By Leah Levane
Another study of media bias and “The data-driven research reveals consistent patterns in terminology and narrative structure that shape how Gaza is presented to audiences. These patterns collectively align with perspectives that minimize Israel’s accountability and reinforce the policy positions of its Western allies,”
By Leah Levane
People are missing in Gaza and “The missing are not only the dead. They include people taken during military raids, last seen at checkpoints or aid distribution sites, disappeared into detention, or erased by extreme heat that leaves no recoverable remains. … this uncertainty is not an unavoidable consequence of war — it is the result of documented, deliberate decisions: restrictions on forensic equipment entering Gaza, the Red Cross being barred from visiting prisoners, and the withholding of information about those in Israeli custody.”
By Leah Levane
more and more Palestinians need to work in Israel or in the Settlements but this requires a permit and, if you do have one, it also means checking of permits. This can mean queuing from 2 am (or even sleeping there all night) in the hope of getting through in time to get to work. The war on Gaza since October 2023 led to massive closures of the checkpoints in the West Bank as well as in Gaza. In addition, Israel has revoked 200,000 permits which means plunging more Palestinians into poverty
By Leah Levane
A photograph of an Israeli soldier destroying a statue of Jesus in Lebanon has “gone viral” and there has been strong reaction from many quarters. ” The IDF claim that “the soldiers’ conduct completely deviated from IDF orders and values” and two soldiers have been sent to a military prison for 30 days. Meanwhile those who have killed and tortured are fine? This is an essay on the reality of life for Palestinians Christians.
By Leah Levane
The Spycops – sorry the Undercover Policing Inquiry is coming to its end and the evidence presented shows the ugly and insidious machinations of the State in its determination to maintain the status quo and undermine efforts to change the way things work in the interests of the majority rather than the wealthy and powerful. This Undercover Policing Unit did its work for 40 years and its undercover operations included forming relationships and even having children with women activists, indeed to leading a double life.
We are obviously concerned about and oppose all attacks on synagogues and other Jewish premises – and people – and we were pleased to be approached, as JVL, for our comment for this article. The conflation of Jews with Israel’s actions, its treatment of Palestinians over decades continues and, as we have noted on many occasions, is also dangerous, including for Jews. Time and time again the Jewish Establishment tell us that being antizionist is the same as being antisemitic, that you cannot separate Judaism and Zionism or Jews from Israel; this is not a justification for such attacks, but is it surprising that there are times when this conflation is also made by those claiming (erroneously) that they act in support of the Palestinian people?
By Leah Levane
“Mufid Basha was born in the Old City in 1950 in the same home where he still resides…His father, Muhammad Basha, served as the guard of the Torat Chaim Yeshiva, which operated in two buildings in the Old City in the early 20th century.” He protected the Yeshiva from attack in the antizionist riots of 1929 and he guarded the building and its contents throughout the years of Jordanian control.
By Leah Levane
Daniel Lawson looks mostly at psychological as well as political issue, how many ordinary people come to accept what was previously unthinkable. Politically, there is considerable focus on the USA and its creeping fascism but this is highly relevant for us all as in the UK, France, Germany and Australia are just some examples where there is clampdown on the right to protest, usually starting with protesting the situation in Palestine. More broadly how we are in danger of moving further into a technocratic dystopia where the only thing that counts is “might” and human life is beyond cheap.
By Leah Levane
Without that how many would know what was happening. “Everything would be quiet and peaceful if we did not create the “provocation” of protecting human beings that the security forces do not protect or, in some cases, cannot possibly arrive in time to protect. There would be deathly silence if we were not present, because there would be many more communities abandoned, in addition to the many dozens that have already disappeared. There would be many more places where we would no longer hear the sound of sheep, or the laughter of children playing, or see any sign of life.”
Faced with the unspeakable cruelty IDF soldiers have meted out to Palestinians, we can lose sight of how brutalised these soldiers are too.
Testimonies posted below, like those assembled on a regular basis by Breaking the Silence, are important evidence substantiating the world’s criticisms of the savagery we are witnessing but all too often dismissed by IDF spokespeople as “hearsay “and slanders on the most moral army in the world”.
Here soldiers speak out about what they have witnessed – or done.