Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Afternoon links

Sadat assassination plotter remains unrepentant (MSNBC)

Christian Aid's one-sided Palestinian "refugee" report (NGO Monitor)

UN Watch exposes Richard Falk's anti-semitic cartoon; Falk tries to hide the evidence

Does Iran’s Latest Military Exercise Signal a New Defense Doctrine? (JCPA Blog)

The Gaza Flotilla up the river Thames (Richard Millett)

How the Media Fosters the Myth Palestinians Want Peace (Evelyn Gordon, Commentary - a type of post I would make!)

There was a brouhaha last week on the news that the US had put Israel on a terror watch list. The Homeland Security Department now says it was a mistake.

Prospects and Implications of UN Recognition of Palestinian Statehood (Washington Institute)

Canadian on FBI terror list accused of seeking to set bomb in Israel

(h/t Zach N, Silke, CHA)

US judge decides to help out PLO terrorists

From Suits and Sentences:

The Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority will get an unusual second chance to challenge a very expensive lawsuit that had previously been ignored.

This is something you don't see every day. In April 2005, after the defendants essentially stopped responding, a federal court issued a default judgment in favor of the victims of a February 2002 suicide bombing in the West Bank village of Karnei Shomron. Two American teenagers died in the bombing of the pizza parlor, and many others were injured.

The victims and family members sued Syria as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority and others. By defaulting, the Palestinian organizations faced a judgment potentially exceeding $300 million. Now, though, they want a chance to contest the lawsuit.

In a decision made public Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said that though "the default was wilfull at the time, (the Palestinian organizations) clearly demonstrated their commitment to engaging in this litigation." Moreover, Leon noted, imposing a massive liability "on a struggling government, even if that government is not a recognized state, is not something this court takes lightly."

And so the case is back on.

It sounds like the judge decided to allow the PLO to reopen the case because, gosh darn it, it would hurt their struggling government too much if the previous decision for them to pay up would be enforced.

All we are saying, is give terrorists a chance.

(h/t Lenny)

Even the HuffPo declares flotilla a failure. Plus - an origami contest!

You know that they failed when the Huffington Post says they failed!

The loose-knit network behind the stranded aid flotilla that has garnered international attention has little to tie it together except a cause, and now it is dispersing after at least two weeks in Greece. Many American activists flew home on Wednesday, and a peaceful sit-in by Spanish protesters at their embassy in Athens was dwindling in size.

Members of this genial Tower of Babel, including veterans of leftist politics, gave formal news conferences in casual attire in the past week to drum up publicity, one of the few tools at their disposal in the face of government pressure blocking their flotilla.

The movement included Dror Feiler, an Israel-born musician who moved to Sweden decades ago; Vangelis Pissias, a professor at the Technical University of Athens; and Jane Hirschmann, a psychotherapist from New York City and member of a group called "Jews Say No!"

There was also a Swedish crime writer, an Irish rugby player and a former indigenous chief from Canada.

"We are people that normally never communicate with each other," said activist Mattias Gardell, a Swedish academic who has studied religious extremism in the United States. "We disagree heavily on other subjects."

But we all really, really hate Israel!

As options dwindled, organizers declared victory anyway, citing the attention they drew to their cause.

"Maybe if we're here a bit longer, we will learn the Greek language," joked Raef El-Ghamri, a native Egyptian who now lives in Germany and helped prepare an ambulance with medicine and a wheelchair for delivery to Gaza's population. He said a cargo vessel that is supposed to carry the equipment had not been loaded, another sign of how far the flotilla was from achieving its goals.

...On the surface at least, many adhere to a Woodstock-era message of harmony that verges on simplistic at times. It would be hard to imagine a number of them engaging in lethal combat.

"Exist to Resist," is one snappy slogan. "Stay human, brother," is a rallying cry.

Some flotilla news conferences resembled religious revival meetings, with activists chanting and holding "Free Gaza" signs. On the podium, French organizer Thomas Sommer-Houdeville drew applause when he said:

"We are not terrorists, we are victims of love!"

Canadian activists, whose boat is called "Tahrir" after the square in Cairo that became a symbol of the Egyptian uprising, urged people back home to put a boat symbol in their office or home windows. They posted instructions on how to make an origami boat on their website.

An origami flotilla! That's such a great idea!

So here's the contest: Create a moonbat origami boat, decorated appropriately, and email me a photo. I'll choose the best ones to post here.

For instructions to make an origami boat, check here, here here, here or here.

