OPINION
Palestinians are at the end of the queue when it comes to international law

February 12, 2024 at 12:30 pm

Palestinian families seek refuge at the El-Mavasi district as they struggle to find clean water, food and medicine as the Israeli attacks continue in Rafah, Gaza on February 9, 2024. [Abed Zagout – Anadolu Agency]

by Motasem A Dalloul
abujomaaGaza

In a 45-minute phone call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the former reiterated the importance of the release of the remaining 136 Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

According to Israeli media reports, Biden’s relations with Netanyahu have reached their lowest level due to Israeli disrespect for American diplomacy, which allegedly wanted an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. During his long phone call with Netanyahu, though, Biden only reiterated the importance of the release of Israeli prisoners, ending Hamas rule and disarming the Palestinians in Gaza.

Indeed, the few words that Biden apparently mentioned about the Palestinians, were that the lethal force used against them should be less than we are seeing in the Israeli military offensive, and there should be fewer civilian victims.

Before Biden, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated to Israeli officials the importance of the release of Israeli prisoners and said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah, which hosts more than two thirds of the population of Gaza, should give due consideration to civilian lives. Blinken said on X that the Palestinians are human beings like him and he would continue thinking about Gaza’s children all of his life. Crocodile tears, Mr Blinken. Crocodile tears.

Such remarks have been echoed by other world leaders. The Israelis held in Gaza are the priority; it is their freedom which is important, along with being reunited with their children, no matter how many Palestinians must be held prisoner, tortured, bombed and killed to do this; and no matter how many of those killed are children.

The Palestinians are demonised and dehumanised, and their legitimate resistance to Israel’s military occupation is condemned as “terrorism” in order to make the slaughter in Gaza more palatable to Western audiences.

As was highlighted at the International Court of Justice by South Africa, this is the first ever live-streamed genocide in history. Nevertheless, Western leaders accept Israeli claims about the ongoing slaughter without question and only ask “How high?” when Israel tells them to jump. They ignore the facts on the ground and the evidence before their eyes of the atrocities, the massacres and the clear injustice of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians, increasingly in the occupied West Bank as well as Gaza.

New evidence surfaces daily, proving that Israel is committing genocide, as the war crimes and crimes against humanity mount up. As far as the West is concerned, though, this issue only started on 7 October; they ignore 75 years of Israeli brutality, occupation and massacres of Palestinians. The occupation state is protected and supported without question; the victims of the brutal military occupation are vilified and murdered.

The world leaders who support the Israeli occupation do so blindly and are complicit in Israel’s crimes, even if their tone has changed recently, now that the Israeli claims about beheading babies and rape have been debunked, and they have witnessed massive popular support for Palestine in what is an important election year in many countries. Even so, they accepted Israel’s allegations against a tiny minority of UNRWA staff without question, and pulled the plug on funds for the only UN agency providing essential humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza in the middle of a genocide. Some now admit that they had no evidence of wrongdoing when making their decision.

OPINION: Absence of evidence: Israel’s case against UNRWA

“Just imagine we had the recording of a 6-year-old Israeli girl, desperately ringing the emergency services after Hamas militants slaughtered her relatives in a car, including 3 other kids,” British journalist Owen Jones said on X. “Imagine we also had a prior recording of her 15-year-old cousin, desperately pleading for help, before you hear her being violently murdered by Hamas gunfire. Imagine then an Israeli ambulance sent to rescue this little girl was then blown up by Hamas militants, killing both paramedics.”

Such a scenario would be offered up as evidence of the supreme evil and barbarism of Hamas, added Jones. “We would be told it showed they’re worse than the Nazis. It would also be offered up as justification for the need to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth. Every politician in the West would issue statements dripping with grief and righteous fury.”

The best that Biden could come up with so far, though, is to call Israel’s military conduct in Gaza “over the top”. That, and a further $14 billion of military aid to Israel, bypassing Congress to push this through and enable Israel to kill even more Palestinians in Gaza.

Biden’s hypocrisy knows no bounds, it seems, and it is matched by others in the West who are “deeply concerned” about an Israeli offensive in Rafah, but do nothing to stop British arms sales to the occupation entity.

At the bottom of this is the undeniable fact that people in the West have been conditioned to think “Israel good; Palestinians bad”; European guilt over anti-Jewish pogroms culminating in the Holocaust makes the Palestinians pay the price for Europe’s crimes. Some lives are worth more than others, it seems, and the Palestinians are at the end of the queue when it comes to the application of international law and the fulfilment of their legitimate rights.

