war crimes

Slamming Israeli Media Lies, Freed Hostage Says IDF Strike—Not Hamas—Wounded Her

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman who spent 245 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza after being kidnapped last October 7, meets with representatives of Group of Seven nations in Tokyo on August 21, 2024. (Photo: Richard Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)

“I cannot ignore what happened here over the past 24 hours, taking my words out of context,” said Noa Argamani. “As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be victimized once again by the media.”

An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7 and held hostage for 245 days before being rescued lashed out on Friday at Israeli media outlets that twisted her words to make it seem as if she was wounded by her captors when in reality she was injured in an attack by the military in which she once served.

Responding to reports in outlets including The Jerusalem Post—which on Thursday ran the headline “Hamas Beat Me All Over”—Noa Argamani said on Instagram that “I can’t ignore what happened in the media in the last 24 hours.”

“Things were taken out of context,” the 26-year-old navy veteran from Be’er Sheva said of her earlier comments to Group of Seven diplomats in Tokyo. “I was not beaten… I was in a building that was bombed by the Air Force.”

“I emphasize that I was not beaten, but injured all over my body by the collapse of a building on me,” Argamani added. “As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be victimized once again by the media.”

Prominent Israelis including President Isaac Herzog and pro-Israel voices around the world including writer Aviva Klompas and the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council amplified the false claim that Argamani was “beaten” by her captors.

Argamani was partying with her boyfriend Avinatan Or at the Nova rave near the Gaza border when the festival was attacked by Hamas-led militants in the early morning hours of October 7. In now-famous video footage, she is seen begging, “Don’t kill me!” as her captors whisk her away toward Gaza on a motorcycle. Or was also kidnapped and is believed to still be in Hamas custody.

“Every night, I was falling asleep and thinking, this may be the last night of my life,” Argamani said Thursday of her time in captivity.

Argamani was one of four Hamas captives rescued during a June raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, an operation in which Israeli forces killed at least 236 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Three other Israeli hostages taken from the Nova rave were also rescued in the raid.

“It’s a miracle because I survived October 7, and I survived this bombing, and I also survived the rescue,” Argamani said in Tokyo on Thursday.

Argamani’s rescue fulfilled a dying wish from her mother, who had terminal cancer, to be reunited with her daughter before she passed. Argamani was also freed on the birthday of her father, Yakov Argamani, who, from the start of the hostage ordeal, urged Israeli leaders to eschew revenge after the October 7 attack.

There are believed to be around 109 Israelis and others still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Argamani implored the government to make freeing them its top priority.

“Avinatan, my boyfriend, is still there, and we need to bring them back before it’s going to be too late,” she said Thursday. “We don’t want to lose more people than we already lost.”

More than 1,100 Israelis and others including Thai farmworkers were killed on October 7, at least some of them in so-called “friendly fire” attacks by Israeli forces. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) employed a protocol known as the “Hannibal Directive” authorizing lethal force against Israeli soldiers in order to prevent them from being taken prisoner by enemy forces. More than 240 Israelis and others were abducted by Hamas and other militants.

Freed hostages have recounted being fired upon by Israeli aircraft as they were being taken by Hamas militants to Gaza. One former captive said in December that “every day in captivity was extremely challenging. We were in tunnels, terrified that it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us, and then they would say Hamas killed you.”

Numerous Israeli hostages have been killed by their would-be rescuers, including a trio of men who managed to escape from their captors and were waving white flags and shouting for help in Hebrew when they were shot dead by IDF soldiers in Gaza in December, and five Israelis who likely suffocated to death due to a fire sparked by an Israeli assault six months ago on the tunnel where the hostages were being held.

In contrast to former Palestinian prisoners held by Israel—who, along with Israeli whistleblowers, have reported systemic torture, rape, starvation, and even murder committed by their captors—numerous Israelis kidnapped by Hamas have reported being relatively well treated. Other former hostages said they were physically, sexually, and psychologically abused.

Taking civilian hostages is a war crime in itself.

