Benjamin Netanyahu

In Wake of NYT Uproar, UN Rights Office Calls for Independent Probe of Israel’s Sexual Abuse of Detainees

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Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A view of Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip, in Negev, Israel, on January 10, 2025. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

While Israel said the claims amount to “blood libel,” a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office said, “torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, are systematically perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners.”

As Israel attempts to discredit New York Times reporting published last week that detailed systematic sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli forces, the United Nations Human Rights Office over the weekend called for an independent probe into what a spokesperson characterized as well-documented mistreatment.

“Torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, are systematically perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners under Israeli custody. This includes numerous cases of rape, involving children,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Saturday, in response to questions from the Anadolu Agency.

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Al-Kheetan added that the human rights office had confirmed the deaths of at least 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023, including a 17-year-old who showed signs of starvation at the time of death.

Israel has announced that it will sue the Times for the report by opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof, which included testimony from 14 Palestinians who said they faced sexual assaults in Israeli custody or during attacks by the Israeli military or settlers. Threatening legal action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials described the reporting as “blood libel.”

But Al-Kheetan said the OHCHR had “systematically documented the practice of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.”

Reports from other human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Israeli group B’Tselem, have included similar testimonies in which Palestinian former detainees say they’ve experienced or witnessed sexual violence while in custody.

Al-Kheetan added that it was part of a “flawed Israeli detention and justice system,” which includes arbitrary detention, unfair trials, and violations of international law. “This system must end, and Israel, as an occupying power, must respect international human rights law and its obligations,” he said.

While rejecting allegations of systemic abuse, Israel has denied requests by the UN and other agencies for access to its detention facilities. Last year, Israel refused a request from the UN to investigate possible sex crimes committed by Hamas militants against Israelis on October 7, 2023, because it would have also involved a probe into its own treatment of Palestinian detainees.

Al-Kheetan said, “independent, impartial, and transparent investigations must be conducted into every death, torture, ill-treatment, and other case of inhuman or degrading treatment, and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.

Israel Blocks UN Probe of Alleged Hamas Sex Crimes During October 7 Attack ›

Continue ReadingIn Wake of NYT Uproar, UN Rights Office Calls for Independent Probe of Israel’s Sexual Abuse of Detainees

‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza

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Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Israeli forces as they approach vessels traveling as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, organized by humanitarians to bring life-saving aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
 (Photo: Screengrab/Global Sumud Flotilla)

“Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel!” said UN expert Francesca Albanese. “When will Israel’s impunity end?”

Israel’s raid on a peaceful flotilla of international vessels attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip was described Monday as an act of brazen piracy and condemned by human rights activists and experts who say the world should no longer stand by in the face of such criminality.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, called the operations by Israel “yet another act of piracy by the Israeli army in international waters” that must be condemned by the global community.

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Noting that the flotilla is “carrying basic necessities to a desperate population in Gaza,” Albanese said: “Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel! When will Israel’s impunity end?”

A dispatch was issued by the Global Sumud Flotilla—which has repeatedly tried to break the siege of Gaza—shortly after 10:30 am local time, which said that their vessels off the coast of Cyprus were “currently surrounded and under active interception by Israeli naval warships in international waters, approximately 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza.”

The Israeli forces reportedly boarded a number of the more than 50 vessels traveling in the flotilla and began detaining those aboard.

“By intercepting the flotilla at a perimeter of 250 nautical miles today and in Cyprus’ SAR zone,” said the Flotilla in its statement, “the Israeli regime continues to demonstrate a systematic disregard for international maritime law, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”

Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist who was detained and imprisoned by the Israelis for several days after being kidnapped off a boat on a previous attempt by humanitarians to reach Gaza with relief supplies, said in a video statement on Monday that now was the time for the international community to act.

“Do something,” pleaded Avila. “Take to the streets. The world cannot stand a genocide. The world cannot stand a country that violates international law, to continue killing children, assassinating children out of hunger, killing people with drones.”

“They want you not to talk about what’s happening in Gaza,” he continued. “There’s no real ceasefire. Seven months of people getting killed, aid still being hindered, more than half the land being taken away, and their plans are the worst for that area—it is complete ethnic cleansing and genocide. We need to stop that.”

Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel who has long been a leading anti-war activist and is currently serving as a member of the support team at the Flotilla’s Crisis Center stationed in Istanbul, Turkiye, called the operation to deliver aid the “largest civilian flotilla in the history of support for Palestinians in Gaza” to date.

“Stop the genocide, not the flotilla,” said Stephen Bowen, executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.

Independent journalist Alex Colston, embedded with the flotilla activists and on one of the vessels approached by Israeli forces, reported that he could confirm “people on intercepted boats are being moved to one, maybe two, military prison frigates,” though it was not clear where exactly those detained would be taken.

Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue Reading‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza

After Offering ‘No Tangible Concessions’ in Iran Peace Talks, Trump Issues Latest Violent Threat

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Article by Julia Conley republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 15, 2026. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

“The only realistic path to a diplomatic breakthrough would require Washington to engage more directly with the structure and substance of the Iranian proposal itself,” said a national security expert.

