On Sunday, we woke up to the news that six Israeli hostages were executed by Hamas, just before soldiers reached them in a tunnel in Gaza. Another six, added to tens of thousands of people in this land who should not have died over the past year. During this week, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets. They feel angry, desperate and betrayed by their government. They have understood, perhaps for the first time, that the Israeli government does not want to return the hostages in a deal, but to continue the war indefinitely. They see that the occupation and the settlements matter more than human life – and not only of Palestinians, said B‘Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak, who addressed the UN Security Council last night (Wednesday) . B’Tselem – the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was invited by the Slovenian President of the Security Council to provide an expert review of the state of human rights in Israel/Palestine following the war.
Archiv: Empathie / empathy
America‘s new generation of student protesters is giving hope to Palestinians
We raise our hats out of respect for them, as these protests in the universities and streets of the western world and the Global South keep the flame of hope burning in the souls of our people who long for freedom and justice.
These protests indicate profound, radical changes that separate an ageing American generation that blindly supports Israel and a new generation that promotes justice in Palestine and demands an end to the Israeli occupation and to the war on Gaza.
They represent the future of America and its bright face, the emergence of which we have long awaited.
We have put up the most glorious fight. We did not allow the movement to end with a false deal from Columbia.
Keep all eyes on your comrades, mobilize to Columbia. If you are free, come to protect the encampment.
„Zone of Interest“ Wins Best Int‘l Feature | Academy Awards 2024
#oscars #academyawards
#oscars #academyawards
‘The Zone of Interest’ Director Makes Gaza Statement in Oscars Speech
“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization… how do we resist?” Glazer asked.
Glazer, who is Jewish, then dedicated the film’s win to Alexandria, a 90-year-old woman he met,while working on the film and who inspired one of the key characters in The Zone of Interest. She had worked for the Polish resistance at the age of 12, leaving apples for prisoners as she cycled through Auschwitz.
War on Gaza: Millions show solidarity with Palestinians in demonstrations across globe
Millions of demonstrators have gathered in over 120 cities around the world in response to a call out of London for a second International Day of Solidarity with Gaza.
The protests are aimed at halting Israel‘s attempts at „genocide“ and „ethnic cleansing“, Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) said in a statement.
Protests were held on Saturday in Istanbul, Washington, Sydney, Dublin, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Brasilia, Cape Town, Rabat and Baghdad, among others
European MPs Call for EU to Oppose Removal of Hadash MK Ofer Cassif
On Monday morning, the Knesset House Committee is slated to hear arguments in an unusual debate that will determine the political future of Communist lawmaker Ofer Cassif, from the Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction.
If the hearing goes badly for Cassif, he could soon face an unprecedented vote in the Knesset plenum to expel him from the legislative body, the result of his far-right MKs anger over his public support for a South African petition to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Four years ago, lawmakers attempted to gather the required signatures to bring similar charges against Hadash leader MK Ayman Odeh, but the effort never made it to the committee stage.
‘Why I support ICJ Gaza genocide case against my country, Israel’
(11.01.2024)
Israeli politician Ofer Cassif announced his support for the Gaza genocide lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ, and is now facing an attempt to get him kicked out of parliament. He explains why he did it.
Israeli students chase their history teacher & yell at him „cancer“ & „son of a whore“ b/c he dared to humanize Gazan & Palestinian civilians Meir Baruchin was fired from his job & jailed in solitary confinement last November for this, but was just reinstated by a labour court
Israeli teacher posted on social media, expressing sympathy with Gazans. School fired him and made a police complaint. He was jailed for a few days & media depicted him as Hamas supporter. After charges were dropped, court ordered to take him back to work. This was his welcome:
This is unbearable. Al Jazeera‘s Wael al-Dahdouh mourns his son Hamza, also a journalist, who was killed in an Israeli strike on a car he was in. Wael‘s wife and two other children were killed in a previous Israeli strike. He has been through so much.
