In January, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem charged Israel with maintaining an “apartheid… regime of “Jewish supremacy” from the river to the sea.
Now the organization has released two videos from the occupied territories that document this reality in chilling ways– as they show Israeli occupiers, some in uniform, abusing Palestinians in sexually degrading terms during the recent Gaza war. Published July 12, the videos capture the racist, homophobic, and misogynist abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.
Both videos were shot by Palestinians in occupied Hebron on May 13, during the Muslim holiday of ‘Eid al-Fitr. (And B’Tselem issued a press release about the dehumanizing language.)
Here are excerpts of some of that abuse. Warning, the language is highly offensive.
In the first video, Israeli soldiers raid a home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Al-Harika in Hebron. The soldiers break windows and threaten residents as they look for a young stone thrower. The soldiers ignore settlers who throw stones at Palestinians.
The soldiers abuse a Palestinian woman who bravely holds a camera, documenting the raid for B’Tselem, and threaten to break her camera:
Palestinian woman: I didn’t see anyone throw a rock.
Soldier: Because you are very fat. And ugly.
Palestinian: I do my job, I work for B’Tselem.
Soldier: One more time, I break your camera. Alright? You understand me?
Palestinian: I’ll take another camera. It’s not a problem. I have many cameras.
Soldier: Mother, why is your son throwing stones at the soldiers?
As the soldiers leave the house, one blows a kiss to her, a second says, “Happy holiday,” and a third sings, “Hey, sexy lady!”
The second video records events that night in the same neighborhood. Israeli settlers from the illegal colony of Kiryat Arba, built on the eastern side of Hebron, shout racist abuse and sexual threats at Palestinians from a fence, as Israeli soldiers raid the Al-Harika neighborhood.
Settler: Come on, you snitches, you whores.
Settler: I’ll fuck up this entire village. What do you call this fucking family? All by myself, you asshole. Listen, you dog. Listen up, you pig. I’m fucking you, you dog. I’m fucking your mother and your sister.
Settler: Death to Arabs.
Settler: You dog, you dog. Muhammad’s a pig.
Settler: Muhammad’s a son of a bitch.
Settler: Come, come, I’ll fuck you.
Settler: Muhammad’s dead, you asshole.
Settler [hearing boy’s voice]: You’re hiding behind kids, you faggot. I’ll fuck you. You tranny, you coward.
Settler: Come on, I’ll fuck you, you faggot.
Settler: Come on, I’ll open up your ass.
Settler: Gaza’s on fire, you coward, you faggot.
The same video captures an encounter that day outside a Palestinian home, this time with an Israeli soldier hurling abuse.
Soldier: I spit on Palestine. Fuck your mother.
Soldier: I don’t give a fuck. I’m the Israeli army.
Soldier: Throw it, you faggot.
Soldier: Palestine, you assholes.
Soldier: Go get your mother, you faggot. Come on, bring her here, I’ll fuck her. Come on.
Of course these encounters with occupying forces are often deadly. Here is a new report from 972, also based on a B’Tselem video, about Israeli soldiers coordinating attacks on Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank with masked Jewish settlers, including a half-clad sniper.
The attacks took place on May 14, a day on which four Palestinian villagers were killed in what appear to be “pricetag” attacks– retribution against Palestinians for protests against Israeli actions.
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Important:
Cornel West cites ‘anti-Palestinian prejudice’ in resignation letter to Harvard – Middle East Monitor
“Cornel West cites ‘anti-Palestinian prejudice’ in resignation letter to Harvard” Middle East Monitor, July 13/21
“In his blistering resignation letter to Harvard University, Dr Cornel West, one of America’s leading public intellectuals, cited the administration’s ‘anti-Palestinian prejudice’ as one of the main reasons for departing after four years of teaching. West is expected to return to Union Theological Seminary, where he first taught 44 years ago.
“West shared a copy of his letter on Twitter yesterday explaining the reasons for his resignation. The 67-year-old philosopher, political activist, and social critic has been involved in a drawn-out public dispute with Harvard Divinity School over his tenure since early this year.