ZIONIST MONSTER
Ben-Gvir calls on Israel army to shoot Gaza’s children, women

February 12, 2024

Relatives of the Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on the house belonging to the al-Kahveci family as civil defense teams and civilians conduct search and rescue efforts in the destroyed house in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on February 12, 2024.

 [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reportedly demanded that the army shoot Palestinian women and children in the Gaza Strip to protect the Israeli forces.

According to Israeli media reports this came in response to Israeli army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Halevi Halevi saying: “Firing orders in the border area are modified according to the instructions of officers in the field on a daily basis.”

Ben-Gvir responded: “You know how our enemies work. They will test us, they will send women and children, and in the end they will prove to be saboteurs. If we continue like this, we will reach October 7 again.”

“The soldiers know the complexities, and if we do not coordinate orders, we will witness harsh events with soldiers shooting at other soldiers,” Halevi replied.

However, Ben Gvir insisted: “There cannot be a situation in which children and women approach us from the wall. Anyone who approaches in order to harm security must receive a bullet, otherwise we will see October 7 again.”

UN rapporteur: Israel appears to be violating ICJ orders

February 12, 2024 

Injured Palestinians, including children are brought to Kuwait Hospital for treatment following Israeli attacks on Rafah City in the south of Gaza on February 12, 2024. 

[Belal Khaled – Anadolu Agency]


Israel appears to be violating the orders of the International Court of Justice in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said yesterday.

Albanese said, in her statement to the British newspaper the Guardian, that “Israel appears to be in breach of the orders issued a fortnight ago by the International Court of Justice requiring it to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities that could constitute genocide.”

She said she disagreed with some lawyers and Israel regarding their interpretation of the ICJ’s orders, which they believe are not prohibited so long as Israel undertakes them without genocidal intent.

Albanese noted that the ICJ had mandated Israel to cease all activities that could constitute genocide.

Later, Albanese posted her interview with the Guardian on her X account, stressing that “ISR [Israel] is obligated to adhere to the Court’s order, & states must act decisively to prevent further atrocities.”

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case with the ICJ accusing Israel of failing to fulfil its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

On 26 January, the World Court ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the court’s decision by saying that Tel Aviv will not stop the war on Gaza, adding that the court did not order a ceasefire.

Since 7 October, Israel has been waging a devastating genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, most of them children and women, in addition to causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure. Occupation forces have been seen razing Palestinian neighbourhood, historical sites, schools, museums and mosques, which many have interpreted as a means to eradicate Gaza’s history and culture and any claims Palestinians have to the land.

South Africa: We cannot celebrate our freedom while there are people occupied by Israel

February 12, 2024 

Players of Palestine pose for a team photo ahead of the friendly football match between South Africa and Palestine national teams in Cape Town, South Africa on February 11, 2024. [Üsame Yıldız – Anadolu Agency]

“We cannot celebrate our freedom alone when there are some people in the world who remain occupied by the colonial Israel state,” South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Zizi Kodwa, said yesterday, referring to Palestine.

Kodwa’s statements came before the Football for Humanity match between the Palestinian national team and South Africa.

“We have no doubt in our mind that a horizon of a free Palestine is coming very soon,” he added, noting that his country is using sport as an instrument to build bridges of peace.

“South Africa has been a good friend of Palestine. We come a long way. The Palestine of today is the South Africa of yesterday. They stood with us at the time of need, and we cannot celebrate our freedom alone when there are some people in the world who remain occupied by the colonial Israel state that continues to murder children and unborn babies.”

Commenting on the match, the South African Presidency said that it symbolises the historical solidarity between the two countries.

READ: South Africa’s FM seeks extra security due to threats from ‘Israeli agents’

“This event symbolises South Africa’s historic solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle against illegal occupation and violent excesses by the State of Israel,” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.

The presidency added that the match holds great significance because it is held on the day that marks the release of the first democratically elected black president in South Africa, Nelson Mandela, from prison after he spent 27 years opposing white minority rule and apartheid.

On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela, the leader of the movement that ended apartheid in South Africa, was released from jail after 27 years.

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of failing to fulfil its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

On 26 January, the ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA

UK won’t say when or if it will restart aid to Gaza despite reports of famine


Aid is suspended amid allegations about UNRWA. There is no such suspension of arms exports despite evidence of genocide


Adam Ramsay
12 February 2024

RAFAH, GAZA - JANUARY 04: UNRWA personnel distribute flour to Palestinian families |
(Photo by Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images)


The UK government still has no answers about if or when it will restart funding to the main relief agency in Gaza despite mounting reports of famine.

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said last month it was stopping aid to UNRWA while it “reviewed” allegations from the Israeli government that 12 of the agency’s 13,000 staff had been involved in attacks on Israel in October.

