Israel and Palestine Conflict Heats Up

[Elder Millennial]

Good to know that the radical left is not that far from fascism.

Your problem buddy is that for you everything left of Francisco Franco, Vladimir Putin and Orban Viktor is "radical left".

[Jessicka]

Your problem buddy is that for you everything left of Francisco Franco, Vladimir Putin and Orban Viktor is "radical left".

No, the problem is they understand 'Fascism bad', but don't actually understand it to recognise it, and ended up supporting at least some of the aspects of it.

[Specialka]

Your problem buddy is that for you everything left of Francisco Franco, Vladimir Putin and Orban Viktor is "radical left".

Thank you for giving me a good example of bad faith.

For the records, I voted Macron both times.

[Elder Millennial]

Thank you for giving me a good example of bad faith.

For the records, I voted Macron both times.

Well, you sure do a whole lot of Putin, Trump et al simping, can't blame people for pigeon holing you.

This is like wearing Swastika armband and then going "No, no you don't get it. I'm not actually a Nazi." Color me skeptical.

[Draco-Onis]

UN agency accuses Israel of detaining, coercing staffers into false confessions about ties to Hamas

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Monday accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staffers, coercing them into making false confessions about the agency’s ties to Hamas.

“Some of our staff have conveyed to UNRWA teams that they were forced to (make) confessions under torture and ill-treatment. These false confessions were in response to questioning about relations between UNRWA and Hamas and involvement in the 7 October attack against Israel,” UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said in a statement.

Israel has accused at least 12 staffers from the UN Relief and Works Agency of being involved in the October 7 terrorist attacks and has alleged that about 12% of UNRWA’s 13,000 staffers are members of Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups. Israeli officials have said some of the information about the 12 staffers involved in October 7 was obtained through cell phone data and other sources. UNRWA says it has fired 10 of the 12 accused staffers and that the other two are dead. CNN cannot confirm the allegations.

Touma said that false confessions elicited “under torture” were being used “to further spread misinformation about the Agency as part of attempts to dismantle UNRWA,” but did not tie those confessions to the allegations against the 12 staffers accused of participating in the October 7 attacks.
The allegations are part of an as yet unpublished report compiled by UNRWA alleging Israel’s widespread physical and psychological abuse of Palestinians detained in Gaza during the war, including 21 UNRWA staff members, some of whom said they were beaten and threatened.

The unreleased report, a copy of which CNN obtained, is largely based on the testimony of Gazan detainees held in Israeli prisons and at military sites and released back into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between mid-December and mid-February. An UNRWA spokesperson said that when the report was leaked, the agency had not yet decided whether to release it publicly.

The detainees cited in the report gave testimony of beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual abuse and threats of sexual violence against both men and women detained by the Israeli military. Some of the detainees are also reported to have died while in Israeli custody, at times allegedly as a result of the abuse they suffered in detention.

CNN cannot independently verify all of the accounts of abuse listed in the UNRWA report, but has previously documented similar allegations of abuse by Palestinian detainees.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the allegations about the torture and detention of UNRWA staffers, but said in a statement that “the mistreatment of detainees during their time in detention or whilst under interrogation violates IDF values and contravenes IDF orders and is therefore absolutely prohibited.” It said that investigations into the deaths of detainees are investigated by the military police and are currently pending.
The Israeli military forcefully denied claims of sexual abuse of detainees, calling them “another cynical attempt to create a false equivalency with the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war by Hamas.” It also denied that detainees are deprived of sleep and said detainees have access to medical care.

UNRWA estimates that at least 4,000 Gazans have been detained by the Israeli military since the start of the war. As of February 19, the agency had documented the detention of 29 children and 80 women, as well as elderly individuals with Alzheimer’s and people with intellectual disabilities.

“UNRWA received widespread reports from released detainees of ill-treatment across all stages of detention. According to individuals released from detention, ill-treatment was used in attempts to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish,” says the UNRWA report, which was first reported by the New York Times.

It sure looks like Israel fabricated a story about UNRWA to blunt the ICJ conclusion then the US and its allies cut off the agency without any solid evidence.

[Mekh]

UN agency accuses Israel of detaining, coercing staffers into false confessions about ties to Hamas



It sure looks like Israel fabricated a story about UNRWA to blunt the ICJ conclusion then the US and its allies cut off the agency without any solid evidence.

I notice there's still deafening silence regarding this, but the mods have asked me kindly not to use the @-function to ask our usual suspects directly to renounce their dirty, dirty lies...

[ABEEnr2]

I notice there's still deafening silence regarding this, but the mods have asked me kindly not to use the @-function to ask our usual suspects directly to renounce their dirty, dirty lies...

You can ask but it is not like they will give a response, most of it will either be ignored or khamas

[Mekh]

You can ask but it is not like they will give a response, most of it will either be ignored or khamas

In that case I'm gonna ask pwetty pwease with suger on top, my dear Apartheid Fans, if Israel has so much on the right side of history, why do they feel the need to constantly lie?

