Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: torture

Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 06, 2023

Real human rights and fake human rights

The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights just released its report of human rights violations by Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 (it has not yet been released in English.)

Its section on violations against Palestinian human rights activists is summarized:

Concerning human rights defenders, the independent commission said: Human rights defenders are exposed to a number of violations and harassment committed by official bodies or other unofficial parties. It may lead to murder, kidnapping, arrest, torture, threats, harm to the family and defamation. Defenders of women's rights are subjected to various harassments by social movements and religious and political parties, who see their defense of women as a contradiction with religion and in line with the goals of the West and a denial of Arab values, customs and traditions.

Those stories, about real abuse against real human rights activists, is rarely covered by the media - because it doesn't fit the narrative that Israel is the human rights violator of Palestinians and, of course, also one of the biggest human rights abusers in the world. (Apparently Israel is surrounded by an oasis of liberal progressive protectors of humanity.)

So the reality gets buried in reports no one reads while the media exaggerates and fabricates Israeli crimes.

There are real Palestinian human rights defenders - and no one hears about them.

But there are also fake human rights defenders that get lot of coverage. Here's a story that is getting play in Arabic news sites today:

Human rights organizations have called for a boycott of Israeli companies specialized in the field of water and agriculture, prior to their participation in the United Nations Climate Summit (COP 28) scheduled for the end of next November in the UAE.

These companies work to improve their image in front of the world in light of their theft of Palestinian rights to water and the destruction of the Palestinian environment through toxic agricultural pesticides.

The companies (Mekorot, Netafim, Haifa Chemicals, and Adama) seek to present themselves during the summit with their ability to achieve sustainable solutions regarding the environment around the world, at a time when these companies steal Palestinian resources and direct them towards illegal Israeli settlements according to international law.

Human rights organizations are working to reveal the true face of these Israeli companies, and to defend Palestinian rights against climate colonialism.

Notice anything strange?

The stories do not mention a single "human rights" organization that is calling for this boycott.

The only group I can find talking about this is, of course, BDS. They probably pretend to be a human rights organization. Yet it would not be a surprise if HRW or Amnesty indeed does call for a boycott of Israeli companies at COP28. Because "human rights" is now nothing more than a slogan, with no relationship with real human rights.

And the real contributions that Israeli technology make to help the world conserve water are considered not as important as the political boycott of any Jewish-owned company in the Middle East.

And real humans will be deprived of water in the name of "human rights."

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

01/02 Links Pt1: UN's advisory board on Israeli 'occupation' is hypocrisy; 'Even animals get better treatment': Tortured by Hamas, man finds refuge in Israel

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: UN's advisory board on Israeli 'occupation' is hypocrisy

It asked the ICJ to define how Israel’s practices affected the legal status of Israel’s “occupation” of territory over the pre-1967 lines, which would include the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), Gaza (from which Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005) and east Jerusalem.

The UNGA resolution specifically included the “Holy City of Jerusalem” and referred to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, only by its Muslim name of al-Haram al-Sharif.

When a preliminary vote on the request for an ICJ opinion was held in November, 98 countries voted in favor and only 17, including Israel, opposed it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited the drop in support for the Palestinians’ position and the additional support for Israel to his efforts, along with those of President Isaac Herzog, the Foreign Ministry and UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan.
“This is once again a one-sided Palestinian move that undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and potentially harming any possibility for a future process. The Palestinians want to replace negotiations with unilateral measures. They are once again using the UN to attack Israel.”
Yair Lapid
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh praised the UN vote as “a new victory for the Palestinians.” Hamas also welcomed the UN vote.

It is a dangerous move that is far from solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is likely to further inflame it, giving the Palestinians no incentive to sit down and negotiate in good faith.

Furthermore, the UN and ICJ are making a mockery of their own mandates and are being hijacked by the Palestinians. This is similar to the open-ended UN Commission of Inquiry into Israel headed by Navi Pillay.

The Palestinian push for the ICJ ruling is part of its ongoing lawfare against Israel. The court must avoid giving the impression of built-in bias against Israel when choosing the panel it appoints.

'Even animals get better treatment': Tortured by Hamas, man finds refuge in Israel

E., a resident of the Gaza Strip, talks to us from an apartment in greater Tel Aviv, where he has been residing for the past week, helped by friends, who have provided him with a roof over his head. E. has been put on Hamas' blacklist after he made several public statements and published posts, in which he dared to criticize Hamas' policy in Gaza. He attacked the Hamas leadership for violating human rights, criticized the discrimination against women in public areas, and expressed his infuriation with the way Hamas' security institutions handle anti-regime activists.

It is quite bizarre that the one who initially defended political prisoners, eventually became one himself. The Hamas' long arm found E. and he very quickly found himself subject to threats, intimidation, and physical and mental harassment.

"In the initial investigations I was severely beaten, with bruises all over my body; it was very brutal. Even animals are not treated this way. One investigator would walk past me, punch me, then another one would come and beat me mercilessly," says E. "In the later investigations, I suffered less physical torture, but more mental torture. They would offend me, curse my mother and father and threaten them. For example, on one occasion they threatened to kill me and told me, 'Tomorrow we will shoot you and throw you to the dogs, and tell everyone that you collaborated with Israel'."