With the economic impact of the war on Iran linked to President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating, the president issued his latest threat to destroy the Middle Eastern country Sunday as he demanded negotiators “get moving, FAST” to end the conflict the US and Israel began by choice in February.

“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking,” said the president in a Truth Social post, adding that if a peace deal is not reached soon, “there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”

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Trump rejected Iran’s latest peace proposal last week; the country has reportedly offered significant concessions on its uranium enrichment, but seeks to have separate nuclear talks after achieving peace and reaching a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which the Iranians effectively closed in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks.

Since launching the conflict, Trump has demanded the dismantling of Iran’s missile arsenal as well as its nuclear program, which Iran has said is not for military purposes, and has called for the country to cut ties with its regional allies.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said Sunday that Trump had offered “no tangible concessions” in his response to the Iranians’ latest proposal.

“The United States,” said the news outlet, “wants to obtain concessions that it failed to obtain during the war, which will lead to an impasse in the negotiations.”

Trump told Fox News in Beijing over the weekend that the Iranians are “crazy, and you know what? Because of that, they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” explaining why he viewed it as “unacceptable” for nuclear talks to take place separately after a peace deal is brokered.

Trump reportedly spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday about the possibility of renewing strikes on Iran, which would break a ceasefire that was reached more than a month ago.

Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, said Sunday that “the only realistic path to a diplomatic breakthrough would require Washington to engage more directly with the structure and substance of the Iranian proposal itself.”

“Iran’s priorities remain consistent: ending what it views as economic siege conditions, reopening maritime access and reducing pressure in the Gulf, negotiating an end to the broader conflict, and only afterward addressing the nuclear issue,” said Citrinowicz. “At the present moment, it is difficult to see the Iranian leadership agreeing to any framework that does not meaningfully engage with those core demands.”

As with Trump’s earlier threats of violence, including one in April in which he declared that Iran’s entire civilization would die, “never to be brought back again,” Iranian officials said the president’s latest comments—which followed his posting of an image of himself on a military ship accompanied by the words, “It was the calm before the storm”—would not be tolerated.

A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shakarchi, told Mehr that “repeating any folly to compensate for America’s disgrace in the Third Imposed War against Iran will result in nothing but receiving more crushing and severe blows.”

Reporting for Al Jazeera, correspondent Almigdad Alruhaid said that the “kind of language” displayed by Trump on Sunday “is not acceptable here in Tehran. They are projecting defiance rather than [giving] an immediate response to this kind of rhetoric.”

“Behind all of this rhetoric, there is awareness that the diplomatic window right now is narrowing,” said Alruhid.

Meanwhile, US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urged Trump to “hurt them more” in order to force a deal, calling on the president to go through with bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure as he’s threatened to in recent months.

“The reason why Trump didn’t do this during the war—despite threatening it—was because he realized Tehran would retaliate and take out the energy infrastructure in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] states,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “This would lead to a far worse oil crisis—one rooted in production problems, not just a bottleneck in the Persian Gulf.”

“The global economy would be thrown into a deep recession. Fuel shortages would lead to food shortages worldwide. Trump’s presidency would be destroyed,” he said. “None of this matters to Lindsey. He’ll burn the entire planet as long as he gets his war. Trump’s biggest mistake has been to listen to Lindsey and his allies.”

Article by Julia Conley republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

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Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
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Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says disinhibition and swearing are typical and common symptoms, small Orca speaks bluntly.

Continue ReadingAfter Offering ‘No Tangible Concessions’ in Iran Peace Talks, Trump Issues Latest Violent Threat

Trump Says US Fighting Iran War ‘To Help Israel… Saudi Arabia… Qatar… UAE… Kuwait’—China Too

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Article by Stephen Prager republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Trump again says the quiet part out loud—America entered the Iran war to support a genocidal ethno-state and brutal absolute autocracies, all of whom are his political and commercial financiers.”

During his campaign for reelection, one of President Donald Trump’s central pitches was that the US needed to stay out of foreign wars in order to prioritize “America first.”

But his decision to join Israel and launch a massive war with Iran, which has caused turmoil across the American economy, has left many voters rather skeptical of these motivations, believing the war benefits other nations—particularly Israel—more than the US.

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That perception has not been assuaged by statements from officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acknowledged in the early days of the war that a so-called “imminent threat” to the US only existed because Israel had planned to attack, or by the president’s recent comment that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation” regarding the war.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday, Trump appeared to further affirm that the Iran invasion’s impact on his own country is far from top-of-mind.

Trump was asked by Hannity about his weekslong effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in response to the war’s launch, causing a spike in global oil prices that has hit the US. Reopening the strait has become one of Trump’s main demands as he pushes for a deal with Iran, even though it was open before the war began.

But Trump said on Thursday that other countries “need the strait more than we need it open.” He cited his administration’s aggressive expansion of oil drilling, which he has claimed would make the US more resilient to the oil shock, although it hasn’t been enough to stop gas prices from soaring above $4.50/gallon on average.

