After 17-year-old Ofir Engel was returned to Israel from Hamas captivity, his grandfather describes his grandson's experiences and where the
Following the recent hostage releases, letters and videos have been circulating regarding the hostages’ accounts of what occurred. While the letter released earlier this week is fake, and was not written by an Israeli hostage, I expect to see an increase in related media.
Ofir Engel’s grandfather, Yosef Engel provided this account of Ofir’s experience with Hamas. After reuniting on Wednesday, Yosef claimed he had lost a lot of weight, but he is recovering and is happy.
Ofir was visiting his girlfriend when he and his girlfriend’s father were taken to Gaza, where Ofir claimed to be moving from several above-ground locations. Yosef asserts that Ofir was treated well during his captivity and returned unharmed.
It is relieving to hear that hostages were not mistreated. Nonetheless, I am struggling to fully believe the media when the statements are not coming directly from the hostages themselves. I hope it is the case that no Hostages were harmed, but it appears to be unlikely, especially with the return of three hostage corpses earlier this week.
Australian police said on Tuesday they were investigating a pro-Palestinian protest outside Sydney Opera House, after footage emerged of a s
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for denying Palestinian people electricity, food, water and fuel as Israel continues its bombardment of
I am too tired of reading about atrocities to go into the meat of the actual conflict rn.
But jfc so many people are justifying their bigotry. Gallant said they were fighting against "human animals" before saying they would be cutting off resources to Gaza. Considering acts like that affect not just Hamas, but the civilians trapped there - it's completely inhumane. And it's not just Israelis either - just a little bit of time on social media you'll see Americans too calling for the mass destruction of Gaza and continued comparison to animals.
And there's the antisemitism too. Suddenly those nazis you manage to avoid on social media start popping up again to talk about how the Holocaust wasn't enough. The article I linked has the example of the protests in Sydney, but there's images circulating of a protestor in NYC with a swastika too.
Protest organiser Palestine Action Group Sydney defended its right to protest "apartheid" in Israel but said a small number of "vile antisemitic attendees" had no place in their movement.
I'm glad to hear that there were condemnations for the antisemites in the crowd after the fact, but it should be stated up front that it's not welcome in the first place. No antisemite should be made to feel safe and proud about their beliefs.
On Saturday Night Live this past weekend Michael Che had made a joke about Israel’s milestone of having half of the population vaccinated. He said, “Israel is reporting that they have vaccinated half of their population, im gonna guess it’s the Jewish half.”
CAMERA’s Israel Director Tamar Sternhal had written to NBC executive today asking for them to address this joke. Che’s joke is seen engaging in antisemitic humor and perpetrating hatred against this group. Having one of the major American TV networks joining those who claim Israel favors only a portion (the Jewish portion) creates larger consequences. Many on social media are showing their reactions to this blatant antisemitism.
As a double major in journalism and political science with a minor in Arabic, this class seemed to be incredibly aligned with my interests. Also, while I am not an Arab, I am Muslims, and so understanding this conflict and just the dynamics of the places themselves is important not only academically, but culturally. Furthermore, I would like to become a foreign correpondent/war reporter, and it would do to be well-versed on one of the longest-standing disagreements in the region in which I will be working.
Also, I just really like politics and analysing this situation. I have really high hopes for this class, and I really wish I could go on the Israel trip (no $$ :/)!
Today, April 17th, is Palestinian Prisoners Day. Today is also the day that around 1,500 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons have launched an open-ended hunger strike for basic rights and to shed light on the prison conditions. The strike is being led by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. Today there was also an Aljzeera infographic released titled “What it means to be a Palestinian prisoner in Israel”. This infographic explained that there are 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. 536 of the prisoners are held under administrative detention, meaning they have had secret evidence brought against them and they are not allowed to know what they are accused of or defend themselves in court. Another large concern right now is that holding Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, because the prisoners are not being held in what is internationally viewed as occupied land.
These articles really made me realize how much Israel is held at a different standard that other countries. There are clear violations of international law, and some questions about human rights, that Israel basically just says “no that’s actually not happening and we are not breaking any laws.” There have been many different reports of medical negligence, including sick prisoners being denied water. I find it shocking that not more people hear about these incidents happening somewhere we view as an ally; the human rights accusations do not seem to fit within the stereotypes most Americans would give Israel.
Gaza’s Shifa Hospital has become the focus of a dayslong stalemate in Israel’s war against Hamas. Shifa is Gaza’s largest hospital.