No such suspension has been announced of Britain’s arms exports to Israel, despite the International Court of Justice having found there was a plausible case that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. The ICJ also ordered Israel to allow aid into the region.

The Israeli government’s allegations came in the form of a six-page dossier, which Israel passed to UNRWA and its donors the day after the genocide ruling. In recent years, claims made by the Israeli government have repeatedly been subsequently dismissed as propaganda intended to influence geopolitics at key moments.

Labour MP Zarah Sultana has submitted a parliamentary question asking the department what the review involves and how long it will take given the urgent humanitarian crisis in the region more than two weeks on, but it has snubbed both her and openDemocracy’s questions.

While the dossier that Israel passed to UNRWA and its donors was confidential, Channel 4 News managed to get a copy, and said it provided no evidence for the explosive claims, which knocked the genocide ruling off front pages across the western world.

UNRWA, whose full name is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was founded in 1949 to support the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees forced from their homes in order to create the state of Israel in 1948.

It currently supports 5.9 million Palestinian refugees, including those in Gaza and the West Bank affected by the current conflict, in Lebanon where there is ongoing socio-economic collapse, in Syria, where the civil war continues, and in Jordan. With its projects including running schools, medical clinics and hospitals and the distribution of food aid, it is the biggest single UN agency.

Before the allegations were made, senior Israeli officials had argued that it would be necessary to destroy UNRWA in order to win the war on Gaza.

Sultana called the government’s suspension of UNRWA funding “an act of collective punishment on the Palestinian people, millions of whom are currently displaced, unable to access food and water, and in urgent need of humanitarian aid”.

She said it was right that the allegations against UNRWA staff were investigated, but added that it was Britain’s duty under international law to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to humanitarian assistance. “The government’s refusal to be transparent about this decision and the process for its investigation is wholly unacceptable,” she said.

The UK’s contributions to UNRWA have varied over the years, peaking at around £90m in 2019 before being slashed to around £25m in 2022. UNRWA has subsequently admitted it fired all the staff members accused by Israel of involvement in the attacks before investigating whether there was any truth to the allegations.

The UN Secretary General has called for the donors who have suspended their funding “to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations”. UNRWA has said that the decision of some donors to suspend funding “threatens our ongoing humanitarian work across the region”. While some governments, like the UK, have suspended aid, others including Belgium, Ireland, Denmark and Spain have continued their funding.

The UK government has said that it remains “committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it,” but other aid organisations who operate in Gaza have argued that none but UNRWA has the capacity to deliver it. More than 20 aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, have warned that, if funding suspensions are not reversed, “we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza”, calling the government’s decision “reckless”.

The UK says it “allocated” £16m to UNRWA between 7 October and the suspension in January, and that no further UK funding was due until April 2024. It has not said how much of the £16m has already been paid or spent, and how much is affected by the decision to suspend payments.

The BBC reported yesterday that children in northern Gaza have been going for days without food as aid can no longer reach them.

Denmark says UN agency ‘crucial’ for Palestinians in need

February 12, 2024 

The UN flag flies on the roof of the UNRWA school at al-Am’ari Refugee Camp after funding cuts to UNRWA in Ramallah, West Bank on February 03, 2024 [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]


Denmark on Monday reiterated its position that the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) remains crucial for civilians in need in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports.

In a meeting with UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jorgensen said: “Following serious allegations of UNRWA staff involved in Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, critical to ensure full and transparent examination so trust and UN neutrality can be restored.”

But contrary to the Israeli government’s position against the UN relief agency, he said: “The UNRWA remains crucial for civilians in need.”

The UN agency provides aid to Palestinians in Gaza. In reaction to Israeli allegations that claimed a number of its staffers were involved in 7 October Hamas attack, a number of donor countries have suspended funding. The agency has launched an investigation and dismissed staff accused of involvement in the attack.

Denmark on Friday said that it would not withdraw funding from the agency as defunding would “accelerate a humanitarian conflict” in the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Denmark would make the planned financial assistance as scheduled to the UN agency in March.

He said collective punishment of Gazans is not a way forward to resolve the complex crisis in the region.

“It’s quite terrible, but now it’s not like we normally have a principle of collective punishment. We are talking about an organization that has about 30,000 employees – 13,000 are in Gaza,” he said.

UPDATED

Amnesty UK report gives evidence on possible war crimes by Israel in Gaza city of Rafah

'Entire families were wiped out in Israeli attacks even after they sought refuge in areas promoted as safe,' says human rights group

 12/02/2024 Monday
AA


Amnesty International UK on Monday unveiled evidence of deadly "unlawful attacks" perpetrated by Israeli forces in the city of Rafah, Gaza, alleging war crimes by Israel and egregious violations of international humanitarian law during military operations in the region.