Public Figures Sign onto Letter Opposing Dehumanization of Gazans, Palestinians, Muslims, Israelis and Jews
The signatories include authors David Grossman and Iris Leal; MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), philosophers Slavoj Žižek, Eva Illouz, Axel Honneth and Kohei Saito; former Members of Knesset Dov Khenin (Hadash) and Mossi Raz (Meretz); human rights activists Ruchama Marton, Att. Michael Sfard, Ziv Stahl, Avi Dabush, B’tselem Director Yuli Novak and Breaking the Silence Director Avner Gvaryahu; singer Achinoam Nini, actor and director Itay Tiran, and actors Esti Zakheim, Ala Dakka, Yossi Zabari and Menashe Noy; filmmakers Ari Folman, Avi Mograbi, Nadav Lapid, Avigail Sperber and the Heiman brothers; lawyer Daniel Hacklai; choreographer Ohad Naharin, director and choreographer Avshalom Pollak; scholar and journalist Tomer Persico, and many others.
Keep raising your voice for peace and stand with Humanity
Frankfurt – Germany, reciting the poem of poet, academic, and storyteller, the Palestinian martyr Professor Refaat Al-Areer @itranslate123 in several languages during a protest that called for #StopGazaGenocide #NotATarget #NotANumber
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze —
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up
above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.
Starvation, mass displacement, rampant disease. That is Gaza right now. During the Vietnam War, R‘ Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote: „Our own integrity as human beings is decaying in the agony & merciless killing done in our name.“ If we turn away, we risk losing our own humanity.
Two months ago today, Rushdi al-Surraj was killed by an Israeli airstrike. He was a journalist, a husband, and a father. He left behind heartbreaking glimpses of what it means to be a family, amidst the horrors in Gaza. Every life lost is a world ended, an unfathomable tragedy.
Donald Trump Gets Some of the Best News of His Year
Young voters who have shifted away from Biden are not necessarily voting for Trump, who is also staunchly pro-Israel and opposes student loan relief. A November New York Times/Siena College poll found that 34 percent of young voters plan to back Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an independent. That poll surveyed 3,662 registered voters across six battleground states from October 22 to November 3.
How Much Is Biden’s Support of Israel Hurting Him With Young Voters?
As recently as this summer, a poll with Donald J. Trump leading among young voters would have been eye-popping.
Now, it’s increasingly familiar — and our new New York Times/Siena College national survey released Tuesday morning is no exception.
For the first time, Mr. Trump leads President Biden among young voters in a Times/Siena national survey, 49 percent to 43 percent. It’s enough to give him a narrow 46-44 lead among registered voters overall.
Dear President Biden: The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip
(12.12.2023)
Dear President Biden,
The war in the Gaza Strip has been underway for more than nine weeks, ever since Hamas carried out its horrific and criminal attack on Israeli civilians, which included killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping some 250 to Gaza – among them Israeli civilians, foreign nationals and children. Immediately after the attack, and in a speech you later gave in Israel, you made it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself, while emphasizing it must do so only in accordance with the provisions of international law, and particularly the rules of war.
We, Israeli human rights organizations and civil society groups, must at this stage state with a heavy heart that our government has chosen to ignore your advice and similar statements by US officials. This letter does not address the grave suspicions of Israeli violations of international humanitarian law during the war, but centers on the extreme humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza and the urgent need to change Israel’s policy on this issue.
Israeli Human Rights Organizations to President Biden: Stop the Humanitarian Catastrophe
(13.12.2023)
Among the signatories: Academia for Equality, Akevot – Institute for Israeli Palestinian Conflict Research, B’Tselem, Bimkom, Breaking the Silence, Combatants for Peace, Gisha, HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Machsom Watch, Parents Against Child Detentions, Psychoative, Rabbis for Human Rights, Social Workers for Peace and Welfare, Yesh Din and Zazim -Community Action.
