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There’s not a way to sugarcoat this, nor would I want to. It’s pretty fucking awful, an embrace of the worst behaviors and ideas. I hope it’s struck down, and quickly. I hope no one is killed under its auspices before that happens. I hope political and diplomatic backlash is quick, sharp, and decisive.
Monday’s vote in the Knesset to impose a one-sided death penalty bill on Palestinians will further cement Israel’s system of apartheid.
Minnah Arshad at Zeteo:
Israel’s parliament approved a one-sided death penalty measure to execute Palestinians. It’s one of the most extreme laws in the nation’s history, and will exacerbate the far-right government’s illegal system of apartheid. Some members of the Knesset, including ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, were seen wearing noose pins in the Knesset on Monday, and celebrating with drinks on live TV after the bill passed. Ben-Gvir said hanging is “one of the options,” as is execution by the electric chair or euthanasia. The bill drew international condemnation ahead of its passage, including from the European Union, UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, and Amnesty International. Human rights groups have vowed to challenge the bill in Israel’s supreme court.
The legislation, which has garnered broad public support in Israel, authorizes executions for “terrorists” who kill “with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel,” according to Haaretz – effectively ensuring it won’t apply to any of the settlers who routinely murder Palestinians. In military courts in the occupied West Bank, execution will now be the default punishment for terrorism. Only Palestinians are tried in these courts, and 96% of people are convicted, though cases are largely built on “confessions” extracted through torture. The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians condemned the bill on Monday ahead of the vote as an “extreme escalation in Israel’s genocidal policies against Palestinians.” “The progression of the legislation marks not just a profoundly unjust and illegal act of discrimination under international law, but a far more sinister escalation of Israel’s apartheid legal systems,” the center wrote.
Israel Apartheid State’s Knesset voted to approve the shameful and hypocritical death penalty law targeting Palestinians while giving a pass to terrorist Israeli “settlers” who murder Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Policies like these are why Israel is rightly characterized as an apartheid state.
See Also:
The Guardian: Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks
AP, via HuffPost: Israel Passes Widely Condemned Death Penalty Law For Palestinian Prisoners
"Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about this?"
During his address to the Israeli parliament on Monday, President Trump went off script and urged President Issac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is standing trial on three corruption charges.
hi! how do you see the issue with and the communication around the "violent settlers?" our country under the new government joined and made possible the eu sanctions (BRUSSELS, May 11 (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers reached an agreement on Monday on new sanctions targeting violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, as well as leading Hamas figures...). the sources and commentary I find range across the full spectrum and I'm looking for some help to navigate this. thanks!
Some things I can puzzle out from 6,000 miles away with enough confidence that I can make some sense of it for an international audience in a way that doesn't seem to aggravate Israelis.
This isn't one of those things.
There's a terrible dearth of credible reporting on the topic in English and what little may exist is camouflaged by an extraordinary amount of propaganda.
So what can a sane anglophone do...but turn to Haviv Rettig Gur?
I don't think Haviv is perfect, but he's knowledgeable, smart, and has an incredible track record of intellectual honesty.
If he gets something wrong, he owns it immediately. He acknowledges areas of ignorance and defers to those with greater expertise without his ego getting in the way. He's a champion of nuance, he rails against those who dehumanize others, and he never hesitates to criticize the Israeli government.
So I find Haviv highly credible and I pay attention when he shares thoughts on complex topics.
Here's Haviv's own edit on this topic from recent interview. I've attempted to transcribe and added some links to the transcript.
Haviv: It's escalating. It's growing. It's part of a kind of lawlessness and incompetence that this government has produced.
We have a minister of police in Israel who is the most far-right political party you can be. I mean...there's no humans to the right of him in Israeli politics - this is [Itamar] Ben-Gvir.
...
...Crime is rising across the board. It's rising in Jewish communities. It's rising in Arab communities. It's rising everywhere.
And so we have a government that...they're not running the country...and specifically in a tiny sliver of the entire settlement movement, its most ideologically fervent 20% has a marginalized, ideologically extreme 1%...that has turned violent.
And not only is the army struggling to crack down - the political class, namely Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are doing everything possible to prevent any kind of crackdown on that violence.
Let me just say first of all as a caveat: not all the violence claimed to be Israeli extremist violence is actually Israeli extremist violence. We we're all operating in this fog of propaganda. And when you normalize all of that out...you're still left with a serious and rising extremist violence problem that you cannot pretend isn't there because it's there and they're not cracking down on it because I think there's this vision with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
...Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in this government have have enough votes to be able to topple Netanyahu if he doesn't do their bidding and he's given them free reign because he's off dealing with Iran.
And what they [Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, this 1% of the 20%]...are trying to do is pressure the very small numbers of Palestinians in the part of the West Bank controlled totally by Israel [Part C] to as much as possible move to parts controlled by ostensibly on paper at least by the PA [Parts A and B] and to expand Israeli control of certain areas that will prevent any possibility in the future of any kind of Palestinian state in those areas.
I think this is a terrible idea.
HOST: Does Ben Gavir tacitly support this happening?
Haviv: Yes.
HOST: And so what do we do with that?...will there be an adequate response so long as he is the commissioner of police?
Haviv: No, there won't be - he'll make sure of it and we will pay a price. We will deserve to pay a price when we screw up this badly.
HOST: The thing that I keep coming back to is...how do they not care about the international world's perception of them? It further isolates the country which could be a problem for future generations...
Haviv: My entire adult life I have had to listen to the Arab world tell me they want me dead...
...and it is difficult for an ordinary person, no matter how how much they try to be decent and open-minded and try to understand all these voices from where they come from and where they're going and where the potential is to make peace and move forward in a new path...
...it's awfully hard to listen to a lifetime of genocidal rhetoric against us and not think that they should all just go fuck themselves.
And that is the ordinary Israeli.
And so reigning in Ben-Gvir is an absolute necessity and it's terribly damaging to the country.
And Netanyahu is willing to pay that cost...is willing to have the country pay that cost for his own stability.
The whole interview is available here:
Good News From Israel
In the 29th Mar 26 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include
Defenders of the Jewish State now include children of foreign workers.
Israeli researchers have found genetic links to skin diseases and aging.
Israel provided ambulances and medical treatment to Syrian civilians.
Israel is using underground technology to build new railway lines.
Huge demand for Israeli bonds and startups.
Israelis make history at basketball and judoka.
The number of Israeli weddings has soared.
Read More: Good News From Israel
The upcoming Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) celebrates the Biblical account of freedom of the Children of Israel from slavery in the Land of Egypt. Thankfully, the State of Israel provides a perpetual place for all its citizens to enjoy freedom from existential threats, in every generation, from those who wish to destroy us.
...
The Israeli parliament (Knesset) on Monday evening approved, in its first reading, a bill allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners. The proposal was submitted by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party. The bill passed with 39 votes in favour and 16 against, and was referred to the relevant parliamentary committee for preparation before the second and third readings.
Continue Reading.