Israel’s 322-day retaliation for October 7 has left at least 144,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced by Israel’s bombardment and invasion, which has flattened much of the coastal enclave. A crippling siege has pushed hundreds of thousands of Gazans over the brink of starvation, with at least dozens of children dying of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care. Preventable diseases including measles, hepatitis, and polio threaten public health not only in Gaza but also in Israel and other neighboring nations.

Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

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Continue ReadingSlamming Israeli Media Lies, Freed Hostage Says IDF Strike—Not Hamas—Wounded Her

‘You Must Do Better’: Harris Rebuked Over Failure to Change Course on Gaza

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

A banner calling for an arms embargo against Israel is pictured outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22, 2024. (Photo: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza, but she failed to commit to the change in policy that would secure a cease-fire: ending weapons transfers to Israel,” said one Palestinian rights group.

During her speech Thursday night accepting the Democratic Party’s 2024 nomination, Vice President Kamala Harris decried the “heartbreaking” suffering that Gazans are experiencing after 10 consecutive months of Israeli bombardment.

But Harris didn’t acknowledge, let alone condemn, the central role the United States has played in fueling the humanitarian emergency in the Palestinian enclave, where civilians face indiscriminate bombings daily as well as famine and appalling disease outbreaks—including a possible polio epidemic.

Instead, Harris repeated a line that has become commonplace for the White House and its allies, declaring that “President [Joe] Biden and I are working around the clock” to secure a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Nor did Harris explicitly denounce Israel’s actions in Gaza, which have included atrocities committed with U.S. weaponry.

“Harris wanted to portray herself as strong and brave, but when she had to switch to passive voice (“What has happened in Gaza”) to avoid calling out Israel’s war crimes, she showed stunning cowardice,” said Palestinian American political analyst Yousef Munayyer.

Declining to break with the administration in which she currently serves, the vice president did not express support for a policy shift that would pressure Israel’s far-right government to accept a cease-fire agreement, such as an arms embargo of the kind supported by United Nations experts, leading human rights groups, and a majority of U.S. voters.

“I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” said Harris, condemning the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

“If you really wanted a cease-fire, you’d just stop sending the weapons. It is that simple.”

Abbas Alawieh, a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, toldReuters following the vice president’s speech that she did not deliver what was badly needed as the disaster in Gaza worsens by the minute: “courageous leadership that breaks from the current approach.”

The IMEU Policy Project, an affiliate of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, echoed Alawieh’s assessment, saying in a statement that “with Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination, the party had an opportunity to move in a new direction.”

“Tonight Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza, but she failed to commit to the change in policy that would secure a cease-fire: ending weapons transfers to Israel,” the group said. “To be clear: There is no way to end this bloodshed while supplying Israel with billions of dollars in weapons as it indiscriminately bombs Palestinian families, schools, hospitals, refugee shelters, and places of worship.”

“It must be noted that Harris’ call for ‘dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination’ for the Palestinian people received thunderous applause,” the organization added. “However, words are not enough. Democratic voters are increasingly united in their demand for a change in policy on Gaza and in support of Palestinian safety and freedom broadly; it is time for the Democratic Party leadership to catch up.”

Denied a speaking slot on the convention stage, Palestinian American delegates and their allies made their voices heard in the hallways of Chicago’s United Center and outside of the facility, where they held a sit-in to protest the DNC’s rejection of their demands.

Calls for a Palestinian American speaker on the DNC stage drew broad support from Democratic lawmakers and their allies, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the United Auto Workers.

Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish Biden political appointee who resigned in May over the administration’s Gaza policy, said late Thursday that she was “so sad and disappointed” that the DNC chose to “silence Palestinian American voices and exclude them from the convention stage.”

“VP, I want you to win in November,” Call added. “You must do better.”

Layla Elabed, a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement and the sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said Thursday that “Michigan voters want to vote for Harris, but we need to shift policy.”