Those saying “there are no innocents in Gaza” are enabling, consciously or not, criminal plans of ethnic cleansing by way of forcible-transfer, as well as extensive killing of innocent civilians. Words that policy makers speak become policy. As Israelis, we must not stay silent.
Sechs Kriege alt
Es folgt die Darstellung des bedrückenden Lebens eines 2007 geborenen palästinensischen Babys.
A Majority of Voters Support Calls for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
(November 21, 2023)
More Democratic voters are expressing dissatisfaction with Biden’s handling of the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, young people are becoming more sympathetic to the Palestinians and older voters are giving more thought to people on both sides.
My speech read: “Let’s stand against anti-Jewish bigotry here. Let’s stand against anti-Muslim bigotry here. Let’s stand against hate here.” But the chanting crowd threw me off — and I misspoke. We need to stand WITH Muslims, and Jews, and everyone who is under threat.
Van Jones Booed at March for Israel—Speech in Full
„I also pray that Hamas ends its reign of terror,“ he said. „I have to say, I‘m a peace guy, I‘m a peace guy, I pray for peace. No more rockets from Gaza, and no more bombs falling down on the people of Gaza. God protect the children. God protect the children. Let‘s end all the horror and all the heartbreak in the hold land. Let‘s end all of it.
„But, I‘ll be honest in closing. When I think about what‘s happening over there, I don‘t feel powerful to do something about what‘s happening over there,“ Jones continued, as the audience began to chant: „No ceasefire.“
„What I do feel powerful is to maybe do something about what‘s happening here. Let‘s take a stand here against anti-Jewish bigotry. Let‘s take a stand against Muslims,“ he said, appearing to lose his train of thought mid-sentence as the crowd chants.
Yossi (missed surname) on @ReshetBet. Sister killed by Hamas. Niece & nephew– 3 years & 10 months– kidnapped to Gaza. He hasn‘t heard from Netanyahu hostage czar. „The state collapsed.“ –But you‘re interviewed by world media, right? „They ask how I feel about Gazan children.“
LIVE AT GRAND CENTRAL: RABBIS GETTING ARRESTED DEMANDING A CEASEFIRE AND AN END TO THE GENOCIDE IN GAZA. cc @jvplive @jvpliveNY @JvpAction
HAPPENING NOW AT NYC‘S GRAND CENTRAL STATION: HUNDREDS OF JEWS AND ALLIES ARE GETTING ARRESTED IN THE LARGEST MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE NYC HAS SEEN IN TWO DECADES.
NO GENOCIDE IN OUR NAMES!
CEASEFIRE NOW TO SAVE LIVES!
NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!
Standing with our Jewish brothers & sisters who are screaming NOT IN OUR NAME! Last night, thousands of Jewish New Yorkers & their allies held a massive civil disobedience sit-in at Grand Central Station demanding an immediate ceasefire. #LetGazaLive #CeaseFireNow @jvpliveNY
#ceasefirenow
‘Let Gaza Live’: Calls for Cease-Fire Fill Grand Central Terminal
Hundreds of protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war streamed into Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on Friday, in one of the largest protests New York City has seen since the start of the conflict three weeks ago.
The demonstration, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, came as Israel ramped up its military operations inside Gaza.
Al Jazeera Arabic presenter, Abdisalam Farah, breaks down when reporting the breaking news about the death of Wael Al Dahdouh’s family in Gaza
Voices from Gaza
Residents of the Gaza Strip live in a humanitarian disaster zone. This entirely man-made disaster is a direct result of a policy employed by Israel, which, to this day, continues to dictate what daily life in Gaza looks like. This callous, unjustifiable policy sentences the nearly two million residents of the Gaza Strip to a life of abject poverty in near inhuman conditions no longer seen in the Western world. In testimonies collected by B‘Tselem‘s field researchers, residents of the Gaza Strip describe their lives, the dreams they will not get to realize, the medical conditions they have no way of treating, the ongoing separation from family members and friends outside the Strip, and the unbearable suffering caused by their confinement to the Strip, with no hope for change.