Five star hotel to open in Gaza

Palestine Today discusses Gaza's first five-star hotel, due to open in the coming weeks.

The $45 million hotel features 225 rooms, a spa and swimming pools.

Israellycool managed to snag some photos of the hotel from a Facebook page that is no longer available:

Slate noticed this as well, although it contextualizes it as a hotel that will not have any guests.

Inside, at least, the hotel lives up to its five-star claim: It features a top-floor "royal suite," which comes with its own reception area and multiple security rooms (enclosed rooms near the entrance to the suite where guards can monitor and screen anyone entering), and in the basement, workers were finishing an ornate Turkish bath and sauna. Outside on the patio, smartly uniformed waiters serve colorful milkshakes in sugar-rimmed glasses, and a group of women in fashionably tight jeans and spiked heels smoke shisha.

...In some respects, Hamas-controlled Gaza is buzzing with construction, and the seaside area of Gaza City is lined with new restaurants. Over the last year, Israel has eased the blockade, allowing some building materials to get through, and the rest come through the tunnels, albeit at a premium. Gaza—or at least Gaza City—shows signs of basic economic improvement. Consumer products are flowing in, and the Gazan equivalent of a dollar store (a 2.5-shekel shop, which is actually equivalent to about 73 cents), sells everything from women's underwear to cooking whisks. For better or for worse, the Al-Mashtal is just one sign of Gaza's slow recovery. In Gaza City, once-pockmarked streets are being rebuilt with attractive brick pavement. Ziad al-Za Za, a former economic minister for Hamas, rattled off a laundry list of projects in progress, ranging from street construction to rebuilding residential housing.

...Indeed, the Al-Mashtal illustrates a fundamental dilemma of Gaza's economy: Gaza is now open enough that it can get the materials necessary to build projects like a five-star hotel, but it lacks the economy to support it.

The reporter is forgetting about the bustling NGO industry in Gaza that will always ensure lots of Westerners with expense accounts will not put up with less than the best. Or does she think that Gaza businessmen are so stupid as to invest millions in a luxury hotel that would remain empty?

(h/t T34 for the Slate article)

What happened to the Jordanian ship?

Since the Flotilla Flop started, we have not heard much from the Jordanian ship that was supposed to participate.

The Jordanian vessel was the most worrisome one, as it would have been filled with Arabs whose idea of "non-violent resistance" includes Molotov cocktails, iron bars and chains.

The "Jordan Lifeline" committee started off with high hopes. Its never completed webpage says that, in their original press conference in February, they hoped to get 200 participants, each paying some 4000 dinars ($5600) for the privilege.

In April, they announced 140 participants.

On June 26th, they announced that they provided a 10% down payment on a boat in Greece, and was trying to get the Jordanian unions to pay for the other 90%. At that point they said they had 70 Arabs who would be on board, 35 of them Jordanian.

A later story seems to imply that the funds were found, but the source is far from reliable.

So what happened? Did they get the boat? (And would Jordanian trade unions really put out $800,000 from their own funds to purchase a boat that would, at best, be symbolic?)

Or is this just another of the many examples of flotilla fools talking big and failing even bigger?

UN flotilla report finds Gaza blockade is legal (Ha'aretz)

From Ha'aretz:

The UN committee investigating the events of last May's Gaza flotilla, headed by former Prime Minister of New Zealand Geoffrey Palmer, convened Wednesday in New York to conclude the report.

According to a political source in Jerusalem, the final findings of the Palmer Report show that the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza is legal and is in accordance with international law.
The report also sharply criticizes the Turkish government's behavior in its dealings with the committee. Palmer, an expert on international maritime law, added in the report that Israel’s Turkel commission that investigated the events was professional, independent and unbiased.

His findings on the Turkish committee were less favorable, with Palmer concluding that the Turkish investigation was politically influenced and its work was not professional or independent.

On Thursday, the Palmer Committee will present its findings to UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, yet it remains unclear if it will be made public. Turkey is pressuring the UN to delay that release of the investigation's findings, but the report is likely to be made public in the coming days.

The Palmer Committee also criticizes the IHH organization that organized the Gaza flotilla as well as its ties to the Turkish government, suggesting Turkey did not do enough to stop the flotilla.

Israel does not come out of the report unscathed, with the committee concluding that based on testimony given by passengers, the Israeli naval commandos used excessive force. Israel claimed the soldiers acted out of self defense, thereby justifying the use of force.

