The Knesset Parliamentary Group for Ending the Occupation, led by MKs @AidaTuma and @mossi_raz, is holding its first meeting today - marking 55 years of military rule over the oPt.
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@AidaTuma@mossi_raz MK @AidaTuma starts off:
Once, the occupation was considered to be temporary. Today it appears that many around the world have gotten used to the horrors of occupation and siege. In order to perpetuate it and turn it into a done deal, Israel is operating an Apartheid regime.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz > Even the horrific pictures from Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral a few weeks ago didn't make people think about what's going on here. It immediately turned into a debate about who went into the hospital when. Why is it so difficult to say that there's a moral problem here?
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz MK @mossi_raz: occupation is a situation in which a foreign military rules over a civilian population. This situation leads to human rights abuses, resistance, violence and counter-violence.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz Occupation is the child who can't fall asleep for fear that soldiers will burst in to make an arrest. Occupation is the restriction of individual rights, of the right to movement and so on. And that's why we have to bring this situation to an end.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz Our own @origivati speaks about 'Blue Wolf', the facial recognition technology used by soldiers to take pictures of random Palestinians to enter them into a database. The units serving in the oPt are made to compete for prizes to take as many pictures as possible.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati Ori says that his commander told him, when he was serving as a tank commander in the oPt, that the point of their presence their was to make sure the Palestinians "wouldn't be able to lift their heads." By making the Palestinians constantly feel the IDF's presence, the logic is >
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati that they will be afraid to do anything at all that could raise the IDF's suspicion. That's how Palestinians have been living their lives for 55 years now. And it's all in order to further entrench the occupation. That's why we work to expose this reality and bring it to an end.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati Next up: Yahel Gazit, an Israeli volunteer with #SaveMasaferYatta who lives w/ the Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta as part of a solidarity project. She wrote her speech together with @Ali_awad1998, a local activist who's fighting to save his community from mass eviction. >
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati@Ali_awad1998 She says: The Supreme Court of Israel ruled to evict 1,300+ residents from the area. I sit here today and wonder if there's anyone at all who believes that this move is really about creating a military training zone, when right next door settlements are built without any problems
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati@Ali_awad1998 Yahel continues: we're about to turn 1300 people into refugees. Why doesn't this bother anyone? Why can't we let these simple people just tend to their sheep? To live with some self-respect? Let's not repeat the Nakba in 2022.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati@Ali_awad1998@lizzadwoskin@washingtonpost@YeshDin These outposts are normally inhabited by a single couple or family, are not given permits by the State to be there, yet the State supports their existence de facto by letting them stay there and giving them access to funding, infrastructure and military protection.
@AidaTuma@mossi_raz@origivati@Ali_awad1998@lizzadwoskin@washingtonpost@YeshDin E.g. Shabtai from Havat Avraham in the S Hebron Hills states openly that he controls 9000 dunams, 6x more than he was given. "Wherever we set foot w/ our sheep is ours." Yesh Din documented several violent attacks by settlers from this outpost. This model exists all over the oPt.
We are excited to introduce you to our new Executive Director - @weimanadav. Quite a few of you likely already know him. Maybe he guided you through a tour of Hebron or Masafer Yatta, maybe you saw him at a speaking event, or being interviewed on the reality unfolding in Gaza.🧵
After 11 years with us, Nadav knows the occupation like the back of his hand. We are proud that he is with us in the struggle to end the occupation.
And now, in his own words:
I am excited to announce that I have been chosen to be the new Executive Director of Breaking the Silence, stepping into the big shoes of my friend and colleague @AGvaryahu (thank you and good luck). Yes, it’s a challenging position in an incredibly challenging time.
Stray dogs carry severed limbs, as soldiers burn houses, shooting at everything that moves:
6 IDF soldiers told @OrenZiv_ of @972mag of the hell that is the war in Gaza.
Now, let’s compare their testimonies to the official IDF response to the article.
The contrast is glaring. 🧵
“Open-fire instructions were given to all IDF soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip and on the borders upon entering combat [...] and [are] approved by the most senior officials in the IDF.”
IDF Spokesperson statement
“The open-fire instructions provide a relevant response to all operational situations, [...] while emphasizing the reduction of harm to people who are not identified as enemies or who do not pose a threat to their lives.”
IDF Spokesperson statement
42 IDF reservists who were sent to fight in Gaza since Oct. 7 signed a letter of refusal to continue serving. While many in Israel debate the legitimacy of refusal, barely any are dealing with the reality those soldiers described to @lizarozovsky of @haaretzcom last week🧵
“The vibe is 'You can fire wherever you want. You have to get permission, but there will be permission. It's only bureaucratic.' I can count on one hand the times when we were told: 'You can't fire there.'"
Michael, Infantry Control Officer haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
"You see them taking down vehicles, buildings, people [...] Many people, including me, have the experience of 'Wow, it's insane,' and there are those who say, 'We're showing them, screwing them, taking revenge.' That's the vibes you hear in the war room."
Michael
Saturday, near Jenin, IDF soldiers tied Mujahid Abadi, 24, to the hood of their vehicle. How does an innocent man, even by the IDF's own account, end up shot twice before being apprehended, tied to a moving vehicle and then released? 🧵
Abadi had awoken at his uncle’s place to the sound of a gunfight during an IDF raid. He was shot in the shoulder while trying to leave the area, and again in the leg while hiding behind a vehicle. He was then beaten, photographed and identified before the drive began.
“He drove back and forth like he wanted to torture me. No one could touch the jeep, I still have burns from the heat," Abadi said, adding that only after the drive was he notified that he was not a wanted suspect. The IDF later said the incident was “inconsistent with protocols.”
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