בין ילדים אכן יש סימטריה. ילד הוא ילד בעוטף ובעזה! היום יותר מכל פעם אחרת אנו מתעקשים שיש ותמיד היתה דרך אחרת – פתרון פוליטי מדיני שיסיים את הכיבוש ויבטיח חיים וביטחון לכולם!
(17.10.2023)
My former boss MK @AidaTuma said in Knesset that no child, neither Jew nor Palestinian, is guilty and that no child should be a victim of this blood cycle. MK Merav Ben-Ari, a member of Lapid’a party, responded: “The children in Gaza brought it upon themselves.“
(16.10.2023)
Human Rights Organizations raise a loud and clear voice against the harming of all innocent civilians
12 October 2023
We, members of the undersigned human rights organizations in Israel, are shocked and horrified in these dreadful days.
Hamas’ horrific crimes against innocent civilians – including children, women, and the elderly – have shaken us all, and we are struggling to recover from the unbearable sights and sounds. Some of us were in the Israeli communities on the Gaza border during the assault; many of us have family, friends, and colleagues who endured and are still in the midst of the harrowing events; and we all know people who were murdered, injured, or abducted. It will take time to fully understand the implications and consequences of Hamas’ heinous attack, for which there can be no justification.
Statement by members of the human rights community in Israel
(13.10.2023)
We call for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to the bombardment of civilians in Israel and in Gaza. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach civilian populations, medical facilities and places of refuge must not be harmed, and vital resources such as water and electricity must not be cut off. The killing of additional civilians will not bring back those who were lost. Indiscriminate destruction and a siege harming innocents will not bring relief, justice, or calm.
Announcement of human rights organizations in Israel, October 2023
(15.10.2023)
As individuals working to promote human rights and who believe in the sanctity of life, we urgently call for an end to all indiscriminate harming of civilian lives and infrastructure. We call for negotiations and all possible action to be taken to bring about the release of the hostages – while prioritizing the civilians held by Hamas. It is the only humane and rational thing to do, and it must be done now.
We, Members of the Undersigned Human Rights Organizations in Israel, are Shocked and Horrified.
(15.10.2023)
Most of our teams include Israelis and Palestinians; therefore, some of us have relatives and colleagues in Gaza currently living under the ongoing assault of the Israeli military. Children, women, and the elderly are being indiscriminately attacked with nowhere to hide.
Even now – especially now – we must maintain our moral and humane position and refuse to give in to despair or the urge for vengeance. Keeping our faith in the human spirit and its inherent goodness is more vital than ever. One thing is clear: We will never surrender our belief in humanity – even now, when doing so is more challenging than ever.
Human Rights Organizations, MK Cassif Raise a Clear Voice Against the Harming of Civilians
Among the signatories to the declaration: Mothers Against Violence, Itach Ma’aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice, Academy for Equality, Amnesty International Israel, BIMKOM – Planners for Planning Rights, B’Tselem, Gisha, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Parents Against Child Detention, Hamoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual, Zazim – Community Action, Haqel – In Defense of Human Rights, Yesh Din, Yesh Gvul, Combatants for Peace, Mehazkim, Machsom Watch, Women Wage Peace , Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, Standing Together, Ir Amim, Emek Shaveh, The Parents Circle-Families Forum, Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, Breaking the Silence and Torat Tzedek.
מוציא את השבת כדי לגלות שרק ב-24 שעות שהייתי מנותק, נהרגו ברצועת עזה 126 ילדים. בשבוע האחרון נהרגו שם 2215 אנשים, מתוכם 724 ילדים ו-458 נשים. תקשיבו לי טוב: לא צריך להיות שמאלן דגול כדי לבקש סטופ. תעצרו רגע. כמו שרצח עידו בבארי הוא פשע, כך רצח אחמד בעזה הוא פשע. חלאס, תעצרו.