Another time they wanted me to sign a document saying that after I was released I was forbidden from talking to anyone about what they did to me during the investigation, and not to share what I went through with human rights organizations. Each time after you are arrested and released, you have to take painkillers and rest for three to four days to physically get over what happened. Mentally, it stays with you. You can't forget. This is one of the things that made me leave Gaza."

A Journey in search of livelihood
Two years ago, E. was forced to leave the Gaza Strip following an investigation, during which it was made clear to him that the Hamas security forces had information about his plan to initiate mass demonstrations in Gaza. E. went to Egypt, tried to make a living from a restaurant business, and last August he managed to return to his family in Gaza. "I saw that I had returned to the same Gaza, with the same problems. There is no freedom, there are no jobs, and the jobs that are there are given to Hamas and their loyalists. There is no stability in life. The situation is bad and people live from hand to mouth. Everything I earn – it all goes, nothing is left.

"The children grow up, they have needs. You have to buy them clothes for the winter and heat the house. There are so many everyday needs, and then you ask yourself, 'what future awaits them and me? It makes you think, is this how I want to live? It doesn't make sense. The family eats fresh meat only once a week. Some people eat half portions just so that they can get through the day. Every house in Gaza has debts to the electricity corporation and people have to pay off loans that they took.

"It's getting to the point where residents are not using their cars unless there is something essential because they do not want to waste money on fuel. Many factories in Gaza are closed. Business owners are in and out of prison because of debts, but it's not just because of money. It's in almost every area of life. There is no infrastructure and no projects. People avoid going to hospitals because they don't trust the medical treatment there. Hamas doesn't provide services. There is no future."

The UN Palestinian "NGO Action News" ignores any reports that criticize Palestinian leaders

Every week, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People publishes a newsletter, NGO Action News, where they list out and summarize all of the NGO reports and articles about Palestinians they can find that were published that week. The newsletter is filled with references to reports from Amnesty, Al Haq, Gisha, B'Tselem and lots of other anti-Israel NGOs.

The UN committee routinely and reflexively links to every Amnesty article and report criticizing Israel. However, every once in a while Amnesty issues a rare report criticizing Palestinian leaders. Does the UN report mention those?

On November 2, Amnesty wrote an article about the Palestinian Authority and its torture policies. The NGO Action News that week didn't mention it.

In June of 2021 and again a year later, Amnesty demanded an investigation into the death of Palestinian Nizar Banat apparently at the hands of Palestinian police. NGO Action News ignored both of them.

On March 18, 2019, Amnesty issued a report on Hamas attacking protesters. That week's NGO Action News didn't mention that, either.

Apparently, supporting "Palestinian rights" doesn't include Palestinian human rights under their own leadership. When Palestinians are oppressed by their own leaders, the UN doesn't care.

Or to put it another way, the UN Committee doesn't care about Palestinian rights. It is wholly about attacking Israel.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

UN Torture Committee goes out of its way to avoid dealing with Palestinian torture

Last July, the UN Committee Against Torture issued a press release that praised the Palestinian Authority for being immensely humane and wonderful. It only had a couple of questions to clear up. But in order to ensure that those questions were not too prominent, they framed the release in terms of praise for how Palestinians are dealing with domestic violence (which is in itself not true.)

The statement looks like it was dictated by the Palestinians themselves.

Reading between the lines, the committee clearly knows that Palestinians torture prisoners and also do not do much to protect women victims of violence. But the statement is organized in a way to sweep those concerns under the rug, just asking for clarification so the PA can lie its way out of any embarrassing situation.

It would be comical if it wasn't real:

The Committee against Torture today concluded its consideration of the initial report of the State of Palestine, with Committee Experts praising the State of Palestine’s support for female victims of violence and raising questions about conditions in detention centres and the lack of legislation defining and prohibiting torture.

Naoko Maeda, Committee Expert and Country Co-Rapporteur, said that a special unit and support network had been established to provide support services and shelter for female victims of violence. These were commendable developments. Ms. Maeda noted, however, that gender-based violence and discrimination remained prevalent. What legal frameworks were in place to combat gender-based violence, and what efforts had the State made to raise awareness about the issue?

Sébastien Touze, Country Co-Rapporteur for the State of Palestine and Committee Expert, said that conditions of detention for detainees were of grave concern. Up to 12 persons were housed in small cells; there were concerns related to ventilation and hygiene in cells; and there was a lack of medical care provided for persons with serious illnesses. What measures did the State party intend to implement to improve conditions in detention centres?

Mr. Touze also noted that torture was not specifically defined within national legislation and called for torture to be generally criminalised. Definitions of torture within legislation were varied and too narrow, he said. Would it be possible to harmonise legislation on torture?

