Settler Violence has always been an integral part of the occupation, but has seen a drastic spike in recent months. We’re at the Knesset (parliament) today to demand it be dealt with.
Follow us here for a peek into the proceedings >>>
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin Kahanist MK Ben Gvir, a settler himself goes off. @mossi_raz: No need to bring in data, settler violence is in this very room.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz MK @IbtisamMaraana: There is no Jewish terrorism or Islamic terrorism or Palestinian terrorism. There is simply terrorism, and it must be stopped before it is too late.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren: We have gathered today to hear testimonies from Israelis and Palestinians who have experienced violence first-hand, listen to long-time activists, hear data from civil society orgs, a discharged soldier, and of course MKs who deal with this issue every day.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren MK @mossi_raz: I want to share in the grief of the family of Eli Kay who was murdered yesterday. I want to say that violence should always be condemned, especially when it is against civilians, though those who condemned yesterday's violence did not mention settler violence.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren MK @mossi_raz: This is not a phenomenon of soldiers standing by, but the whole army standing by. The police stand by. The press stands by - in fact, this issue goes almost unreported. Violence is everywhere, in every society, and we regret to see this institutional cooperation.
For 2 days, hundreds of settlers rampaged through the West Bank, burning, destroying, and shooting live fire, resulting in the death of at least one Palestinian and injuring tens. But it isn’t just on them. It’s on the entire Israeli security establishment, and especially the IDF
The attacks were organized openly in Whatsapp and Telegram groups, and began hours before the murdered body of 14 year old Binyamin Ahimeir was found. What stopped security forces from preventing these mass acts of violence? Probably the will to do so.
"Some were in IDF uniforms yielding guns. 20-30 people beat me, and I shouted 'help' hoping that soldiers would hear me, but they are the soldiers" said Shaul Golan, a seventy-year-old news photographer who the settlers beat yesterday while he covered the unfolding events.
The heated discussion surrounding director Jonathan Glazer’s speech at the Oscars last night is mostly missing the point. His main message was simple and yet vital: empathy is not a zero-sum game.
Glazer did not "deny his Jewishness", as some seemingly purposely misunderstood. He took an unequivocal stance against the cynical utilization of Judaism and the Holocaust in the name of justifying the occupation. These "misunderstandings" aren't new.
It’s possible to oppose the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza and still care for the safety of Israeli hostages. One can worry about Israelis who were evacuated from their homes after Oct 7 and still be horrified by the conditions in which so many are currently living in Gaza
"Everyone knows that people are taking things."
Soldiers are publishing videos of things they've looted from Gaza and giving interviews about it. This is how looting is normalized in Israel @972mag @OrenZiv_
🧵 972mag.com/israeli-soldie…
But there's nothing new about looting.
"The bribing thing was acceptable, they pay you with their masbahas (prayer beads), packs of cigarettes, chocolate, whatever you want—they give you," one former soldier told us after serving in the West Bank in 2002. breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/da…
"It’s part of the reality you enter. You enter a bubble wherein anything that shouldn’t be in the hands of a Palestinian in Hebron – should be in your hands," another soldier who served in Hebron in 2016 said. breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/da…
Finance Minister Smotrich has already explained that the US sanctions on violent settlers stem from a "false and anti-Semitic BDS campaign". So in the face of the shameless denials, here are some things you need to know about the settlers on the US and British sanction lists 🧵
Ely Federman - a settler from the "Meitarim Farm" outpost. Was documented as being involved in repeated violence against Palestinians and HR activists including: home invasions, threats, destruction of property and setting his dog on local Palestinians.
Moshe Sharvit - from the "Emek Tirzah" outpost. Has attacked many Pal communities, and since Oct has worked to forcibly transfer families in Ein Shibli (Jordan Valley). One family told Haaretz that he came to their home armed and gave them 5 hours to leave
"But we left Gaza” is a commonly heard statement in Israel, referring to the situation since 2005’s “disengagement”, during which Israel withdrew its military forces and settlements from the Strip. “We dismantled settlements, took our forces out, and let Gaza become Singapore.”🧵
But in reality, Israel figured out it could control the Gaza Strip even without forces on the ground. We left Gaza, but continued to control the entrance and exit of goods and people, the air and maritime space, the electromagnetic space, and even the population registry.
Any time these truths about the last 18 years of Israeli policy are uttered, someone says “but there’s a border crossing with Egypt.” But it’s not Egypt that denied Gazans access to the sea or an airport. And yes, movement through the Rafah crossing is coordinated with Israel too
Following the tragic erroneous shooting of 3 Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers, the IDF's immediate response was that the soldiers had deviated from the rules of engagement.
But those deviations aren't the main problem. The rules themselves are. 🧵
The hostages were shot despite doing everything they possibly could to show they weren’t a threat: they removed their shirts, shouted in Hebrew and waved a white flag. They were shot from tens of meters away, so it's hard to argue the soldiers' would have been in direct danger.
The “deviation from the rules” claim is weak at best. The IDF’s own internal investigation found that the force in question was instructed to shoot at any “fighting age male". No soldier who fought in Gaza in past campaigns would be surprised to learn this.