According to the final draft of the probe, Israel is not asked to apologize to Turkey, but the report does recommend it expresses regret over the casualties. The Palmer Report also doesn't ask Israel to pay compensation, but proposes Israel transfer money to a specially-created humanitarian fund.

Palmer says that although international law permits the interception of ships outside territorial waters, Israel should have taken control of the flotilla when the ships were closer to the limit of the naval blockade – 20 miles off the coast. Israel responded by saying that its interception of the flotilla so far from the coast was due to military and tactical considerations, following the organizers' refusal to stop.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has been quoted - even by the BBC - as saying that the blockade is illegal. However, that is not true - they said that the closure of Gaza was illegal where Israel limited the types of goods allowed in before last summer. The word "blockade" in a legal sense refers specifically to the naval blockade by Israel of an enemy territory. The Red Cross was very careful not to use the word "blockade."

Amnesty and a host of other NGOs were not as careful, as they - without citing any evidence or legal reasoning - referred to the blockade as "illegal" in a report issued last year.

The UNHRC, in its laughable flotilla report, actually tried to find legal reasonings why the blockade is illegal:

In evaluating the evidence submitted to the Mission, including by OCHA oPt, confirming the severe humanitarian situation in Gaza, the destruction of the economy and the prevention of reconstruction (as detailed above), the Mission is satisfied that the blockade was inflicting disproportionate damage upon the civilian population in the Gaza strip and that as such the interception could not be justified and therefore has to be considered illegal.

Given that Gaza has no ports to import goods, it is absurd to say that the naval blockade is disproportionately punishing Gazans!

Wikipedia summarizes the governing laws of a blockade:

According to the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994,[10] a blockade is a legal method of warfare at sea, but is governed by rules. The blockading nation must publish a list of contraband. The manual describes what can never be contraband. Outside this list, the blockading nation is free to select anything as contraband. The blockading nation typically establish a blockaded area of water, but any ship can be inspected as soon as it is established that it is attempting to break the blockade. This inspection can occur inside the blockaded area or in international waters, but never inside the territorial waters of a neutral nation. A neutral ship must obey a request to stop for inspection from the blockading nation. If the situation so demands, the blockading nation can request that the ship divert to a known place or harbour for inspection. If the ship does not stop, then the ship is subject to capture. If people aboard the ship are resisting capture, they can be attacked. It is still not allowed to sink the ship, unless provision is made for rescueing the crew. Leaving the crew in liferafts / lifeboats does not constitute rescue. If a neutral ship is captured, any member of the crew, resisting capture can be treated as prisoners-of-war, while the remainder of the crew should be released. A neutral nation may choose to send a convoy accompanied by warships. The warship can provide guarantees that the convoy does not contain contraband. in which case, the blockading nation does not have any right of inspection.

Israel has fastidiously adhered to all of these requirements.

It is nice to see that the UN has the ability to tell the truth once in a while. It remains to be seen if this report will ever see the light of day.

"Small but high-quality flotilla" (updated, corrected)

From YNet:

The Gaza-bound Juliano ship left Greece Wednesday afternoon, after suffering huge delays due in part to a ban set by Athens on the departure of flotilla ships from its ports.

On board the ship are 20 activists. Last week flotilla organizers claimed that Israel had sabotaged the ship in an attempt to prevent it from sailing.

"We are at sea," former Israeli Dror Feiler, one of the organizers, told Ynet. "All roads lead to Gaza. It will be a small but high-quality flotilla."

Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, told Ynet that the Juliano will rendezvous, in international waters, with a French boat already at sea before heading towards the Strip. She gave no details on the location of the meeting.

Dror Feiler came equipped for the trip - with his saxophone:

I'm 100% certain that Gaza terrorists will like his music better than European audiences.

Because here's what Feiler was up to in 2008:

A German orchestra has dropped a composition from its programme after its members claimed the music was so loud that it gave them ear problems and headaches.

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BR) said it had little choice but to drop the world premiere of Swedish-Israeli composer Dror Feiler's Halat Hisar (State of Siege), from a concert because it was "adverse to the health" of its musicians.

Members of the 100-strong orchestra said they could only contemplate playing the piece wearing headphones, after several suffered buzzing in the ears for hours after rehearsals. The 20-minute composition starts with the rattle of machine-gun fire and gets louder.

"I had to protect the orchestra," its manager, Trygve Nordwall, said. "I can't just say we'll play it anyway, for it to then cause health problems. The piece starts with machine-gun shots ... and that's the quietest part of it."

