The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has published a major new report documenting how the Israeli prison system has become “a network of torture camps,” where physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners is normalized and routine.

The report, titled “Welcome to Hell,” collects the testimony of 55 Palestinians who were detained by Israeli authorities since October 7 and later released, almost all without charges. This comes as a group of U.N. experts condemned the widespread torture of Palestinians and as Israel’s Channel 12 News aired shocking footage of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a prisoner at the Sde Teiman army base, where thousands of detainees from Gaza are held.

Sarit Michaeli, the international advocacy lead for B’Tselem, says the abuse in Israeli prisons is “systemic, ongoing and state-sanctioned,” reflecting the cruelty and thirst for revenge among a growing number of Israelis. “They would like to have a completely open field in terms of what they can do to Palestinians,” says Michaeli.

You can find the full report of testimonies here

    • ISOmorph
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      Not only that. There are whole countries participating in that disgusting shit. UK and US stayed absent from the Nagasaki memorial event because Japan had the good sense of not inviting an apartheid dictatorship.

        • kaffiene@lemmy.world
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          Japan certainly has some ugly issues with racism. Many countries do. But comparing that with the treatment of Palestine is absolutely deluded.

          • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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            Both can be apartheids. I haven’t compared much. Let’s compare.

            I don’t even think Israel has killed nearly the amount of people as Japan has Koreans. Like what Israel has done would be a fraction compared. Even after and during Israel being invaded in 1948.

            From 1937–1945, the Japanese military regime may have killed nearly 6 million people, including around half a million Koreans. This estimate includes Koreans who were conscripted into the Japanese army, where over 22,000 were killed.

            How do you say with a straight face Japan is not up there with Israel. Must be deluded with goyim hatred am I right?

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              Ah yes somebody committed a war crime (checks math) 79 years ago. So we can’t criticize Israel.

              GTFO

              • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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                People are actively saying there’s no apartheid in Japan. What are you talking about. They claim to care so much about apartheid states but look in this thread.

                Ah yes somebody committed a war crime (checks math) 79 years ago. So we can’t criticize Israel.

                This whole Palestine thing also started in 1948 nearly 79 years ago. Thanks for proving the point that none cares about apartheids.

                • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  No. I don’t know if English is your second language but in present tense there is no apartheid in Japan.

            • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOP
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              What are you talking about? No one who is pro-palestinian on the basis of humanitarian and anti-genocide grounds are pro-democide when it comes to Imperial Japan. Trying to minimize the crimes against humanity of Israel by saying the crimes against humanity of another nation is worse is completely ridiculous.

              The basis of these Japanese crimes stem from Imperialism, dehumanization, and supremacy. All of which are also present in Zionism, only with Settler Colonialism instead of Imperialism.

              Democide is not Apartheid, both have particular definitions. Nor do either rely on a death count for their definitions.

              In the context of Japan, the US has minimized any discussions about their crimes against humanity since we made them our Allies to extend our hegemony in East Asia. In the context of Israel, we are actively funding the genocide of the native Palestinian people who have been held as prisoner under Apartheid for generations.

              My US tax dollars are going towards the wholesale destruction of a people, which I and many others find completely unacceptable. This is why anti-genocide activism is the forefront of many people’s issues with our Administration, and why the Uncommitted movement has so much momentum.

              • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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                You don’t know where your tax dollars go. We give money to them. They give money to us. Business as usual.

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                Do you not see the comments I’m replying to. People don’t even care or accept it’s an apartheid. Like what are you talking about? Read the comments I’m replying to for some context.

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            They might be referring to the rather shitty treatment of the native Ainu peoples?

            While bad, I wouldn’t call it apartheid however.

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            Source 1 Source 2

            Apartheid is mostly a word used by antisemitics anyway in my opinion.

            As in people don’t care about any other apartheid states(there are many) they only care about Israel which is weird.

            • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOP
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              You’re entitled to your opinion; but your sources are a desire of Shinzo Abe never put into practice, and crimes against humanity committed by Imperial Japan during WWII.

              The facts are that there are three international definitions of Apartheid. The defining policies of which are overwhelmingly present in Israel, as evidenced by investigations by multiple human rights organizations.

              Currently, three main international treaties prohibit and/or explicitly criminalize apartheid: the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention) and the Rome Statute of the ICC (Rome Statute).

