben haben, dass er an dem Überfall der Hamas teilgenommen hätte, wenn er jünger gewesen wäre.
QuoteIran has launched hundreds of aerial drones and missiles at Israel, marking a widely anticipated reprisal attack.
It is the first such direct clash between the two enemies, who have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with Iran using proxy forces.
The Israeli military said Israel and other countries had intercepted more than 300 cruise missiles and drones, mostly outside Israeli airspace.
US President Joe Biden said "we helped Israel take down nearly all" of them.
QuoteDer Nahostkonflikt war schon immer eine Projektionsfläche, bei der man sich jeweils auf der moralisch richtigen Seite wähnt. Man überträgt ein dichotomes Weltbild, in dem es entweder Kolonisatoren oder Unterdrückte, letztlich Gut oder Böse gibt, auf diesen Kontext. Viele Menschen haben falsche oder unzureichende Kenntnisse über die Geschichte der Region, einschließlich des Glaubens, dass vor 1948 keine Jüdinnen und Juden dort gelebt hätten. Aus dieser Sicht sieht man Israel als Kolonialstaat und die indigene Bevölkerung sind die Palästinenser*innen. Daraus wird dann geschlossen, dass Israel als neokolonialer Staat abgeschafft und bekämpft werden muss. In großen Teilen des muslimischen und migrantischen Milieus und der Linken gab es daher keine bis wenig Empathie für die israelischen Opfer des Massakers vom 7. Oktober. Viele schwiegen zu dem Massaker am 7. Oktober und fanden dann erst für Israels militärische Antwort dramatische Begriffe wie ,Genozid' oder ,Vergleiche mit dem Warschauer Ghetto'. Und dann gibt es leider nicht wenige in der Linken, die die Hamas als Widerstandsorganisation oder das Massaker vom 7. Oktober als Befreiungsaktion bewerten.
Gleichzeitig fehlte es gerade anfänglich auch in der deutschen Politik an Empathie gegenüber der Zivilbevölkerung in Gaza, während man volle Unterstützung für das israelische Militärvorgehen äußerte. Die politische Unfähigkeit und Unbeholfenheit, klare Aussagen zu zivilen Opfern und dem Leid in Gaza zu treffen, schafft eine gesellschaftliche Kluft. Dass es in einer Migrationsgesellschaft unterschiedliche Perspektiven gibt, wird ausgeblendet. Es wird nicht ernstgenommen, dass Menschen etwa Angehörige vor Ort haben und auch trauern wollen.
Quote from: Ulrich on April 14, 2024, 09:35:20In other news:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68810053QuoteIran has launched hundreds of aerial drones and missiles at Israel, marking a widely anticipated reprisal attack.
It is the first such direct clash between the two enemies, who have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with Iran using proxy forces.
The Israeli military said Israel and other countries had intercepted more than 300 cruise missiles and drones, mostly outside Israeli airspace.
US President Joe Biden said "we helped Israel take down nearly all" of them.
Quote from: Ulrich on April 14, 2024, 09:35:20Quote from: dsanchez on April 13, 2024, 15:57:07the German police broke up the congressThe reason for this was very clear, by the way. One bloke who supports Hamas terrorists, is not allowed any political activity within Germany:
QuoteThere is a historical example that shows that the Iranian retaliation against Israel could perhaps have been evaded.
The US, UK, and France prevented the UN Security Council from condemning the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus despite it being a flagrant violation of international law. The Iranians have hinted that had the UNSC strongly condemned Israel, Iran might have refrained from retaliating against it. Most observers have dismissed the Iranian claim, assessing that Tehran would have acted anyway.
But there is a historical example involving Iran and an attack on an Iranian consulate in which the UNSC acted swiftly and prevented an Iranian retaliation.
It was September 1998. The Taliban had just taken Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan and attacked the Iranian consulate there, executing several Iranian diplomats. I was working for the Swedish Permanent UN Mission at the time and Sweden was not only in the UNSC, it held the presidency of the Council that month.
The Iranian demand on Sweden was clear: Although Iran had mobilized on the border to Afghanistan and was ready to attack, a strong condemnation by the UNSC and its presidency could provide Iran with a face-saving exit and the larger war could be avoided.
Sweden ensured that the attack on the consulate - a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention - was appropriately condemned, and Iran never retaliated against the Taliban militarily, despite the Taliban's clear aggression.
In both cases, an Iranian consulate had been attacked and several Iranian officials had been killed. In both cases, Iran did not want to go to war. But in one case, the UNSC condemned the aggression and Iranian retaliation was evaded. On the other, the US, UK, and France put their support for Israel above international law and prevented the UNSC from condemning the attack, and we are now in the middle of the Iranian retaliation.
Certainly, the 1998 episode does not prove that Iran's retaliation against Israel today could have been prevented. But it does suggest that there was an opportunity to de-escalate that the US/UK/FR ignored or dismissed.
Then again, that fits perfectly with Biden's record of the past 7 months as opportunity after opportunity to de-escalate and end the war in Gaza has been actively dismissed by him.
QuoteThis weekend's air raids in the Middle East set a lot of records. Iran carried out its first ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory, launching an unprecedentedly large swarm of drones and missiles against Israeli military bases. And for the first time in history, U.S. troops engaged in direct combat in defense of Israeli territory.