A music piece that starts with machine gun fire? That's music that Hamas could really love!

Unfortunately, the planned rendezvous with the French boat Dignite - because the Greeks have intercepted that latter boat and are holding it at least overnight.

And in case you were wondering what a "high quality flotilla" looks like, here's a photo of the Juliano:

Did he say "quality" or "comedy"?

(h/t dibbuk)

UPDATE: The Juliano didn't make it out of Greek waters. (h/t CHA). And the second photo was not the Juliano, I misread a photo caption (h/t Raymond)

Hamas starts arresting male hairdressers

From the BBC:

The Hamas government in Gaza has begun enforcing a law introduced last year banning men from cutting women's hair.

Until now, the law had not been enforced, but this week at least one male hairdresser in Gaza was arrested.

Male hairdressers for women are regarded by many Muslims as against Islamic tradition.

The move is seen as an attempt to bolster Hamas's Islamic credentials against critics who say it has become too moderate.

The reality is in Gaza - with its huge Muslim majority - most women do not want to have their hair cut by men.

Nevertheless a few salons have clung on, where male hairdressers work.

This week they are sitting idle outside their shops, fearful of arrest if they step inside.

Adnan Barakat, a hairdresser with 27 years experience, said: "Without work, I am like a dead man, because I am without work. The salon cannot work without me. This is my work since 1984. I haven't another work. What can I do?"

Others, like Mr Barakat, complain they are being watched by undercover police.

Hamas argues it is only enforcing a law that the majority of people here want.

I guess it is hard to get your hair styled when you are wearing a burqa.

It's a real shame that the flotilla imploded. Because you just know that those champions of human rights would have spent a day protesting and singing songs of solidarity with the hairdressers.

(h/t Folderol)

Hamas believes a stupid rumor about UNRWA

I mentioned last month that there were protests in Lebanese camps against UNRWA, partially because of a rumor that UNRWA was changing its name as a precursor to reducing its services in a new mandate that would encourage resettlement of Palestinian Arabs outside Israel.

I could not find any verification of any name change or change in UNRWA's mandate.

But that didn't stop Hamas from pouncing on that same rumor. On Tuesday, the Hamas Department of Refugees echoed the same rumor, accusing UNRWA of plotting to actually solve the problem of stateless Palestinian Arabs rather than prolonging it the way it has done so well, and the way that every Arab leader wants it to continue. At Hamas' urging, there were protests outside UNRWA headquarters in Gaza.

UNRWA finally released a statement today denying any change in its name or mandate.

Now millions of "refugees," many in camps with UNRWA services, can rest easy, knowing that they will never become normal citizens in the Arab countries that they were born in and will likely die in. They will remain second-class citizens, derided and discriminated against, subject to the whim of the leaders of the countries they live in.

Victory!

American Flotidiots admit defeat, declare victory

You can't make stuff like this up.

From the USTOGAZA website that was home to the "Audacity of Hope" boat:

The presence of the U.S. Boat to Gaza in Athens is winding down. For more than 2 weeks the 37 passengers (someone was added at the last moment), 4 crew members and about 12 people in the support team there worked hard to make sure our boat – The Audacity of Hope – could sail as part of the international Freedom Flotilla 2 to Gaza. The Greek government’s willingness to serve as the enforcer of Israeli’s naval blockade of Gaza made it impossible for this journey to happen.

But the creative and determined spirit of this team of committed activists could not be stopped or silenced. They worked tirelessly to make the point in countless ways: they attempted to set sail knowing it might lead to a confrontation with the Greek authorities, they stood by the boat’s captain when he was arrested and jailed for several days, several people held a hunger strike for a few days, everyone marched and rallied with other flotilla activists and with the people of Athens in their own struggle for economic justice, and incredible energy went into getting the word out to people throughout this country and around the world as the work with the media continued through it all.

Last night our group’s activities in Athens ended and here’s a description from one of our people there: “We all went to Syntagma Square... We unfurled to drum beats 22 flags sewn together representing the countries participating in the Flotilla. Our black and white signs were in Greek, Arabic and English. It was a beautiful sight. Then we marched to the Spanish Embassy where our Spanish partners were occupying its embassy demanding the release of their boat. We arrived at about 9 pm with drummers leading the way. They came out on balconies and we sang to each other. It was quite the sight.”

