The Israel Defense Force’s war crimes are all over social media, but did you know that the IDF’s terrorist history goes back decades? Read on. 🧵
The paramilitary precursor to today’s “Israel Defense Forces” killed 267 people, including more than 200 Jews, in a vicious bombing 84 years ago on this day. The victims remain without justice, the perpetrators unpunished.
The Zionist military organization Haganah bombed the British ocean liner SS Patria to stop the expulsion of up to 1,800 illegal settlers from Haifa to Mauritius.
A bomb had been placed in the engine room of the ship, but it failed to go off, so another more powerful bomb was taken onboard. The blast was so powerful the vessel sank in 16 minutes, drowning 267 people.
Haganah, meaning “defense" in Hebrew, was founded in 1920 to establish and defend illegal Jewish settlements in the British Mandate of Palestine.
The Haganah’s tactics included the bombing of bridges, railroads, and ships used to deport illegal Jewish settlers. Due to its acts of terrorism, the group was outlawed by the British administration, causing them to attack both Mandate and Palestinian resistance forces.
Haganah operatives sourced their vast arsenal of arms from the US, Western Europe, and Czechoslovakia before establishing Israel Military Industries (IMI), today a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms producer.
On December 31, 1947, the Haganah Zionist militia launched its initial major assault on Balad al-Sheikh village, east of Haifa. Alongside other Zionist militias, they committed over 50 massacres against Palestinian villages.
According to historian Ilan Pappé, massacres took place in the context of an ethnic cleansing that “carried” with it atrocious acts of mass killing and butchering of thousands of Palestinians who were killed ruthlessly and savagely by Israeli troops of all backgrounds, ranks, and ages.
On May 28, 1948, the Israeli provisional government created the “Israel Defense Forces,” merging the Zionist paramilitary organizations Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi, the Haganah forming the core part of Israel’s new army, continuing the legacy of ethnic cleansing.
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77 years ago, Koreans on Jeju Island rose up for a free and unified Korea.
Read on to learn more about the Jeju Uprising of 1948. 🧵
In response to the uprising, the nascent Republic of Korea (ROK), with the help of the US military, massacred an estimated 20% of the island’s population.
The end of WWII in 1945 also ended almost four decades of Japanese occupation of Korea. Immediately after, self-governing People’s Committees (PCs) began forming throughout the peninsula.
The US has deployed a second aircraft carrier and additional warplanes, threatening a possible attack on Iran. Last week, the Pentagon deployed 6 US B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia, a US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, located 2,400 miles from Iran. The B-2 bombers, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear munitions, are equipped with 30k-pound bunker buster bombs, designed to penetrate Iran’s deep underground nuclear sites and strike evading air defense systems.
The US maintains at least 19 military facilities or bases across the region, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE. Yesterday, there was notable movement of large C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft from the US Air Force, with flights between key airbases in Europe, particularly Ramstein, Germany, and Al Udeid airbase in Qatar. After being used in the US attack on Yemen, Al Udeid base could potentially be used in an operation against Iran.
Germany’s ruling parties are advancing a law that turns citizenship into a political test. A draft seen by DW lets the state revoke passports of dual nationals accused of being “terror supporters, antisemites, or extremists” — without defining those terms.
Their political meaning, however, is already in motion. Under Germany’s adoption of the IHRA framework, “antisemitism” includes many forms of criticism of Israel—meaning the new law could be used to punish political dissent, especially from Palestinians and their allies.
“Extremism,” rooted in constitutional doctrine, is used to monitor those seen as threatening the liberal order — including socialists, communists, and pro-Palestinian movements.
Germany immigration authorities are set to deport four foreign students for their involvement in pro-Palestine protests. The country is taking lessons from Trump, who revoked over 300 student visas for criticizing Israel.
Despite no criminal convictions, the four deportation orders cite participation in demonstrations such as a sit-in at Berlin’s central train station, a road blockade, and the occupation of a building at the Free University of Berlin.
All had a legal right to be in Germany. Three are EU nationals, and one is from the US. Legal experts question the proportionality, noting German migration law allows deportation without conviction if deemed necessary, but the threat must be serious. These individuals are being targeted for their political views.
On this day in 1971, German communist Monika Ertl assassinated Roberto Quintanilla, the Bolivian officer responsible for Che Guevara’s execution. 🧵
Surprisingly, Ertl was the daughter of a Nazi propagandist who had fled to Bolivia. She was raised surrounded by her family's Nazi friends, such as Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, aka the "Butcher of Lyon", who British director Kevin Macdonald alleges orchestrated Guevara's murder.
Monika cut ties with her fascist family and grew closer to the Communist cause. She was deeply moved by Che Guevara's assassination in 1967 which led to her joining the National Liberation Army of Bolivia (ELN), which Che headed prior to his death.
Al Jazeera’s narrative on Syria has sparked outrage and sharp criticism. As a soft power tool for the US and Qatar, it has shaped coverage to serve their interests—justifying civilian massacres, spreading sectarian rhetoric, and backing Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s rise. Read more. 🧵
Al Jazeera's latest coverage of Syria has ignited a backlash. Armed groups linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) carried out brutal massacres on the Syrian coast. AJ amplified Qatari propaganda-framing the killings as "military operations" against "remnants of the Assad regime."
This isn't new. Since 2011, AJ has served Qatar's foreign policy, pushing for US intervention and Assad's isolation. It amplified the demands of Qatari-backed Islamist factions, spreading sectarian rhetoric to divide the Arab world and fuel extremism.