“Many of us know the impact of U.S.-funded bombs firsthand,” said Elabed.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the lawmakers who showed solidarity with uncommitted delegates as they staged a sit-in outside of the DNC earlier this week, clearly articulated the U.S. Palestinian rights movement’s position during a press conference on Wednesday, a day before Harris took the stage in Chicago.

“If you really wanted a cease-fire, you’d just stop sending the weapons,” said Omar. “It is that simple.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

‘Let Palestine Speak’: Uncommitted Shares Speech the DNC Won’t Allow ›

‘History Is Watching’: Gaza Doctors Urge Harris to Back Israel Arms Embargo at Democratic Convention ›

Continue Reading‘You Must Do Better’: Harris Rebuked Over Failure to Change Course on Gaza

Three on trial for peaceful anti-genocide protest at weapons factory

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Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

‘Hastings three’ pursued criminally next week for General Dynamics protest

Three local men, one of them a pensioner, go on trial next Tuesday, 27 August, at Hastings Magistrates Court on charges of aggravated trespass for taking part in a peaceful demonstration at a local arms factory in February.

The ‘Hastings3’ took part in the cross-community demonstration outside the General Dynamics site on Sidley Little Road on 29 February, supported by representatives of Jewish groups, Quakers, trade union bodies, parent groups and political parties. Demonstrators held placards, sung songs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and handed out leaflets – but several were roughly arrested and dragged off to police vans.

Laurance Holden, 71, Clem McCullough, 31, and Thomas Delves, 24 will plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of a fine of up to £2500 and a jail term of three months.

Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign chair Katy Colley said:

The pursuit of these men is clearly political and designed to deter peaceful protests. We have been demonstrating at General Dynamics consistently since the genocidal assault on Gaza began 10 months ago to draw attention to the merchants of death in our hometown complicit in these atrocities.

General Dynamics makes all the casings for the bombs being dropped on Gaza – their Hastings sites makes avionic and communication systems for fighter jets and combat vehicles used by the Israeli military.

Over 40,000 men women and children have been brutally slaughtered in what the world court has deemed a ‘plausible genocide’.

There is a clear legal imperative to stop arming Israel, as was underlined this week when British diplomat Mark Smith resigned on this point, saying it was clear to everyone that Israel was “flagrantly and regularly” perpetrating war crimes in plain sight.

And yet our government continues to issue export licenses to companies like General Dynamics, allowing Israel to continue its barbaric and murderous campaign against the trapped civilian population in Gaza.

The Hastings Three are brave, principled people who do not want our town to be complicit in war crimes. They are with the majority. Poll after poll show that most people want an end to arms sales to Israel immediately. We stand with them, the side of the people, the side of the law and the side of justice.

Dozens of supporters are expected to attend a protest rally at the Magistrates court from 9am in support of the three, and a benefit concert is being held in the evening to raise money for people in Gaza as well as money for court costs. 

[S?]imon Hester, Chair of the Hastings & District TUC, said:

Protesting against genocide is not a crime. The Hastings and District Trades Union Council supports the Hastings 3 and demands an immediate end to arms sales to Israel.

Kathy Shapiro of Hastings Jews for Justice added:

Hastings Jews for Justice is outraged that the Hastings 3 are facing trial.

It is General Dynamics that should be on trial, not concerned citizens. As Jews of conscience we will continue to exercise our right and moral obligation to speak out against this criminal complicity until there is an arms embargo of Israel, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and justice and freedom for Palestinians.’

Leah Levane, Co-Chair of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), said:

The more than 10 months of carnage in Gaza demands a serious response.  The ICJ decision makes stopping arms trading with Israel and obligation and these three people have been arrested for protesting in favor of International Law. 

I am disappointed, to put it mildly, that the Court’s precious and expensive time is being used to try three men whose acts show their commitment to International Law as well as to justice for Palestinians and, of course, peace.’

Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Continue ReadingThree on trial for peaceful anti-genocide protest at weapons factory

Democrats propose no change on unflinching support for Israel in national convention

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Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Protesters rally outside of the Democratic National Convention (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

The Democratic Party’s National Convention convenes to formally nominate candidate for President, with Kamala Harris the likely choice

Following the first day of the Democratic National Convention, which runs from August 19 to 22 in Chicago, delegates voted to approved the 2024 Democratic Party platform. Notably, the platform still reads: “President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job.”

