Collective Punishment
Updated 2023-11-15
2023-10-24 Justifying Collective Punishment: Israel’s Assault on Gaza For anyone concerned about the moderating restraint international law is meant to offer, especially when it comes to the use of force by states, Israel’s approach against the imprisoned populace of Gaza is bound to cause profound despair and lingering disgust.
In its modern, public relations iteration, Israel’s way of waging war is seen as cleaner, more observant of international rules, than the swarthy, ill-kept barbarians who hold them in such contempt. It is couched in medical, operational terms. The killing is more surgical, more civilised, if you will. This is a reductive, machine morality, dehumanising and deidentifying victims. When slaughtered by shells, missiles and advanced weapons of war, humans are merely unintended targets.
Gaza City, according to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is a reprobate agglomeration within which a wicked organisation, Hamas, operates. The conflation, which Netanyahu made in his October 7 speech, is effortless, purposeful. It follows that those living in such a morally regressive environment escape for their sake – lest they be tarnished by biblical wickedness. “I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”
Alian, who serves as Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, went on to state that Hamas had morphed into ISIS, and gravely noted how “the residents of Gaza” had taken delight in their exploits against Israeli citizens. “Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity, no water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell.” https://countercurrents.org/2023/10/justifying-collective-punishment-israels-assault-on-gaza/
2023-10-17 HRW Condemns Israel’s Collective Punishment on Gaza, Urges Biden to Help Restore Humanitarian Aid “People are worried. All of this is unprecedented,” says Sari Bashi, program director at Human Rights Watch in Ramallah. Bashi is co-founder of Israeli human rights group Gisha, which works against apartheid policies that affect Palestinians, and urges U.S. lawmakers to address the human rights violations that led to this conflict. “No U.S. policy toward Israel-Palestine will be successful if it doesn’t address the abuses on the ground.”https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/17/sara_bashi_west_bank
2023-10-16 “Gaza Is Running Out of Life”: Human Rights Watch Sounds Alarm on Israel’s Collective Punishment As the humanitarian crisis worsens, we get an update from Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, who says conditions in Gaza are dire, as Israel has cut off access to electricity and safe water, and many disabled and ill residents are physically unable to obey the evacuation order. This comes as Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his government holds the entire population of Gaza, including civilians and children, responsible for Hamas’s attack. Shakir also discusses Israel’s use of white phosphorus, an illegal weapon of war. “People in Gaza are saying their goodbyes to the world,” says Shakir. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/16/omar_shakir_israel_gaza_hrw
2023-10-13 U.N. Warns of “Devastating Humanitarian Consequences” as Israel Orders 1.1 Million to Evacuate Gaza Israel’s army has ordered 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate “southwards” within just 24 hours — an order the United Nations called “impossible” without “devastating humanitarian consequences.” The Norwegian Refugee Council condemned what it called “the collective punishment of countless civilians, among them children, women, and the elderly,” which it said “would amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.” https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/13/headlines/competing_pro_israel_and_pro_palestine_demonstrations_raise_tensions_on_college_campuses
2023-10-12 Report from Gaza: Two Palestinians Describe “Horror” on 6th Day of Israel Bombing Besieged Enclave We speak with two Palestinians in Gaza City about Israel’s devastating bombing campaign while blocking all food, water and fuel from entering the besieged territory. The U.N. reports that all of Gaza’s 13 hospitals are only partially operational due to a lack of fuel and medical supplies as the International Red Cross warns “hospitals are going to be turned into graveyards.” The territory’s only power plant has stopped operating due to a lack of fuel, yet Israeli authorities are vowing to continue the siege of Gaza until Hamas releases the over 100 hostages it seized during its unprecedented attack on Saturday. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/12/gaza_update
2023-10-11 Death Toll in Israel and Gaza Tops 2,200 as Gazans Face Total Energy Blackout and No Safe Refuge The majority of Palestinian deaths are in Gaza; at least 18 deaths were reported in the West Bank. Israel is amassing some 300,000 reservists close to Gaza as it continues to pound the besieged enclave with airstrikes. Officials warn Gaza is on the cusp of a humanitarian catastrophe as the territory’s power plant is running out of fuel. The scale of atrocities committed against civilians continues to come to light. In Gaza, rescuers are still pulling bodies from the rubble as desperate residents seek refuge. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/11/headlines/death_toll_in_israel_and_gaza_tops_2_200_as_gazans_face_total_energy_blackout_and_no_safe_refuge
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Categorized Directory: News and Articles about Israel- Palestine Conflict
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