Anyone? Depardieu? Ugly green dragon?

There's gotta be a simple answer, right?

[Edge-]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/livebl...-worthy-of-us/

In rare and harsh remarks directed at Israel’s political leaders, the commander of the 98th Division says the military will “not run away from responsibility,” and tells them that they must push away extremism so as to “not return to October 6.”

“I ask at this opportunity to address our leaders, from both sides, and I hope that they will have the time to listen to the heart of a soldier,” says Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus during a press conference on the Gaza border.

Goldfus says he has been fighting since the morning of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, “and I have not stopped fighting since. Since then I have not stopped sending soldiers, and gone with them, into the fire. We are fighting, we are not getting tired, we are determined to win, determined to bring home the hostages, directly or indirectly.”

“Don’t worry, we, the people of the military, the commanders and troops, have taken, are taking, and will take responsibility for every action. We will not run, just as we don’t run from the fire. We will not run from responsibility,” he says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has notably avoided taking responsibility for the October 7 onslaught, unlike the defense minister and many top IDF officers.

“We bow our heads over our resonant failure on October 7, but at the same time we push forward, carry out operations at the highest level of quality, protect our values, and attain many achievements on the battlefield,” Goldfus says.

“But you, you need need to be worthy of us. You need to be worthy of the soldiers who lost their lives. You need to be worthy of the reservists who don’t care what [political] side they are on, and fought and fight alongside each other,” he continues.

“Make sure that everyone takes part, you must,” he says, apparently referring to the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Israelis from service. “You must make sure we do not return to October 6, that all the effort and sacrifice won’t be in vain. This you must keep well in your minds, every day, every hour.”

“From my heart, I ask of you to be together, united, push away the extremism, and adopt the togetherness. Find what unites. We on the battlefield found it, and we will not give up on it,” he says.

“Make it worth [it],” Goldfus adds in English.

Powerful stuff from one of the generals leading troops in the war, and fairly pointed commentary on the need to move forward after this ends and not return to October 6.

There are a lot of pressures and forces at play domestically and internationally.

[postman1782]

Good to know that the radical left is not that far from fascism.

Nope, fascism is right wing by definition.

[Draco-Onis]

UNRWA says Israeli strike hit Gaza food aid center, killing 1 staffer and wounding 22 others

That's the last food center in Gaza, Israel has bombed it on purpose and in more depressing news.

Palestinian health officials: 6 killed by IDF fire while waiting for aid trucks

No, this isn't a rehashing of the flour massacre the IDF once again has murdered people looking for food.

[Specialka]

Nope, fascism is right wing by definition.

The word fascism is used to describe so many things nowadays that it has lost its meaning. Many people use fascism to describe authoritarianism for example while authoritarianism can be from left or right.

[Mekh]

The word fascism is used to describe so many things nowadays that it has lost its meaning. Many people use fascism to describe authoritarianism for example while authoritarianism can be from left or right.

The best definition is by Umberto Eco. The Right doesn't like it because it doesn't leave as much room to go "But the Left...!"

[Specialka]

The best definition is by Umberto Eco. The Right doesn't like it because it doesn't leave as much room to go "But the Left...!"

Says who ? Who gets to say it is the "best definition" ? And the left likes it especially because it does not leave as much to go "But the Left...!". See how easy it is ?

[Mekh]

Says who ? Who gets to say it is the "best definition" ? And the left likes it especially because it does not leave as much to go "But the Left...!". See how easy it is ?

Who is your preferred prodigy in the field of fascism research, Specialka? If you open up like this you obviously know a better reference on the topic than Ur-Fascism.

[Specialka]

Who is your preferred prodigy in the field of fascism research, Specialka? If you open up like this you obviously know a better reference on the topic than Ur-Fascism.

Where did I say I found that definition to be wrong or not accurate enough? I merely presented your way to presenting it quite hypocritical and frankly quite subjective, that's all.

[Mekh]

Where did I say I found that definition to be wrong or not accurate enough? I merely presented your way to presenting it quite hypocritical and frankly quite subjective, that's all.

Antifascists are objectively better than fascists. Somehow that hurts the Right's feelings.

[Sunseeker]

Lol, what nonsense is this, "fascism has no defintion"? Yeah maybe by people who want to enforce it. Its definition remains pretty clear to the rest of us.

If you're having trouble grasping that, perhaps its because you want to enforce fascism.

[Elegiac]

Says who ? Who gets to say it is the "best definition" ?

Certainly not you since you seem to think fascism needs to be speaking German, rofl.

[Endus]

Says who ? Who gets to say it is the "best definition" ? And the left likes it especially because it does not leave as much to go "But the Left...!". See how easy it is ?

Feel free to provide whatever working academic definition of "fascism" you'd prefer us to use. I default to Eco's as well, myself, but if you're not offering an alternative and we are using an academic definition, your argument is just false on its face.