Now our folks are beginning the journey home – some will arrive today, some tomorrow and others in the days ahead. Everyone is tired, but their energy is strong! They will share their stories and talk about their experiences in communities everywhere. And they will use this incredible time they shared in Athens as a spring board for further activism and organizing.

I wonder if they'll refer to themselves as "survivors" the way that the 2010 Terror Flotilla moonbats did.

I'd love to see videos of their singing, as well as how they describe their wonderful trip to Greece to their sycophants back home. "We went to break the blockade, and didn't make it out of port. But we got some news outlets to get us a little attention and sang lots of songs. Give us more money!"

Mondoweiss is fundraising

From the rabidly anti-Israel site Mondoweiss:

The urgency of this fund-drive is that we need reader support to institutionalize our website or it will begin to stagger (and ultimately disappear).

We've always said that we would be happy to be put out of business in an eye-blink if the American mainstream media would cover our issues fairly. But they won't. They are afraid.

Donate to Mondoweiss.net now to keep open the free flow of information about the Middle East

For five years we've run this site as a labor of love, and Adam Horowitz and I were able to sustain that commitment. But we often put in seven days a week, and we're both burning out.

We've raised over $10,000 in the first week of the drive, and we can't tell you how much we appreciate it! Right now, we will be trying to find foundations to help us, and wealthy individuals, but it is readers' support has been vital, and we're very grateful. If you haven’t yet -- please donate to ensure the life of the site.

It's funny, because the American mainstream media also doesn't fairly cover the issues I cover. I also support the free flow of information about the Middle East - not the news media memes. I also run this site as a labor of love, 6 days a week, for nearly seven years. (I would argue that theirs is more a labor of seething hate.)

I write here largely by myself, part time, while Mondoweiss has about 14 different writers listed in just the past couple of days' worth of articles. And yet I manage to compete pretty well with the number of Mondoweiss readers, at times even surpassing it (according to Alexa.)

If the pro-Israel narrative is so dominant, then why is an anti-Israel blog getting over $12,000 in ten days of fundraising?

When it comes down to it, the Israel haters are the ones with the deep pockets. I bet that all the pro-Israel blogs combined didn't raise anything close to $12,000 over the past year. And there are certainly no foundations, no EU-funded NGOs, no Israeli government groups and no rich Zionist Jews who are throwing money towards grassroots hasbara blogs.

The problem is that the pro-Israel new media community is not nearly as well organized as the haters are. We need to do something about that.

(And I won't object to any rich Zionists who want to throw a few thousand dollars my way, using the donation button. I might even use it to revamp the site and get off of the very limited Blogger platform. Maybe if I make the site as attractive as Mondoweiss, I'll double their audience!)

Buy Max Brenner Chocolates

From The Australian, July 1:

POLICE officers were injured and protesters arrested during an anti-Israel rally outside a chocolate store in inner Melbourne.

Police say the rally turned violent when the group of more than 100 protesters refused to move from outside the Max Brenner store about 7pm (AEST) today.

Nineteen protesters from the Students for Palestine group were charged with offences including trespassing, besetting a premises and assaulting police.

Students for Palestine claims the company supplies chocolates for the ration packs of Israeli soldiers.

Here's a video of the obnoxious protesters in Melbourne.

Which means it is time to buy products from Max Brenner.

Here are their online shopping sites in Australia , Israel and the US.

Their chocolates have kosher supervision, but their stores (outside Israel) are not.

I cannot say I ever had any Max Brenner chocolates but the reviews are very good.

(h/t jzaik)

Israel preparing for the "flightilla"

Note: This post is from 2011.

From Israel Hayom:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino toured Ben Gurion International Airport Wednesday morning as part of preparations for the expected arrival of a pro-Palestinian aerial flotilla on Friday.

Following its intensive, and largely successful efforts to stop a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists from breaking the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel is now actively working to thwart a provocative aerial flotilla - or "flightilla" - of hundreds of activists from across Europe who plan to land at Ben Gurion International airport on Friday.

"Every country has the right to prevent the entry of provocateurs and trouble-makers into its territory," Netanyahu said Wednesday, adding, "That is how all countries behave and that is how Israel will act. We must prevent the disruption of normal life for Israeli citizens."

Police believe the activists plan to disrupt the airport's operations. Army Radio reported Wednesday that ensuring normal functioning of the airport will be the primary objective of security forces deployed there on Friday.