The report explores a reality where it says entire families are obliterated with impunity, casting a grim shadow over Gaza's supposed "safest" areas.

The Amnesty International investigation scrutinized four separate Israeli attacks in Rafah, where civilians, including children and the elderly, were said to bear the brunt of relentless violence.

Three of these assaults unfolded in December following the conclusion of a humanitarian pause, with another taking place in January.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director of research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns at Amnesty International, condemned the atrocities, accusing Israeli forces of callously disregarding international law and shattering the lives of innocent civilians.

"Entire families were wiped out in Israeli attacks even after they sought refuge in areas promoted as safe and with no prior warning from the Israeli authorities," she said.

She stressed that these attacks underscore a disturbing pattern of Israeli forces flouting international law, contradicting assertions by Israeli authorities that they have precautions to minimize civilian harm.

"Among those killed in these unlawful attacks were a baby girl who had not yet turned 3 weeks, a prominent 69-year-old retired physician, a journalist who welcomed displaced families into his house, and a mother sharing a bed with her 23-year-old daughter," she added.

The release of the report comes on the heels of last month's International Court of Justice interim ruling, which highlighted the real and imminent risk of genocide.

Palestinians sought refuge in Rafah after the Israeli army launched intensified bombardments on the cities of Gaza and Khan Younis, as well as their surrounding towns and neighborhoods, in the months since Oct. 7, killing more than 28,000 people and causing widespread destruction and shortages of necessities.

Tel Aviv forced over 1.3 million Palestinians to relocate to Rafah, promising them that the city on Egypt's border would be safe, but now are threatening a military assault on the city, telling local civilians to again relocate, amid questions if there is anyplace left to flee.

Only Egypt can stop expected massacre in Rafah, Palestinian official says

February 12, 2024

An aerial view of the makeshift tents as the Palestinian families seek refuge at the El-Mavasi district as they struggle to find clean water, food and medicine as the Israeli attacks continue in Rafah, Gaza on February 9, 2024. [Abed Zagout – Anadolu Agency]

Egypt is the only country that can stand in the face of the Israeli occupation’s threats of a military operation in Rafah and the massacre of displaced Palestinians there, since the operation affects Cairo’s national security, Quds Press reported an Palestinian official as saying.

The unnamed source called on “the Egyptian leadership to visit the Palestinian-Egyptian border to see directly the risks affecting Arab national security” and to “immediately move to thwart the military operation and the plans of the Nazi occupation.”

“The [Isreali] occupation’s threats to launch a military operation in Rafah expose more than one and a half million displaced people to genocide,” the statement said, pointing out that “the battle will be at Egypt’s gates, and this will threaten Egyptian sovereignty and national security… and will have major repercussions on the entire region.”

READ: Malaysia: Israel offensive on Rafah ‘irresponsible, illegal and inhumane’

The leading source warned against “implementing the [Israeli] occupation’s plans to displace the Palestinian people, affirming that the Palestinians in Gaza will not accept displacement, neither forcibly nor voluntarily.”

“The [Palestinians] will remain steadfast on their land, and will only return to the homes from which they were displaced,” he added.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as saying that Cairo had warned Tel Aviv that it would suspend the bilateral peace treaty if Israel forces Palestinians out of Gaza and into Egypt.

Israel launched an air campaign on Rafah overnight, killing nearly 50 Palestinians. The city had been declared a “safe zone” by occupation forces and over a million Palestinians had taken shelter there after being forced out of their homes in the northern areas of the Strip since 7 October.

UK tells Israel to 'stop and think' about offensive in Rafah after deadly strikes 

BBC News
Feb 12, 2024 

The UK's foreign secretary has urged Israel to "stop and think seriously" about any ground offensive in Rafah and the impact on the estimated 1.5 million people sheltering in the southern city. Lord David Cameron reiterated his call for a pause in the fighting, with the long-term aim of securing a "sustainable ceasefire". It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 67 people in the overcrowded city. Israel says it carried out a "wave of strikes" while rescuing two hostages who are now "in good medical condition". Israel launched its operations in Gaza after Hamas killed more than 1,200 people on 7 October, and took 253 people hostage. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 67,500 injured since then.