While there are still no concrete policies outlined in the Harris-Walz official campaign website, the 2024 Democratic Party platform can be seen as the first glimpse into what this administration promises to offer to the people of the US. 

Many were waiting to see if the platform would indicate any changes to the Democratic Party’s unconditional support for Israel, given the mass movement for Palestine ongoing in the US since October 7. The document reveals that the Democratic Party policies will not shift in any major way, and it still outlines a plan for continued war on the people of the West Asia region. 

The US in recent weeks has intensified efforts to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance groups in the latest round of ceasefire negotiations in Qatar and Egypt. However, this current push has been widely criticized for continuing to undermine bare minimum red lines from Palestinians. A widening of the current genocidal war on Gaza has become a likely possibility following the assassinations of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader and key negotiator Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Iran. Both Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate.

In their platform, the Democrats show that they still stand outside of international laws and consensus in declaring that the party “opposes any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement,” and that “President Biden and Vice President Harris believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States.” 

Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah points out the irony that the platform begins with a so-called land acknowledgement which is meant to acknowledge the country’s Indigenous people and land, while the Democrats are “arming the genocide of another Indigenous people.”

According to Abunimah, the platform is “completely out of touch with the base of the Democratic Party.” He continues, “this is not a platform that represents Democratic voters,” most of whom support an end to US aid to Israel. 

The Democratic Party machine has shifted their nominee from “Genocide Joe” Biden to Kamala Harris, in an attempt to rebrand their candidate as not being as directly associated with the US arming and enabling of Israel’s genocide. However, the movement for Palestine has continued to put pressure on the party, pointing out that not only has Harris been a crucial figure in the Biden administration as vice president, but the party as a whole continues to play a role in sustaining unshakeable support for Israel.

Protesters march to the Democratic National Convention (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

This year’s DNC counter-protests have unsurprisingly focused on calling out the party’s significant complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Since October, people across the US have called on their elected officials at all levels and of both mainstream parties to call for a ceasefire and an arms embargo against Israel. And yet, Biden’s administration has done nothing but double down in its support for Israel. Last week on August 14, the Pentagon approved a USD 20 billion weapons sale to Israel. The US Congress not only invited Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in a special joint session on July 24, but also gave him a standing ovation. 

On Monday August 19, the first day of the DNC in Chicago, thousands of people participated in a mass march with grassroots organizations, including CODEPINK, the ANSWER Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. The crowd of protesters even managed to breach the security fence outside of the convention. 

Protester holds up sign outside of DNC (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

In addition to the mass mobilizations outside the convention, activists have also been disrupting events related to the convention itself to voice their protest to delegates directly. 

A Palestine solidarity activist disrupted a welcome party for Democratic Party delegates in Chicago, hopping onto the stage and shouting into the microphone, “you are funding a genocide! The Harris-Biden administration keeps pumping money to Israel!” before being dragged away by security. 

A protester also confronted former Speaker of the House and leading Democrat Nancy Pelosi at a DNC event on feminism, asking her, “what do you have to say about all of the women in Gaza who have been murdered?” Pelosi avoided the question. 

Harris’ running mate Tim Walz, current Governor of Minnesota, was disrupted by activists with anti-war group CODEPINK at the DNC women’s caucus on Tuesday. Activists shouted “stop killing women in Gaza!” and “arms embargo now!” while Walz’s supporters chanted in response “USA! USA!”

This year’s DNC is also marked by the dozens of delegates representing the around 700,000 people across various states who cast “uncommitted” or protest votes in their respective Democratic Party primaries when Biden was the presumptive nominee. The uncommitted delegates are keeping up the pressure on Harris to change the US’s policy on Israel, and requesting that Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, who volunteered in Gaza, be permitted to address the convention. 

Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingDemocrats propose no change on unflinching support for Israel in national convention

UK Ministers at Risk of Liability for Supporting Israeli War Crimes: Legal Expert

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Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Pro-Palestinian rights advocates display placards critical of the Labour Party leadership on May 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo: Guy Smallman/Getty Images)

“There is a ‘real prospect’ individuals… may have knowingly facilitated the commission of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity,” a legal analysis found.

Amid reports that government officials have expressed doubt that the United Kingdom can continue supporting Israel’s assault on Gaza without breaking international law, a legal expert commissioned by a rights group warned the Labour Party on Wednesday that government ministers could be liable for possible war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces.

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden wrote to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday, advising him that the organization has commissioned a leading lawyer, Sam Fowles of Cornerstone Barristers, to provide a legal analysis of the U.K.’s potential breach of international law via its support for Israel.

Fowles determined that “the U.K. and individuals, including government ministers and senior civil servants, may be liable for crimes committed by the Israeli state or Israeli personnel during the country’s ongoing military operation in Gaza and through the country’s unlawful occupation of Gaza and the West Bank,” wrote Dearden, with the potential liability arising from the U.K.’s continued “aid and assistance provided to Israel.”

The legal opinion, said Tim Bierley, campaigner for Global Justice Now, should send “alarm bells… sounding across Whitehall.”

“The U.K. government is putting its own ministers and civil servants at risk of prosecution by its continued failure to withhold support for Israel,” he said.

In a 28-page report, Fowles pointed to the U.K.’s involvement with Israel since October 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began its bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

U.K. surveillance aircraft have reportedly flown more than 200 missions over Gaza to assist Israel since October, and about 100 Royal Marines were sent to the Eastern Mediterranean shortly after the Hamas attack. The U.K. has also sent military aid to Israel and granted at least 42 new weapons licenses since Israel began its operations in Gaza, where Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the IDF to release “all the restraints” that would protect civilian lives.

Israel’s full-scale assault on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom have been women and children, and has included numerous strikes on so-called “humanitarian zones.” It has also included Israel’s blocking of nearly all humanitarian aid, leading to a mass starvation crisis that United Nations experts last month said qualifies as famine, and the spread of diseases including polio.

According to Fowles’ legal analysis, said Dearden, the U.K. government “could be liable for Israel’s alleged breaches of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity during its military operation in Gaza since October 2023.”

Fowles also found potential liability for “Israel’s breaches of the right to self-determination and the prohibition of obtaining territory by aggression in its illegal and ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.”

The barrister pointed out that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on July 19 that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza is unlawful and that it breached international law by obtaining control of the territories by force. The ICJ also ruled in January that it was plausible that Israel has violated Gaza residents’ rights under the Genocide Convention since October 2023.

Fowles’ finding that the U.K. and its high-level government officials could be liable for war crimes was also bolstered, he said, by a report presented in May by the U.N.’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which found Israel “had committed multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Dearden wrote that Global Justice Now is hopeful that the findings will lead to “the swift and decisive action needed to end U.K. complicity in Israel’s war crimes,” particularly following the decision of Foreign Office official Mark Smith to resign from the government this week, saying there is “no justification” for continued arms sales to Israel.

The government is reportedly considering an arms embargo on Israel, but Dearden noted that on July 29, officials announced they were “seeking to develop a new trade deal with Israel.”

“We seek to highlight the legal advice which states that ‘it seems likely that the U.K., through its trade relationship with Israel, has helped facilitate the unlawful occupation,'” wrote Dearden.

Earlier this year, lawyers for the Conservative government that was voted out in July advised officials that Israel, with U.K. support, has breached international humanitarian law.

“What on Earth is [the government] waiting for?” asked Bierley. “It is long overdue for the U.K. to match words with actions by immediately suspending arms sales, trade talks, and other aid and assistance to Israel.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

UK Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party's support for and complicity in Israel's genocide of Gaza.
UK Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Continue ReadingUK Ministers at Risk of Liability for Supporting Israeli War Crimes: Legal Expert