              Amnesty International The element of an “institutionalized regime” of systematic oppression and domination may entail a wide range of discriminatory and exclusionary laws, policies and practices that are imposed by the state or, in certain circumstances, an armed group for the purpose of maintaining domination (or control) by one racial group over any other racial group or groups. Indeed, “it is this institutionalized element, involving a state-sanctioned regime of law, policy, and institutions, that distinguishes the practice of apartheid from other forms of prohibited discrimination.”

              As outlined above, apartheid consists of a system of prolonged and cruel discriminatory treatment by one racial group of members of another with the intention to control the second racial group. This chapter examines the extent to which Israel has created such a system of oppression and domination over Palestinians in all areas under its jurisdiction and effective control, as well as over Palestinian refugees whose right of return to their homes remains controlled by Israel. It does so by first establishing Israel’s intent to oppress and dominate all Palestinians by establishing its hegemony across Israel and the OPT, including through means of demography, and maximizing resources for the benefit of its Jewish population at the expense of Palestinians. It then analyses the laws, policies and practices which have, over time, come to constitute the main tools for establishing and maintaining this system, and which discriminate against and segregate Palestinians in Israel and the OPT today, as well as controlling Palestinian refugees’ right to return. It divides this analysis by the key components of this system of oppression and domination: territorial fragmentation, segregation and control, dispossession of land and property and the suppression of Palestinians’ human development and deprivation of their economic and social rights.

              The blockade and Israel’s repeated military offensives have had a heavy toll on Gaza’s essential infrastructure and further debilitated its health system and economy, leaving the area in a state of perpetual humanitarian crisis. Indeed, Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, the majority of whom are children, has created conditions inimical to human life due to shortages of housing, potable water and electricity, and lack of access to essential medicines and medical care, food, educational equipment and building materials.

              Other reports about how Israel is an Apartheid State:

              Human Rights Watch Report

              B’TSelem Report with quick Explainer

              • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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                There are many apartheid countries. No one cares. No one has ever cared. They only care about evil goyim.

                Abe never put into practice, and crimes against humanity committed by Imperial Japan during WWII.

                They actively oppress the Korean population and praise apartheid system in recent times. Just because you don’t care doesn’t make it not real. Here’s another source if you care. There is a section that says recent atrocities or something along those lines if you care to skim through the page.

                Really. No one cares about apartheid BS other than bigoted antisemites anyway.

                There are like 5 pan arab apartheid countries. I’ll leave that for some other post. Let’s stay on topic of no cares about Japan being an apartheid state.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              Yeah I don’t think posting an article of how Abe got slammed for the suggestion is the smoking gun evidence you think it is. Japan’s coming to terms with its past being – well let’s be blunt an call it an embarrassment – is tangential.

              Seriously I’m a bit confused. You’re accusing Japan of Apartheid and what you’re coming up are those two things, and not the de facto complete absence of a civic, as opposed to ethnic/cultural, national identity?

                • barsoap@lemm.ee
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                  You can get Japanese citizenship after five years of residency, somewhat surprisingly there’s not even a language test. And many many Zainichi did and do.

                  If that is Apartheid then I don’t want to know what you have to say about Estonia.

            • RadioFreeArabia@lemmy.world
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              Cleansed by the Torah’: Why These Afrikaners Converted to Judaism and Moved to Israel

              Among the first Afrikaner converts to make aliyah were the Taljaards from Randfontein, a gold-mining city near Johannesburg. They came in the mid-1990s and began raising sheep in the settlement of Susya, where they were often involved in violent clashes with Palestinians from nearby villages in the South Hebron Hills. Jacob, the eldest of 14 children in the family, was killed in a tractor accident several years ago. He once famously told an Israeli television reporter that he “loved” the apartheid system and thought it was “the best thing in the world.”

              Archive: https://archive.ph/sjLiT

    • InfiniteGlitch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      I find it more bizarre that most of the world leaders are turning a blind eye to it all and keep the bullshit up with “right to defend themselves”.

      Nothing of this has anything to do with defending.

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        Since october 7th, the US has sent Israel 39 F-35s, the most advanced aircraft in the world. This brings Israels count of F-35s (again, the most advanced aircraft in the world) to 50. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been begging us for F-16s, an outdated aircraft that the US Military has relegated to National Guard service and plans to retire in 2025. The Netherlands and Denmark have been who has donated all of the F-16s Ukraine is receiving.