“Considered an intellectual giant by many, West’s fallout triggered speculation over why such a prominent figure would be denied tenure. It was thought that his vocal support for the Palestinians and his harsh criticism of Israel played a major role in blocking his path to tenure.
“Over the past few years, pro-Israel groups have run a highly successful campaign across American states and campuses to suppress criticism of Israel using the highly dubious International Holocaust Alliance definition of anti-Semitism which conflates criticism of the occupation state with racism towards Jews.
“West himself has hinted that he is a victim of such a campaign thought by many to be an assault on the first amendment of the American constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of speech.
“‘Is Harvard a place for a free Black man like myself whose Christian faith & witness put equal value on Palestinian & Jewish babies- like all babies- & reject all occupations as immoral?’ West asked on Twitter when the dispute first came to light.
“West also claimed that Harvard’s decision was political and had nothing to do with his ability as a professor. ‘After being tenured at Yale, Harvard, Princeton & Union Theological Seminary, the recent Harvard denial of a tenure process strikes me as a political decision I reject,’ added West. ‘Nothing stands in the way of my profound love for & solidarity with oppressed peoples wherever they are!!’
(cont’d)
That despicable coward with the gun (and the small brain) is too afraid to show his face knowing he is committing a crime. Shame on Israel’s most “moral” military, for behaving like lawless savages, as they taunt, insult, injure and kill, UNARMED civilians. US tax payer money at work. This is who AIPAC, the Congress, and the White House, keep sending aid and arms to, and protecting from world condemnation. This is who our zionist media keep supporting and keep ignoring these crimes reported by human rights groups.
Israel keeps claiming to be a “democracy” but they are more like a brutal colonist.
That last video?
https://theintercept.com/2021/07/15/israel-army-settlers-palestinians-killed/
On a single day in May, Israeli settlers and soldiers cooperated in attacks that left four Palestinians dead…While Israeli media reported that the killings occurred amid “clashes” — implying the widespread protests over Al Aqsa and the Gaza bombings — at least four of the deaths occurred during deliberate attacks by settlers and soldiers on Palestinian villages, an investigation by Local Call and The Intercept found….Attacks on Palestinians by stone-throwing settlers, as Israeli soldiers stand idly by, are a common occurrence in the occupied Palestinian territories. But scenes like those from May 14 — settlers and soldiers attacking villages in apparent cooperation, with live ammunition — are unprecedented.
Imagine a world where crimes, atrocities, and attacks on innocent people are labeled “fake” or “propaganda” (Bear with me, I realize it is not so far fetched to imagine that is happening).
Now think about what it means to deny the Holocaust, label it “fake”, or claim it never happened, that facts about it are “propaganda”.
It’s an icky feeling, isn’t it? To read that someone denies that such pain and suffering ever occurred.
Now, think about all the times you have read or heard that everything that Israel or Zionists do to Palestinians never happened, that Palestinian suffering is “manufactured”, that it is “fake”. Or worse, think about all the times that such suffering was ignored, or dismissed, or spun.
This goes to the heart of anti-Palestinian hatred. That ideology of hatred stems from pure, unadulterated dehumanization of Palestinians as lesser humans, as lesser beings. That is what dehumanization does.
And once a people are viewed as lesser beings, as sub-human, then anything that is done to them is justified, and morally acceptable. The prevailing notion is that it is “Not so bad. It could be worse”.
On that premise alone, an entire system, an entire machinery of oppression, and bureaucracy, can be built by oppressive governments, and oppressive societies.
That is when the actions of either individuals within a society, or individuals within a government, or an entire country, can be spun as “justified”, as “necessary”, as “acceptable” for the victims are sub-human, they are “not like us”. They are “insidious”, they are “smarmy”, they are “manipulative” goes the accusation that justifies the dehumanization.
It happens, every day, every hour, every minute, even in the 21st century.
Cameras take courage, are powerful, and more powerfully effective than rocks.