 

Israel's offensive on Rafah city violates world court order on Gaza, says Pakistan

February 12, 2024

Palestinians inspect destroyed and damaged buildings after a building belonging to the al-Shair family was destroyed due to Israeli attacks on Rafah City in the south of Gaza, on February 12, 2024 [Doaa Albaz – Anadolu Agency]


Strongly condemning Israel’s assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Pakistan said Monday that Tel Aviv is in violation of measures ordered by the UN’s top court last month, Anadolu Agency reports.

“It will further aggravate the humanitarian disaster witnessed in Gaza over the last 4 months and jeopardise the ongoing efforts for a potential ceasefire,” the Foreign Ministry in a statement from the capital Islamabad.

Urging the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to take “urgent measures to bring an immediate end to Israeli aggression and its incessant crimes against humanity,” Islamabad said the offensive in Rafah violates provisional measures that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered last month to protect people in Gaza from genocide.

South Africa filed a case at the ICJ in December, accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In its interim ruling in January, the UN court ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The Maldives on Monday also strongly condemned Israel’s “threats to launch a full-scale invasion” on Rafah city.

“The forced displacement and inhumane attacks against innocent Palestinians and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance by the Israeli occupation forces is against international laws and regulations and tantamount to war crimes,” the said a Foreign Ministry statement from the capital Male.

It urged the international community to “take decisive action to prevent the continuation of the genocidal acts of the Israeli forces,” and pressure Israeli authorities to abide by the provisional measures of the ICJ.

The interim Taliban administration in Afghanistan also joined the chorus against the Israeli attacks on Rafah.

“The continuation of brutality of Zionist forces on Rafah city will cause a major disaster and make the ongoing crisis spiral out,” the Foreign Ministry in Kabul said.

It also called on countries with global and regional influence, Islamic nations, and “purported” human rights bodies to “prevent the ongoing genocide in Gaza and occupied Palestine, and find ways to a fundamental solution to this case.”

It said the continued “genocide” in Gaza has “posed serious questions” to the current international order and its values, and that this “genocide of the century will further erode the flimsy credibility of international organisations and humanitarian conventions.”

More than 100 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported early on Monday.

Israeli fighter jets also targeted displaced people near the Egyptian border and the Kuwaiti Hospital, west of the city.

The Israeli army on Sunday approved a plan for a ground offensive in Rafah city.

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel has pounded the rest of the enclave since 7 October.

The ensuing Israeli bombardments have killed more than 28,000 people, mostly women and children, and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave since 7 October. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 28,340 victims and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has 85% of the territory’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

International Criminal Court prosecutor voices concern over Israeli actions in Gaza city of Rafah

February 12, 2024 

Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor holds a press conference in Khartoum, Sudan  [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency]


The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor on Monday expressed deep concern over the reported bombardment and potential ground incursion by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

“My Office has an ongoing and active investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine. This is being taken forward as a matter of the utmost urgency, with a view to bringing to justice those responsible for Rome Statute crimes,” Karim Khan said on X.

He reiterated the importance of upholding the laws of armed conflict and emphasized that “all wars have rules and the laws applicable to armed conflict cannot be interpreted so as to render them hollow or devoid of meaning.”

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel has pounded the rest of the enclave since Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 28,000 people, mostly women and children, and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Khan pointed out that despite his consistent messaging, including during a visit to the Palestinian city of Ramallah last year, there has been no discernible change in Israel’s conduct.

“As I have repeatedly emphasised, those who do not comply with the law should not complain later when my Office takes action pursuant to its mandate,” he added.

He said his office is actively investigating any alleged crimes and that those in violation of international law would be held accountable.

Khan also called for the immediate release of all hostages held in the Gaza Strip, noting that this remained a critical focus of the investigations.

The Israeli war on Gaza forced the internal displacement of 85% of the territory’s population amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

In an interim ruling in January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts and to take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

 

‘Paraglider’ images at pro-Palestinian march were peace symbols, court told

A lawyer representing two of the defendants has claimed police have been fed a narrative by partisan social media groups

George Lithgow

PA

Heba Alhayek, 29, (left) and Pauline Ankunda, 26, arrive at Westmintser Magistrates’ Court

 (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Three people accused of showing images of paragliders at a pro-Palestinian march were actually displaying a “cartoon parachute” used as a “symbol of peace”, lawyers have claimed.

Heba Alhayek, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, are accused of attaching images of paragliders to their backs, while Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, is said to have stuck one to the handle of a placard – just seven days after militants from Hamas used paragliders to enter Israel from Gaza on October 7.

But a lawyer representing two of the defendants has claimed police have “mistaken” what they saw that day, and have been fed a narrative by partisan social media groups.

Mark Summers KC, representing Alhayek and Ankunda, said: “A parachute isn’t a paraglider.”