        I want to point out, literal days after Ukraine received the F-16s, they launched a counter invasion and captured Kursk. This is something that could have been much more impactful back when Ukraine started asking for the F-16s (which I want to make sure everyone remembers is a fighter platform from the 1970s that we are retiring in a few months). I don’t even know… What I want people to do with this information. I just want people to sit with it and draw their own conclusions about America’s priorities, and what it means to ask for and receive aid from the US.

        • homura1650@lemm.ee
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          Also, the US has been regularlu conditioning its weapons supplies to Ukraine on them not being used in Russia proper; while calls to put any conditions on Israel’s usage of them have been a complete non-starter.

          • Pips@lemmy.sdf.org
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            The pretty obvious difference here is Russia has nukes and we have no idea what will set Putin off into using them. Palestine does not.

        • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          If your country doesn’t have shitloads of money and/or oil, the United States doesn’t give a shit. They only help when they have something to gain.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          20$ they don’t want f-35s sparring with Russia unless the US is the one doing it

          It’s fucked up none the less

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          If we don’t get Israel under control we’re going to have to bomb those F-35s to keep them from going to the Russians. It’s insane to me that we even sold them to a conflict country. Especially one we’re constantly worried is going to start a war with Iran. We sold stealth bombers to the country that constantly threatens to bomb Iran and draw us all into world war 3.

          Will somebody please put the adults in control of our weapons sales?

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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          I want to point out, literal days after Ukraine received the F-16s, they launched a counter invasion and captured Kursk.

          Woah, woah, stop right here. They’ve captured a few villages in the direction of Kursk. They didn’t capture Kursk. I dunno if you are getting the scale of your claims here, but look at the map first

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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            Okay fair. I’m not familiar with the regional geography. The point is still they got the jets, launched an offensive, and have been stunningly successful

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              Yes, that I agree with, but it seems that jets are not what enabled this offensive. Rather an attempt at less braindead tactics that the Soviet idiocy both sides have been doing previously.

              First they (and Russians) have learned modern tactics in mostly positional warfare, but still doing dumb shit in offensives. This is the logical next step.

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        I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy nut, but I am very disturbed at AIPAC and similar organizations spending millions in local primaries to unseat candidates that are vocally pro Palestine. Cori Bush and others in the “squad” dare to speak against them and are actively being replaced by big money.

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    Do you want to make terrorists? Because this is how you make desperate people feel like their only option is to become terrorists.

      • Amanda@aggregatet.org
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        I’m pretty sure he does, yeah. He needs a bloody conflict to go on to remain in power (and possibly out of prison). Scared people are easier to rule, and terrorism is scary.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      Netanyahu saw the Bush admin create the Iraqi insurgency and said, “hold my beer”.

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      This is what Westerners love to say, but from the Israeli (or, say, Azeri and Turkish) viewpoint they’ve already outraged all the potential “terrorists” long ago and there’s nobody else who can oppose them but doesn’t do that yet. That is, they feel impunity. And they are right if a Westerner reading this says something like

      Do you want to make terrorists? Because this is how you make desperate people feel like their only option is to become terrorists.

      , not even bothering to send something poisonous in an envelope to an Israeli embassy, even such a little action.

    • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOP
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      Absolutely, they are long overdue for basic human rights and civil rights.

      Thanks for the link to the full report, I just added it to the description to help promote awareness

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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      Yes, this is the quite likely position of the Israeli government. After all, they are looking for the person who published the video of the crime - not as a witness against the criminals, but because that person exposed them.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        And that’s another layer of fucked up to calling all critics antisemitic. It can normalise actual antisemitism when it bubbles up.

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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      It’s interesting how in an attempt to rebuke claims that being against Israel is antisemitic, we have now escalated to mocking the idea of Antisemitism as a whole every time there’s disturbing news about Israel…

      I am not a fan of this trend. Antisemitism still exists, and nowhere am I finding any indication that anyone is earnestly making the argument that Israel has the right to rape prisoners.

      So what is the point of this comment, other than to preemptively normalize antisemitism as an acceptable response to Israeli human rights abuses?

      EDIT: You’ll downvote this, but you’ll upvote the “guess I’m antisemitic” comment, don’t act like you don’t see the creeping normalization. No fucking different than right-wingers “I guess x is racist, so I’m a racist now” narratives. I know you think you’re joking, but when people tell me who they are, it’s still prescient to believe them.

