🧵Fabricated Israel genocide claim relies on misrepresented quotes by Israeli officials to show “intent” necessary to prove genocide. South Africa ICJ genocide filing says @Isaac_Herzog “made clear” Israel INTENDS to kill all Palestinians. Here is full debunking of this lie. 1/
Did Herzog "make clear" at Oct 12 press conference that Israel won’t distinguish between militants & civilians and thus intends genocide of all Pals? NO. South Africa is LYING, Herzog actually said the exact opposite, see his words below said at 11:50 2/ news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-1…
South Africa & Israel haters deliberately ignore everything Herzog said at long press conference and misrepresent one comment. A reporter asked Herzog how Israel can alleviate impact of war on civilians “many of those who have nothing to do with Hamas.” Herzog responded: 3/
Herzog was asked a follow up question to this specific comment telling Herzog he “seemed to hold the people of Gaza the civilians of Gaza responsible for not removing Hamas and therefore by implication that makes them legitimate targets.” Herzog rejected this notion saying: 4/
Herzog noted and often comments on use of Hamas of civilian shields to attack Israel and thus the challenge. But he repeatedly noted the plan was to remove civilians from harms way. Here are three other comments by Herzog from the SAME press conference: 5/
In the SAME press conference Herzog is asked “what is the plan?”; Herzog's response is below, adding a comment about fighting terrorism. Nothing about intending to kill civilians but the challenge of fighting Hamas who hides among civilians. 6/
South Africa then cites Herzog’s words to “uproot evil” as referring to "genocide" of Palestinians but words in tweet and interview cited by South Africa specifically says Hamas not Pals. The “evil” cited is clearly Hamas, but once again South Africa and others knowingly lie. 7/
What about writing on bombs, evidence of genocide? One can argue merits of such actions but proof of genocide? No. It’s a common practice in war. NY Times covered this exact thing as a nice human interest story in Ukraine in 2023, but for Israel it’s somehow evil genocide. 8/
Main “evidence” South Africa has against Herzog is a misrepresented comment Herzog specifically clarified in the 10/12 press conference. Numerous tweets, comments and articles by Herzog saying the opposite (civilians are not a target) are ignored. Next is just a small sample: 9/
Oct 15: In an interview on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asks Herzog about civilians. Herzog’s answer (excerpts) are shown below. Nothing about killing all Palestinians, but the opposite. 10/ transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/date/…
Nov 5: In NY Times op-ed Herzog makes clear war is only with Hamas, goal is to remove civilians from battlefield and Palestinians will be better off without Hamas. South Africa won’t cite this – just a quote out of context from long press conference. 11/ nytimes.com/2023/11/03/opi…
Nov 16: Herzog on ANI interview makes clear civilians alerted in advance, acknowledges there are many innocent civilians and the goal is to remove Hamas. Herzog focuses on theme of how civilians are used by Hamas as shields. No intent to genocide. 12/
Dec 5: Herzog on MSNBC interview made clear war was only with Hamas and discussed actions to protect civilians with warnings and safezones. Nothing about Palestinians or genocide. 13/ thehill.com/policy/interna…
Citing Herzog as example of Israel's “intent to genocide” is an example of "maximum intent to lie" and how Israel libel works. Misrepresent one quote, ignore massive contrary evidence, even in the exact same press conference, repeat & repeat the lie and spread it. Orwell. 14/
South Africa's ICJ filing is filled with lies & misrepresented quotes like this one from Gallant debunked below. Amazing how such hateful trash is allowed in an international court like this. END
🧵CRITICAL: ICJ advisory opinion DOES NOT assert Gaza is "occupied" by Israel. Contrary to media reports actual language of ICJ opinion does not state that Israel occupies Gaza. Opinion supports claim that a "physical presence" is required for an actual "occupation." Analysis: 1/
Clause 92 discusses the concept of a “physical presence” required for an occupation. ICJ asserts that Israel “may still bear obligations under the law of occupation” due to certain authority over Gaza – but not that Gaza is therefore “occupied.” 2/