The suggestion that the image was a paraglider started with “an internet group with an agenda”, who circulated it on social media, he said.

Mr Summers continued: “[A parachute] is a well known nationalist symbol of peace.

“The police have mistaken what they have seen that day.

“Police have taken the narrative that’s been fed to them and brought it blindly to your door.”

Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, arrives at Westmintser Magistrates’ Court

 (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Giving evidence on Monday, former journalist Victoria Brittain, who is a patron of the group Palestine Solidarity, claimed a parachute was a “typical Palestinian symbol of flight and escaping prison”.

Ms Brittain, who was present at October’s demonstration, said balloons and kites had also been used with the same meaning.

But when questioned by the prosecution, she admitted she had not seen any images of parachutes at the march.

The trio displayed the images on October 14 2023, prosecutors allege, just seven days after militants from Hamas used paragliders to enter Israel from Gaza on October 7 before killing more than 1,000 Israelis.

Hamas is banned as a terror organisation in the UK.

The defendants’ display of the images was widely condemned when footage of the demonstration was published on social media, their trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told.

After the Metropolitan Police launched a social media appeal to find them, Alhayek and Ankunda handed themselves in to Croydon Police Station, the court heard.

Pro-Palestinian protesters carry placards during a 'National March for Palestine' demonstration in central London

 (EPA/ANDY RAIN)

In a police interview, the pair initially claimed someone at the demonstration “who was not known to them” had stuck the images to their backs, before changing their statements, admitting they had attached them themselves, the court was told.

When arrested and interviewed under caution, Taiwo claimed to have been handed the placard and not paid proper attention to the “blurry image” it displayed, the court heard.

Closing the prosecution case, Brett Weaver told the court: “Their reaction was firstly to lie and then to retract that denial.

“[Parachutes have] no obvious association with freedom or liberation.

“It’s no coincidence that the defendants were displaying the images a week after the attack… no coincidence that the images they had related to the methods that Hamas used.

“There’s a clear nexus between the images displayed and the events of October 7.”

The three defendants deny the charges.

The trial continues.

To stop Muslim 'radicalisation', end UK support for Israel's genocide in Gaza

Refusing to reflect on the root causes of radicalisation, the UK's counter-terrorism policies are just an excuse to criminalise Muslims, writes Nadeine Asbali.




Nadeine Asbali
12 Feb, 2024

British Muslims are outraged and disillusioned by their government's unchecked support for Israel's war on Gaza, writes Nadeine Asbali.

[Getty]

Over the last few decades, the term ‘radicalisation’ has become so politicised and laden with Islamophobic ideas that it can be hard to unpack what it actually means.

Radicalisation is “the action or process of causing someone to adopt radical positions on political or social issues”. To me, this sounds like a process that many of us go through as the adult world opens our eyes to the manifold inequalities in the systems that govern us.

Yet for many, ‘radical’ simply means any iteration of Islam that isn’t sanitised for the white gaze; to be ‘radical’ as a Muslim means being dangerous, extreme and even a terrorist.

Last week, the head of UK counter-terror policing said that Israel’s indiscriminate war on Palestinians in Gaza had created a “radicalisation moment”, with the potential to push many Muslims towards acts of terror, akin to the effect of the Iraq war on previous generations.

"Despite acknowledging that this is a pivotal and significant moment with the potential to disenfranchise British Muslims further than we already are, it’s clear that the state has no appetite to use this as an opportunity for introspection"

It’s not often that I find myself agreeing with anyone involved in the UK’s draconian and racist counter-terror apparatus, which has had a proven disproportionate impact on British Muslims, particularly children. But this time, I found myself agreeing because I feel it too.


I feel it in myself and in the shift in the people around me, the communities I live in and come from. Gaza has changed us. Many of us are angry, disillusioned and bereft.

We are disoriented from weekends spent protesting and evenings spent absorbing heinously graphic content of a genocide occurring in real time, only to have to go to work on a Monday morning to find the people around us talking about something as inane as the weather or last night’s TV shows.

I, for one, have never felt less British than when I see my elected representatives (including the so-called opposition) clamour for the support of the blood-stained illegal occupier that is inflicting this ethnic cleansing on the people of Gaza, which has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians.

But, despite acknowledging that this is a pivotal and significant moment with the potential to disenfranchise British Muslims further than we already are, it’s clear that the state has no appetite to use this as an opportunity for introspection.

No, there is no evidence at all that this moment will see the state reflect on how its own policies of enabling the massacres of Arabs and Muslims all over the world push young people to the very behaviours that it so rigorously criminalises.