“We don’t need it at all,” Trump said, to which Hannity responded incredulously, “We don’t need it at all?”

“We don’t need it at all,” Trump reiterated. “I mean, you could make the case, you know, like why are we even, we’re doing it to help Israel, and to help Saudi Arabia, and to help Qatar and [the United Arab Emirates] and, you know, Kuwait and other countries, Bahrain—”

Hannity interjected: “It also helps China.”

Speaking of his summit this week with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, Trump said: “Actually, I told him today, I said, ‘You know, we’re helping you, and we’re helping you in another way,’ because I don’t think they want, I don’t think China wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon either.’”

Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in a written statement to Congress in March that Iran had not tried to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capability after earlier US and Israeli attacks last June, which undercut one of the administration’s primary rationales for war.

Trump’s former National Counterterrorism Center director, Joe Kent, said last week that the US intelligence community agreed in the days leading up to the war that “Iran wasn’t developing a nuclear weapon,” but said that these assessments were undermined by persuasion from “a foreign government—Israel,” which “won the argument and forced us into this war.”

Many of the US’s Persian Gulf allies have publicly tried to distance themselves from the war, especially in the face of retaliation from Iran. But The Associated Press has reported that countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain have pushed Trump behind the scenes to continue escalating the war in an effort to weaken Iran militarily and force more permanent changes to the regime.

Some have noted the Trump family’s close personal ties to the Gulf regimes—from his family’s cryptocurrency venture which is buoyed by a $500 million investment from a powerful member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family; to his son in law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, which has received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund; to his real estate empire which has lucrative Trump-branded properties popping up across the region.

Independent journalist Borzou Daragahi said that with his latest comments, “Trump again says the quiet part out loud—America entered the Iran war to support a genocidal ethno-state and brutal absolute autocracies, all of whom are his political and commercial financiers.”

Article by Stephen Prager republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingTrump Says US Fighting Iran War ‘To Help Israel… Saudi Arabia… Qatar… UAE… Kuwait’—China Too

‘Reporting Isn’t Treason’: Trump Rant at Journalists Sparks Alarm

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Article by Brad Reed republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

President Donald Trump briefs reporters after he concluded his trip to Beijing aboard Air Force One on May 15, 2026 as he returns to the United States.
 (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“No American should be comfortable with the president of the United States accusing a reporter of treason for critical reporting.”

President Donald Trump on Friday sparked alarm among press freedom advocates when he accused New York Times reported David Sanger of committing “treason” for portraying his illegal war with Iran in a negative light.

Speaking with journalists aboard Air Force One on his flight home from China, Trump was asked by Sanger about his failure to accomplish political changes in Iran that he swore to achieve when he launched the war without congressional authorization in late February.

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“I had a total military victory,” Trump replied. “But the fake news, guys like you, write incorrectly. You’re a fake guy, and guys like you write incorrectly. We had a total military victory. We knocked out their entire navy, we knocked out their entire air force, we knocked out all their anti-aircraft weaponry.”

Despite this purported “total victory,” however, Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz and has prevented commercial vessels from traveling through it for the last two months.

After attacking the Times’ reporting about the Iran War, the president pivoted to impugning Sanger’s patriotism.

“I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write,” the president said. “You and The New York Times, and CNN, I would say, are the worst… You should be ashamed of yourself. I actually think it’s treason.”

The Times on Tuesday reported that the Trump administration’s “public portrayal of a shattered Iranian military is sharply at odds with what US intelligence agencies are telling policymakers behind closed doors, according to classified assessments from early this month that show Iran has regained access to most of its missile sites, launchers, and underground facilities.”

Hours after the president’s tirade against Sanger—which echoed Trump’s previous remarks about media coverage of the war—New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander released a statement defending its reporting on the Iran war.

“Reporting isn’t treason,” Stadtlander said. “It’s foundational to a free press and the work that America’s founders wrote the First Amendment to protect. That includes making clear when the claims of government officials and the reality of their actions don’t line up… We will continue this important, constitutionally protected work.”

Trump’s treason accusation also drew a rebuke from Will Creeley, legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, who said that “no American should be comfortable with the president of the United States accusing a reporter of treason for critical reporting.”

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof argued that Trump’s attack on Sanger was really a sign of weakness given the failures of his military campaign against Iran.

“President Trump unloading on David Sander reflects a combination of anxiety, insecurity, and desperation about the Iran War,” Kristof wrote. “David is the dean of national security reporters: experienced, meticulous, and fair. Blaming the messenger underscores that the reality itself is pretty bad.”

Kristof’s sentiment was echoed by former ABC News journalist Terry Moran, who wrote that he can’t “understand how anyone can see Trump here and not see weakness.”

Former Republican Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh said Trump’s interaction with Sanger exposed him as “the biggest fucking crybaby in all of human history.”

Article by Brad Reed republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue Reading‘Reporting Isn’t Treason’: Trump Rant at Journalists Sparks Alarm