As for conditions in detention centres, the delegation explained that the State had earmarked resources to create a new detention facility in Hebron to address prison overcrowding in the region, with the support of funding from the United States. Funding, however, had been stopped by the United States in 2017. Another high security detention facility had been constructed in Jericho that met with the highest international standards, with the support of funding from the International Committee of the Red Cross. There were toilets in each cell of this facility, appropriate sunlight, and high-quality food and medical services.

The delegation also explained that there were several specialised legal committees working toward harmonising national legislation. A draft law had been created that defined and banned torture even when ordered by a superior. There were plans to revise national legislation to reflect the recommendations of treaty bodies.

In closing remarks, Claude Heller, Committee Chair, highlighted the quality of the responses provided by the delegation. Mr. Heller expressed hope that the State of Palestine would submit its second report in more favourable domestic circumstances. He wished the State party every success in fulfilling its responsibilities under the Convention.

It is impossible to read this without realizing what a whitewash it is. And the reason is because they want the world to think that Israel is the worst human rights violator, and no one wants to compare Palestinian prison conditions with Israel's.

Naturally, the UN's "experts" are not nearly as fawning when they talk about Israel's alleged torture.

I found this while looking for statistics on deaths in Palestinian prisons, or indeed any statistics on Palestinian prisons - how many prisoners, their conditions, anything. The PA simply doesn't publish any such information and as far as I can tell, no NGO bothers to compile this information themselves.

Because without the information, no one knows how bad things sre.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Palestinian media ignoring HRW report that PA, Hamas engage in torture

Human Rights Watch issued a press release describing how Hamas and the Palestinian Authority engage in torturing prisoners that haven't been charged with any crime.

As of this writing, I cannot find a single Palestinian news site covering this story.

Israeli Arab sites have the story. Pan Arab news sites have it. But Palestinian media - nothing.

Usually, Hamas media would highlight any report against the PA, but since they are named too, they'd rather not create an opening for people to get upset at them. And the same goes for the media linked to the Palestinian Authority.

This sort of censorship is the every day reality in the Palestinian territories. News that makes leaders look bad is hidden from the news-consuming public. Of course, they can see the story at Al Jazeera - one of the most popular news sources for Palestinians - and then the people grumble on social media about how they have to look elsewhere to read the news.

HRW also felt obligated to claim that Israel tortures Palestinians, too. Because they literally never can release any report or research about Palestinians without mentioning that Israel is really the biggest problem.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Hamas and the PA accuse each other of torturing prisoners. (They're both right.)

A family in Gaza has accused Hamas of torturing their son to death in prison.

The Al-Hasanat family wrote a letter to various authorities claiming that Nawaf Al-Hasanat, who had a wife and six children, was arrested in November over a land dispute and was in Hamas prison until he died last week.

Meanwhile, the PA was accused of torturing Hamas members in a Jericho prison. The "Lawyers for Justice" NGO says that 15 Hamas members who were recently arrested by the Palestinian security services in Ramallah "are subjected to very, very severe torture."

One prisoner, Ahmed Al-Khasib, appeared in court yesterday, unable to speak due to the severity of torture. Another detainee, Ahmed Harish, could not control himself in front of the Jericho Court today and started crying during his court appearance.

As usual, when Israel cannot be blamed, people show no interest in the fate of Palestinian prisoners.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Hypocrites decry Israel detaining "child" Ahed Tamimi - but she's a legal adult in "Palestine"

I just received another faux-outrage fundraising email from the "US Campaign for Palestinian Rights" that claims to care about Ahed Tamimi:

Ahed Tamimi, the brave Palestinian teenage activist who has experienced untold violence at the hands of the Israeli occupation in her short lifetime, spent her News Year’s Eve in an Israeli prison cell. Ahed will be punished severely for the most basic act of resisting a military occupation that has stolen her land, her freedom to live a peaceful childhood, and even the lives of her uncle and cousin. She faces 12 charges in a separate-and-unequal military court system with a 99.74% conviction rate. Read more about the connections between Ahed’s case and the landmark legislation I’m asking you to support.
Israel wants to make an example of Ahed and crush the will to resist. The Israeli government and its supporters are unapologetically brutal in the process; a minister called for life imprisonment and a prominent Israeli journalist implied that 16-year old Ahed should be raped. It is high time that we build our political power to end US complicity in Israel’s abuse of Palestinian children. 2018 will be the year – I can feel it. Take action today.

The 99.74% statistic is from 2010. No one seems to want to look at what the actual rate today is, because the 2010 number is too good.

No one suggested that Ahed be raped.

But the most interesting part is that the Israel haters are trying to get some interest in a bill before Congress called H.R.4391 - Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act.

Under Palestinian law, Ahed Tamimi is an adult. And Israeli military law in the territories also considers 16 year olds to be adults.

But when Israel says it, it is a violation of human rights for children. When Palestinians say it....it is not even worth mentioning.

How many Arabs are in Palestinian jails between 16-18? No one knows....because no one cares.

Hundreds of Arabs report being abused and tortured in Palestinian jails every year. The "pro-Palestinian" activists are silent.

Palestinian Arabs aren't considered worthy of human rights protections, unless the abuse can be blamed on Jews. Facts don't matter.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.