One thing is clear: this “radicalisation moment” will serve as an excuse to police and securitise Muslims in even more invasive and unjust ways. What else could we possibly expect from a government that thrives on manufacturing the conditions of our disillusionment and then criminalising our righteous anger?

What more could we expect from a state built upon the colonisation of our bodies, lands and beliefs, that has no interest in our liberation or struggles?

UK Muslims deserve praise, not hate, for standing with Gaza

Perspectives  Ross Slater

What we have seen is a violent uptick in the criminalisation of Muslims, even though the counter-terror machine acknowledges that it is Britain’s support for Israel that is causing this rising resentment amongst communities.

In the past four months of Israel’s assault, 33 people have been arrested in the UK under terrorism laws. This includes those who have been reprimanded by the police for protest signs, such as the teacher who received a police caution for holding a sign of Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman next to coconuts.


In 2023, there was a 13% increase in referrals to Prevent with top policing figures saying that even eleven and twelve year olds are getting into “troubling conversations online”.

But is this all a sign of an increased risk of terrorism or is it evidence of a heightened atmosphere of Islamophobia in which support for Palestine is itself viewed as a precursor or symptom of terrorist activity?

"We are living in a time when calling for an end to violence carried out by a British ally with British complicity makes you a 'terrorist' but cheering on a genocide does not"

Even the briefest look at the state of the media over the last few months reveals the answer. Palestinians and their allies invited to speak on news shows face demands that they “condemn Hamas”, even when they speak about their families being killed.

In schools across the country, the same assumptions are being made. Shortly after 7th October schools received guidance from the education secretary that explicitly called for the protection of Jewish children, with millions pledged to ensure their safety, and the need to treat anti-Semitism seriously.

The same guidance did not even explicitly mention Muslims, Arabs, or Islamophobia, only making vague references alongside teachers’ duty to report anything suspicious to Prevent.

Some London schools saw extra police patrols stationed outside and “intelligence gathering” taking place on school grounds with teachers mandated to pass any evidence of “community tensions” onto police.

The blatant Islamophobia of the post 9/11 era is back

Voices   Nadeine Asbali

We have seen peace marches calling for a ceasefire portrayed as “hate marches” by the former home secretary and celebrities and citizens alike losing their jobs for speaking out in support of the victims of genocide in Gaza.

We are living in a time when calling for an end to violence carried out by a British ally with British complicity makes you a ‘terrorist’ but cheering on a genocide does not.

It has never been clearer that the UK has no desire to view counter-terror through the lens of anything but surveillance, criminalisation and discrimination of Muslim communities whilst continuing its bloodlust imperial agenda overseas.

If this truly is a “radicalisation moment”, then it is one the UK’s own making. Until the state is able to accept this, then the apparatus Britons rely upon to keep them safe from terrorism is unfit for purpose.


Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London.
Follow her on Twitter: @najourno

Opinions expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of their employer, or of The New Arab and its editorial board or staff.

Dutch Court Orders Government to Stop F-35 Parts Exports to Israel

February 12, 2024
By VOA News

An Israeli F-35 lands at Ovda airbase near Eilat, southern Israel, Oct. 24, 2021.

An appeals court in the Netherlands ordered the government Monday to stop exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, following a lawsuit filed by human rights groups raising concerns about Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law," the court said.

Israel has denied committing war crimes in Gaza, where it launched a military operation against the Hamas militant group following an October Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli response has killed more than 28,300 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The Dutch court said the government must comply with the ruling within seven days.

The decision can be appealed.

The Netherlands is host to a warehouse of U.S.-owned F-35 parts that are exported to several countries.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

UK Sanctions Israeli West Bank Settlers, Citing Human Rights Abuses

February 12, 2024
By VOA News

A Palestinian man checks a car burned in a raid by Israeli settlers near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Dec. 3, 2023.

Britain imposed sanctions Monday against four Israeli nationals, accused of violently attacking Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called the four individuals “extremist Israeli settlers” and imposed strict financial and travel restrictions on them because of what was described as their "egregious abuses of human rights."

"Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs," he said.

The British Foreign Office said over the past year there have been unprecedented levels of violence by residents who have illegally settled in West Bank outposts.

"This behavior is illegal and unacceptable. Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through," Cameron said.

"Extremist settlers, by targeting and attacking Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians," Cameron added.

The United States also imposed sanctions earlier this month on four Israeli men it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank.

The European Union is also mulling over imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank but so far, there has not been unanimity among the member states on such measures.