Clause 93 states that Israel is “capable of exercising… key elements of authority over the Gaza Strip” despite its withdrawal. But this alone does not mean “occupation.” ICJ’s conclusion on Gaza is in Clause 94, the final say on the matter in this ICJ advisory opinion --> 3/
🧵@hrw issued token report after 9 months regurgitating Hamas crimes on 10/7; still charges Israel with war crimes in same report. HRW does not deny rape but will not confirm, cannot "corroborate." Other than 10/7 Hamas gets free pass. Do not legitimize this report. Analysis: 1/
HRW makes sure to temper criticism of Hamas with section “Aftermath of the Assault” to describe only Israeli action post 10/7 as criminal. Message: Hamas did bad things but Israel is far worse. Aftermath section absolves Hamas actions post 10/7, only this one day is covered. 2/
Another example “Background” section notes closure of Gaza and (fake) restriction on goods but not even 1 comment on how Hamas amassed weapons via Egypt, built 500km of tunnels, rigged civilian Gaza for combat & planned 10/7 for years. Except for 10/7, Hamas gets a free pass. 3/
🧵Important @nytimes piece (see link below) on what we all know: systematic & massive use by Hamas of civilian Gaza as its core war doctrine. Civilian deaths in Gaza are a result of how Hamas conducts the war, not Israel. These Hamas war crimes are covered in article: 1/
Senior Hamas official admits to these crimes, asserting that even if weapons are stored in beds in civilian homes, it does not justify Israeli action. He believes Hamas should be able to kill Israelis with impunity and then enjoy permanent immunity by hiding among civilians. 2/
Hamas members justify using civilian Gaza for combat as they have no alternative. Otherwise they’ll be detected, get it? So they’re happy to, even boast about, how civilians deaths are an acceptable cost in their goal to destroy Israel. And the world indulges this insanity. 3/
🧵Jewish history denialism is a common form of antisemitism like this post claiming Ashkenazi Jews are Khazars. This is similar to Jewish temple denialism common in Palestinian society. Thread shows how Muslim scholars throughout history in fact acknowledged Jewish history. 1/
A recent and ugly example of this type of Jewish history denialism came from Pal leader Mahmoud Abbas in May 2023 during the UN commemoration of the Nakba. From Khazars to Jews "did not find anything" the goal is the same: to erase the Jewish connection to the Holy Land. 2/
Now the contradictions. In 1925 the “Supreme Muslim Council” under Grand Mufti Al-Husseini (who collaborated with Hitler) published A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif saying “Its Identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond Dispute.” 3/
🧵@TheLancet letter ridiculously claiming Gaza fatalities could be as high as 186,000 due to “indirect deaths” has key fatal flaw: Hamas casualty numbers already include indirect deaths! Authors double count deaths with multiplier. Here is Part II debuking fraudulent letter: 1/
Premise of article: conflicts lead to non-combat deaths, based on prior wars (e.g. Sudan, Congo) a 4:1 ratio of indirect to direct deaths is “not implausible” so 37,400 reported Gaza deathsx5 = ~186,000. But authors do not adjust 37,400 that already includes indirect deaths! 2/
Daily Hamas numbers reported by UN OCHA are proven to already include many indirect deaths for months, such as from lack of healthcare, a key category of indirect deaths. See examples from daily fatality reports below: 3/
🧵Widely cited letter in @lancet ridiculously implies total Gaza fatalities could be 186,000. Close review shows this short piece is based on junk research citing unreliable sources, gross misrepresentations, errors & omissions. This is a bad look for Lancet. Analysis: 1/
Piece starts by citing Hamas number of 37,396 fatalities citing UN OCHA – but negligently omitting that OCHA takes these numbers from Hamas. To back this number authors claim the figures are “accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services” – but this claim is false. 2/
Authors cite as only evidence a Vice article citing a Mekomit article claiming unnamed Israeli “intelligence sources” found Hamas numbers reliable. Author's admit “Israeli authorities” reject Hamas numbers, yet still rely on a fringe news item based on unidentified sources. 3/