"Any hooligans who attempt to break the law and disrupt public order will not be allowed to enter Israel, and will be returned to their countries of origin," Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said on Tuesday.

At a ceremony in Nazareth marking the division of the police's Northern District into two new districts, Aharonovich, who has been placed in charge of dealing with the "flightilla" said, "I have ordered the Chief of Police to prepare to foil any illegal activity. My message [to the activists] is sharp and clear: know that your plan will not succeed, and that you would do well to avoid coming to Israel. We would be happy to host you as tourists, so that you can get to know the wonderful landscapes and people of Israel, but not as hooligans and not as law-breakers."

The government is preparing to prevent pro-Palestinian activists from boarding planes headed to Israel as part of the "flightilla." According to information attained by Israel Hayom, Israeli authorities possess lists with the names of activists planning to fly into the country, and have requested foreign airlines not to allow these passengers to board, since they are not in possession of entry visas.

Those activists who manage to deceive the airlines and are identified upon their arrival in Israel will be arrested and taken to detention facilities at the airport and in Israeli jails, and expulsion procedures against them will be initiated. Activists suspected of harboring intentions to create provocations will be loaded back onto their flights and deported.

A senior police commander said Tuesday that activists are expected on flights from Germany, Belgium and France. "We have no intention of giving them the pleasure of arriving here and driving us crazy," he told Israel Hayom.

Hundreds of police, uniformed and undercover, will be deployed throughout Ben Gurion International Airport to foil the planned "flightilla." Minister Aharonovitch summed up by saying that Ben Gurion Airport would "continue to function normally, and anyone found disturbing the peace will be dealt with accordingly."

The flytidiots have already started. From Ha'aretz:

Israeli police have deported five pro-Palestinian activists in the past two days. The activists were sent back to their home countries, France and Belgium.

Between 600 and 1,200 activists are expected to arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday night and Friday, on flights from Moscow and New York.

Israeli far-left group "Anarchists Against the Wall" has a Facebook page for their members to greet the anti-Israel activists at the airport.

An email correspondent called up EasyJet and asked them their policies if someone is not allowed into a country:

If you're denied entry to Israel (or any other country) you must either book a new single fare ticket home or if you're holding a return you can change the date subject to their normal re-booking fees and the payment of any fare difference between the flight you hold and the next flight that you are obliged to travel home on.

Short answer: get denied entry by a country and you have to pay a full fare flight home.

The anti-Israel activists who think that they are getting bargain fares from Europe better be packing extra cash for their immediate trips back!

Water Wars: a war we can all enjoy

Every year in Tel Aviv there is a massive water fight, called Water Wars, with lots of Israeli women in bikinis getting wet. Here is a great video of this year's event - with a nice soundtrack from Israeli band The Carsitters.

(h/t I Googled Israel)

Amnesty calls out Syrian "crimes against humanity"

From Amnesty:

The brutal methods used in a devastating Syrian security operation in the western town of Tell Kalakh may constitute crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

Crackdown in Syria: Terror in Tell Kalakh documents deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention that took place in May when Syrian army and security forces mounted a broad security sweep, lasting less than a week, against residents of the town near the Lebanese border.

“The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in Tell Kalakh paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

...Twenty year-old “Mahmoud”, who was arrested on 16 May and released after nearly a month in detention, was held for around five days at the Military Security detention facility in Homs:
“Each day [was] the same story. They tied me up in the shabah position and applied electricity to my body and testicles. Sometimes I screamed very loudly and begged the interrogator to stop. He didn’t care.”

At least nine people died in custody after being arrested during the security operation in Tell Kalakh, according to witnesses. Eight of these men – some of whom had been active in demonstrations – were shot at and wounded as they were ordered out of a house, and were then taken away by soldiers.

It was only around two weeks later that relatives were told to go to a military hospital to identify the bodies of the eight men. Witnesses said the bodies had marks on them which suggested torture, including cuts to the chest, long vertical slashes on the thighs and what seemed to be gunshot wounds on the back of the legs.

A forensic pathologist analysed a photograph of one of the men, Abd al-Rahman Abu Libdeh, for Amnesty International and concluded that he seemed to have sustained violent injuries to the face, shoulders and neck while still alive.

Some of the family members who went to identify the bodies of their sons said they were forced to sign a document stating that their sons were killed by armed gangs.

This is just the story in just one town.

The report notes that "The security operation prompted thousands of people to flee to Lebanon, some of whom were shot at as they fled. "

(h/t Yoel)