Four diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity about internal EU deliberations said that Hungary and the Czech Republic, two strong allies of Israel, made clear in an EU committee meeting Thursday that they were not ready to approve a proposal on sanctions.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday now was "definitely not the time" to sanction Israeli settlers, state news agency MTI reported. Budapest says the EU's focus should be on helping Israel to defeat Hamas and free hostages taken by the militants during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his country was not "substantively" blocking sanctions on settlers inciting violence. Lipavsky, however, expressed reluctance to adopting such measures alongside sanctions against Hamas, which the EU has listed as a terrorist organization over the October attacks.

"An act of terrorism is not on the same level as acts by settlers,” he said. "These things cannot be connected."

France, which has been pushing for settler sanctions, is expected to introduce national travel bans on two or three individuals imminently. Reports say France is hoping that once its measures are in place, European partners will be more willing to press ahead.

"Once we have our measures, we shall see how the others react," said a French diplomatic source.

The European Union has not spelled out what the sanctions would entail but officials have said they would include bans on travel to the EU.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and The Associated Press.

Britain sanctions 4 'extremist' Israeli settlers for West Bank violence against Palestinians


Palestinian Wadha Nawaagah pours water for her goats in the village of Susya in the south Hebron hills, West Bank. Britain on Monday sanctioned four "extremist" Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The British government on Monday sanctioned a group of "extremist" Israeli settlers who it said have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced the sanctions against Moshe Sharvit, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yousef and Ely Federman who he said joined other extremist settlers in targeting and attacking Palestinian civilians and therefore "undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians."

"Today's sanctions place restrictions on those involved in some of the most egregious abuses of human rights. We should be clear about what is happening here. Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs," Cameron said. "This behavior is illegal and unacceptable. Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through."

Officials said settler Levy, who was previously sanctioned by the United States earlier this month, and Sharvit, have used physical violence against displaced Palestinians, while Yosef set up an illegal outpost to harass Palestinians and Federman was involved with "multiple incidents" against Palestinian shepherds in South Hebron Hills.

As part of the sanctions, all four will face strict financial and travel restrictions.

British officials said the Israeli government's failure to take action has left the settled to attack Palestinians with "near total impunity" in the West Bank.

Yesh Din, an Israel-based non-governmental organization, accused Israeli settlers this past weekend of throwing stones car the cars of Palestinians and tear-gassing drivers.

"The measures taken today are part of wider U.K. efforts to support a more stable West Bank, which is vital for the peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis," the office said.

UK sanctions 'extremist' Israeli settlers in West Bank

MEMO

February 12, 2024 

Britain today imposed sanctions on four Israeli nationals saying they were extremist settlers who had violently attacked Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Reuters reports.

The measures impose strict financial and travel restrictions on the four individuals, who Britain said were involved in “egregious abuses of human rights”.

“Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.

“This behaviour is illegal and unacceptable. Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through.”

According to the government: “Two of the individuals designated today – Moshe Sharvit and Yinon Levy – have in recent months used physical aggression, threatened families at gunpoint, and destroyed property as part of a targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities.”

While another settler, Zvi Bar Yosef, set up an illegal outpost in the occupied Palestinian territories which has “been described by local Palestinian residents as a ‘source of systematic intimidation and violence’.”

The fourth settler to be hit with sanctions is Ely Federman, who was described as being “involved in multiple incidents against Palestinian shepherds in the South Hebron Hills.”

Britain’s Foreign Office said there had been unprecedented levels of violence by settlers in the West Bank over the past year.The US also imposed sanctions earlier this month on four Israeli men it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank.

Smotrich urges Israel banks not to enforce US sanctions on settlers


Israel’s Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks during 

a parliament (Knesset) meeting in Jerusalem on July 10, 2023

 [MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images]

MEMO
February 5, 2024 

Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, seeks to prevent Israeli banks from taking action against four settlers on whom the US has imposed economic sanctions, due to their involvement in terrorist attacks targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported last night that Bank Leumi froze the account of one of the settlers targeted by American sanctions. This prompted Smotrich to try to intervene.

The report noted that two of the four settlers have accounts in Bank Hapoalim, which has not yet decided on the measures that will be taken in regards to the US sanctions.

Smotrich spoke to the banks supervisor in the Ministry of Finance in an attempt to prevent Israeli banks from taking similar measures and asked him to issue a clarification to all banks stating that the United States’ decision should not change anything in terms of Israeli law.

It is “unthinkable” for an Israeli bank to take action against an Israeli citizen following a US decision, Smotrich said.

“I will take action as the finance minister and do what I must,” he said, noting that “if need be, we’ll advance legislation on the matter.”

Officials in Israeli banks confirmed that they are obliged to enforce the measures Washington imposed on the four settlers, otherwise the US could sanction banks who continue to serve sanctioned individuals.