Quote from: dsanchez on April 14, 2024, 11:06:22Fair enough, but probably they could have banned this person (which I think they did) and leave the congress continue.
Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells The Destruction Of Gaza
— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) October 7, 2024
Watch @MaxBlumenthal's new documentary takedown of the media deceptions and hoaxes Israel pushed to manufacture consent for its genocidal assault on Gaza
In collaboration w/ @propandco & @sutjhally pic.twitter.com/aorw8g7gHX
QuoteLebanon's prime minister at the time of its last war with Israel in 2006 has told the BBC his country has been abandoned by the international community.
Fouad Siniora said it was unacceptable to leave Lebanon to fall, and there was a lack of initiative when it came to trying to restore peace.
"We are now in a very difficult situation that requires real effort locally, as well on the Arab side and internationally.
"You can push things - sometimes to the brink of falling - in a major catastrophe without really realising what it means later on.
"It's happening at a time when the American administration is so busy with the elections.
"And we are unable to elect a president, because some groups in the country, particularly Hezbollah, have been insisting that they want a president that will not stab that group in the back," Siniora said.
The last war between Lebanon and Israel, nearly 20 years ago, began when Hezbollah fighters crossed the border and attacked Israeli soldiers. Two were kidnapped and three were killed, sparking a month-long conflict.
In the days that followed, Siniora made a public statement distancing the Lebanese government from what had happened.
He thinks the country's current leaders have failed their people by not doing the same thing.
"Practically, Lebanon as a state has been kidnapped by Hezbollah. And behind Hezbollah is Iran.
"This gun that was held by Hezbollah, instead of being pointed towards Israel, started to be pointed domestically and started to be used as a way for Iran to interfere in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen. Lebanon can't get involved in such a war."
"The fact that he's put this onto video, he's released this on YouTube... to me it's quite extraordinary, the degree of impunity."
— Al Jazeera Investigations (@AJIunit) October 9, 2024
Retired British Army Major-General Charlie Herbert, who features in our documentary, was horrified by some of the material we showed him. pic.twitter.com/AuD5kchxR6
QuoteThe White House's envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Qatar to join indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on extending the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
Quote from: Ulrich on March 12, 2025, 18:35:01P.S.: Please don't forget there's even worse things going on in the world, e.g. in Sudan with millions threatened by conflicts and hunger. Or this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8vyl3j5kko (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8vyl3j5kko)
Sahel:
The region with more 'terror deaths' than rest of world combined!! :1f635:
Quote from: dsanchez on March 13, 2025, 12:22:25Absolutely! But this topic is about Gaza
Quote from: dsanchez on March 13, 2025, 12:22:25- The ongoing Israel apartheid on Palestinians (nearly 58 years now)
Quote from: Ulrich on March 13, 2025, 12:32:42Not true, can't blame this on Israel alone, the state did not exist in 1945-47 and it was the "Allies" who decided to re-create that state (I think it was the UK who reigned over Palestine back then?).
Quote from: dsanchez on March 13, 2025, 12:35:15Is 58 years of Israel (considered since 1967)
Quote from: Ulrich on March 13, 2025, 12:39:03Quote from: dsanchez on March 13, 2025, 12:35:15Is 58 years of Israel (considered since 1967)Yes, but don't forget many of them came from the "holocaust" and the country was/is surrounded by enemies. The EU have not forgotten...
Quote from: dsanchez on March 13, 2025, 13:08:48They (Israel) have made an awful PR form themselves
QuoteUS President Donald Trump issued on Wednesday what he called a "last warning" to Hamas and Gaza residents to release the remaining 7 October hostages held in the Strip.
Quote from: dsanchez on March 19, 2025, 10:53:48No matter who the President of the US is, they will always do what Israel wants, no matter what.
QuotePresident Trump's bombshell proposal for the United States to build a "Gaza Riviera" is now a trending hashtag on social media. In a series of statements this week, he called for Palestinians to leave Gaza indefinitely while it is rebuilt, asking Egypt and Jordan to shelter them in the meantime. He also did not insist on a two-state outcome for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, breaking with a policy sustained by successive Republican and Democratic administrations, including his first term.
This is so powerful!
— The Resonance (@Partisan_12) March 20, 2025
Activists in Oslo, Norway organized a silent procession for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/alkk95QqlK
QuoteHundreds of people have taken part in the largest anti-Hamas protest in Gaza since the war with Israel began, taking to the streets to demand the group step down from power.
Masked Hamas militants, some armed with guns and others carrying batons, intervened and forcibly dispersed the protesters, assaulting several of them.
The best way to show the world that Zionists are lunatics is to put a camera in front of them and let them talkpic.twitter.com/7cpxJ7B0zj
— Council Estate Media (@CE_Media_) April 28, 2025
🚨BREAKING : The child Ahmad Abu Ruzuq went with his father to the aid distribution center in Gaza but returned alone. Israel killed his father.
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) June 18, 2025
He bid him farewell with heart-wrenching words:
"Why did you leave, Dad? Why?" pic.twitter.com/S0KEkSIAoS