      • lady_maria@lemmy.world
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        Mocking the kinds of abhorrent claims of “antisemitism” that Israel makes is not even remotely the same as mocking the idea of actual, real life antisemitism.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        we have now escalated to mocking the idea of Antisemitism as a whole

        That is the reality if the Israeli government keeps pretending that all their human rights violations are in the name of Jews everywhere. You can’t hold on to being the victim if you are the one abusing now.

      • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        we have now escalated to mocking the idea of Antisemitism as a whole every time there’s disturbing news about Israel

        That’s not what’s being done and you know it

      • febra@lemmy.world
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        Being against Israel isn’t antisemitic. Zionism is a nationalist movement. Nationalism sucks. You’re welcome.

      • theparadox@lemmy.world
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        nowhere am I finding any indication that anyone is earnestly making the argument that Israel has the right to rape prisoners.

        It literally happened a little over a week ago.

        https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-idf-palestinian-prisoner-alleged-rape-sde-teinman-abuse-protest/

        Paragraphs 5-7. I recall there being a video of the moment but I don’t know if it is included in the linked article.

        A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, speaking Monday at a meeting of lawmakers, justified the rape and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, shouting angrily at colleagues questioning the alleged behavior that anything was legitimate to do to “terrorists” in custody.

        Lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky was asked as he defended the alleged abuse whether it was legitimate, “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum?”

        “Yes!” he shouted in reply to his fellow parliamentarian. “If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!”

        nowhere am I finding any indication that anyone is earnestly making the argument that Israel has the right to rape prisoners.

        An Israeli lawmaker was asked if anal rape with a stick was legitimate and the Israeli lawmaker replied “Yes” and clarified that “Everything is legitimate to do” so long as the recipient is Hamas. Is he in the majority? No, but someone is earnestly making the argument.

        Here’s the thing. The fact that I’m making the effort to demonstrate this utterly fucked up reality is, I guarantee, going to convince someone here that I’m antisemitic. I don’t think it will matter to them that I have family that is Jewish or that I’m 50% Ashkenazi by blood.

        The fact that this is happening, and that any Israeli lawmaker would defend it, literally makes Jews worldwide less safe. It gives real, actual antisemitism more perceived legitimacy.

        Edit: Video Link. Couldn’t find anything outside twitter/insta/tiktok, none of which I ever visit directly. Kind if telling that American news outlets don’t have it posted anywhere I could easily find but whatever. While I’ve had folks attest to the accuracy of the translation, I don’t speak Hebrew so feel free to continue to pretend it isn’t happening.

        https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1817904053462196523

  • febra@lemmy.world
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    Meanwhile their politicians are freeing these rapists, and discussing in the Knesset (basically their parliament) if rape is an appropriate punishment. Their TV channels are discussing the same thing publicly, and bringing IDF soldiers on the shows to defend raping prisoners. I don’t understand how a society can become so disgustingly genocidal. Nazi shit.

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      They will of course find it not to be rape as according to Israeli law, only a citizen is capable of being raped. Captured Palestinians are not citizens.

      And it is ridiculous how many people on social media somehow think this makes everything okay.

  • NutWrench@lemmy.world
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    It probably happened. If you’ve shown the whole world that you bomb refugee camps and international food relief convoys, then you don’t get “the benefit of the doubt” anymore.

    • unrigged6112@lemmy.world
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      Israel just improved on the things the nazis did to them in ww2. What they learned from the ghetto in warsaw they used in Gaza

      • Zacryon
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        Israel just improved on the things the nazis did to them in ww2.

        Not quite yet. Nazis did extremely worse. But they are surely on their way getting there. >.<

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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    It’s time to hold Netanyahu accountable for his atrocities. If the U.S. refuses to participate in ICC proceedings, we should at least discontinue our abusive, manipulative, toxic relationahip with Israel.

    Israel has a rich legacy of treating their neighbors like absolute shit while using the U.S. as their personal weapon. They should defend themselves from the neighbors they have mistreated for the last several decades. It’s time for them to grow up and be responsible for their own actions.

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    I’m glad it’s being documented, but we all pretty much expected this, right? These are the same guys that use injured Palestinians as hood ornaments in public. They get in trouble for that then, but in private, who knows what you can get away with?