Shiva is not only Gaza’s largest hospital but also the most equipped. The article points out that Israel is claiming that Hamas is using the hospital and its residents for military purposes with no visual evidence that Hamas is in fact occupying the hospital. The existence of the advanced system of tunnels and command center below the hospital is also denied by Gaza health officials and Hamas. There are also reports of the IDF firing at patients and staff attempting to leave the hospital after the Israeli Government said they would allow them to evacuate.
This conflict is difficult to understand due to the lack of credibility in reports. Hamas has every incentive to lie about what is occurring in Gaza. Hamas has a history of using human shields and launching missiles from schools and hospitals. Thus, Hamas occupying Shiva Hospital is not an absurd notion and I do not think Israel would waste resources, especially to attack a hospital if they did not think Hamas was actually in there.
We know there is a history of their use of the tunnel system. Additionally, we know that it is even being used for military purposes because of the relationship between Hamas and Egypt. Under the former Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, Egypt allowed Hamas to use the tunnel system. It is believed Hamas is still using the tunnel system because that is how they smuggled in a lot of their resources.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, as our national security minister, is nothing short of an unbearable affront to our nation’s integrity.
Until a political solution emerges for this area coveted by two peoples, the safety of Israeli lives does take precedence over the unlimited
I have been trying to gain a grasp of Israeli perspective in the situation, and opinion articles have been very interesting reads. Also if you subscribe to the Jerusalem Post, they send like four emails a day.
I found a great read in both these opinion articles on Ben-Gvir. Is he racist or not racist? Both these articles focus on a specific statement the National Security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, made during an interview last week:
“My right and that of my wife and my children, to travel on the roads in Judea and Samaria, is more important than the freedom of movement for Arabs."
“That is the reality, that is the truth. My right to life precedes your freedom of movement"
I would say the general statement was racist. Specifying that HIS family's safety is more important than THEIR freedom creates a distinct divide, and clearly implies that Arabs are not the ones the security is intended to protect. Ben-Gvir claims the left media is attempting to twist his words, but he could have made a much simpler statement that clarified the protection of ALL civilians. Zina Rakhamilova made a great statement in her article criticizing his statement:
"Instead of explaining that these security measures are unfortunate – but necessary to protect civilian life (including Palestinian civilians), his rhetoric echoed Kahanist extremism and showed his blatant racism."
He's also doubled down on his statements - continuing to highlight his worry for protecting Israeli citizens and not their Palestinian neighbors. Ben-Gvir's statements also seem to enable racists in Israel to justify their own hate. As stated by David Brinn, the author behind the opinion piece defending Ben-Gvir,
"Although the vast majority of Palestinians are not terrorists, those in their midst whose life goal is to murder Israelis are the ones who created the reality that all have to live with now."
To me, this reads like the same defense people have used to discriminate against Muslims in the west too. Post-9/11 America and still today, Muslims face an incredible amount of bigotry. Trump's Muslim ban may not have lasted very long, but it certainly was not that long ago. Supporters of that ban presented similar ideas to Brinn here; not all Muslim people are terrorists but enough are, enough to warrant more limitations on a person based solely on their connection to a majority-Muslim state. While the West Gaza security may not completely ban Palestinians, it discriminately targets Palestinians as terrorists.
The national security minister in Israel making a decisive statement like this, one he continues to stand behind, does not bode well for peace. Neither does some of his other actions as minister, but I've gone on too long at this point.
An incident involving a Bedouin man and Israeli police has shown deep-rooted problems of understanding between the groups. The incident surrounds the demolishing of homes in Umm al-Hiran, a mainly Jewish town. The town is being told to find housing elsewhere as the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the Bedouin tribes right to the land. This incident is being told differently by each side, much like the history of the country has been. The Israeli police say they shot the Bedouin man because he was speeding at police; while other Bedouin witnesses say the man driving was speeding towards police as a result of being shot. When watching the video of the incident that was released, it is still unclear which side is correct. In class we talked about how there are many different ways history can be told; this incident shows that even the present is being interpreted differently.
Tensions seem especially high as 70 other countries are currently meeting to talk about resolutions to the conflicts going on in Israel. This incident should be a reminder to the countries talking that the situation is futile at the moment, and should have the two sides there to share the concerns and issues they are currently combatting. It is important to know what is happening currently, so we can see what issues are driving individuals right now.