When a mob of dozens organized by an activist from @Netanyahu‘s ruling @Likud_Party attacked left-wing ultra-Orthodox journalist @freyisrael1 at his flat with his young children, @israelpolice spat at Frey, who then spent all night fleeing the lynch mob
زلزال الحوز: مؤسسات ودول تعرض المساعدة على المغرب
أعرب كل من رئيسة المفوضية الأوروبية، أورسولا فون دير لاين، ورئيس وزراء الهند، ناريندرا مودي؛ ورئيس الاتحاد الأفريقي رئيس جزر القمر غزالي عثماني؛ ورئيس الجمهورية الفرنسية إيمانويل ماكرون؛ ورئيس البنك الدولي، أجاي بانجا، والمديرة العامة لصندوق النقد الدولي، في بيان مشترك عن تضامنهما „الكامل مع السلطات والشعب المغربي، ونقدم تضامننا التعازي لأسر الضحايا“
وأعربوا عن رغبتهم „في دعم المغرب بأفضل طريقة ممكنة“.
Don’t leave me to bear this alone
A few weeks ago, I was among the organizers of the March of the Dead in Tel Aviv. 147 coffins signifying all the Arabs killed this year were carried by young Arab men and women. Many Jews marched with us and along with great sadness we had hope that we were not alone. But for the members of the families – the orphans – this is not enough. In many of these murder cases, the victim’s family live next to the murderer who is not charged by the police because there is a lack of evidence or proof. Imagine a situation where a despicable murderer walks free alongside relatives of the murdered. What human society could allow this to occur?
The Soldier‘s Heart: Interview David Grossman
(Nov. 22, 2004)
You have statistics in your book. … Talk to me about the 2 percent statistic and what that means.
Naturally speaking, there‘s 2 percent who after 60 days of continuous day-and-night combat are not driven insane. And this 2 percent keeps bubbling up. Two percent of all fighter pilots in World War II killed more than the rest put together, something along those lines. This 2 percent keeps bubbling up.
And it‘s really not a percent. It‘s not a yes or no. It‘s a continuum. It‘s the old bell-shaped curve. [At] one end of the bell-shaped curve there‘s people, at the tail of it, with great capacity for violence. [At] the other end there‘s people over here with no capacity for violence. And there‘s most of the people right in between. But you can choose to go one way or another. Israel is a nation that has shifted their bell-shaped curve. Israel is a nation who‘s chosen a warrior path.
So what‘s happening in the psychology of those 2 percent?
Well, those 2 percent are people with a capacity for aggression. And then they divide into two parts. Those who have the capacity for aggression and an absence of empathy, we call those psychopaths, sociopaths, aggressive sociopaths. Those who have a capacity for aggression and empathy for their fellow citizens, we call those warriors, heroes, cops, soldiers, Marines, spec ops.
Rep. Gabbard on Syria: ‚I’ve been there. I’ve seen the loss of life.‘
Embroiled in a dispute with former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) defended her foreign policy views in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. She joins Ali Velshi to respond to her critics.
Achtung Verachtung
Wer dieser unter Menschen sehr beliebten Beschäftigung nachgeht, andere Menschen in Gruppen einzuteilen, befreit sich selbst damit von der „Last“ seiner letzten Empathieregungen, sie als Individuuen betrachten zu müssen. Doch um einen Menschen achten zu können, muss man ihn als Individuum kennenlernen.(…)
Es gibt keinen “Clash of Civilisations”
Einer der derzeit schlimmsten diesbezüglichen Mythen ist die (post)koloniale Neuerfindung des „Clashes of civilizations“ durch Samuel Huntington, Berater des US-Aussenministeriums, zwecks scheinbarer Legitimation des ethisch nicht vertretbaren neoliberalen Neo-Kolonialismus, inklusive Terrormanagement und Führen von Angriffskriegen. Wir müssen diesen Mythos – jeder von uns kennt auf diesem Planeten fast nur friedliebende Menschen – wieder aus unseren Köpfen kriegen.