Brutalised Palestinians emerge from Israeli torture camps as Israel tear-gasses reporters to suppress scenes of joy
As Israeli and Palestinian captives were released in an exchange deal last night, the Israelis emerged from captivity looking tired, relieved, but well fed and cared for despite more than fifteen months held in Gaza – and were even bearing gift bags, reportedly containing a necklace, a certificate of release and photos from their time in captivity, which were immediately confiscated by Israeli authorities:
The ninety Palestinians released looked far different. Adel Zakarnah was afraid to embrace his mother in case she caught any of the parasites and diseases he had picked up in prison – but unsurprisingly they were having none of it:
Khalida Jarrar, who had been detained for ten years for giving speeches and lectures the Israeli regime disapproved of, looked a different woman from the one who went into captivity:
Others who were released were embraced by their families but could not bear to face the cameras:
Even those who had been detained for a relatively short time emerged looking thin and worn, or stunned and traumatised:
While the Israelis are unlikely to have released the most brutalised prisoners in the first phase for fear of negative media when the world’s attention is freshest, the images were still reminiscent of Palestinian hostages released under earlier swaps, barely coherent with terror and trauma, like Badr Dahlan, who had only been held for a month, during which he was tortured:
Or bodybuilder Moazez Abayat, released after nine months of torture and abuse:
Despite the stark contrast, Keir Starmer’s statement on the exchange of captives mentioned only the Israelis:
The Israeli regime had ordered Palestinian families not to show signs of joy when they received their loved ones back. In at least one case, journalists were tear-gassed after getting too close to a family that could not contain itself.
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Unlike the freed Israelis, the Palestinian freed hostages also face immediate arrest
“I [Starmer] wish them [Israeli hostages] all the best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced”
As the article suggests, I think their ‘intolerable trauma’ pales into insignificance compared to that experienced by many thousands of Palestinian adults and children which will last for many many years. Those that survive the displacement, starvation and deprivation that is…
I felt I had the measure of Starmer on the day of his election to leader of the Labour Party (remember his grovelling letter to the BoD’s that very day) and certainly in the following months. However, my dislike of him has turned to absolute disgust and hatred (or would if I didn’t believe that hatred harms the hater more than the hated).
The events since July 2024, should surely be a very loud rallying call to start the beginnings of a new socialist party….
Yes yes yes, but but but those Palestinians are criminals and terrorists – even the vast majority of them who were arbitrarily imprisoned.
Criminals and terrorists, I tells ya. Ask keef if you don’t believe me. He used to prosecute people like them, here.
Except for those he didnt. And who were eventually released without charge.
Keef doesn’t like that concept, though. People should rot in jail – home or abroad -whether there’s evidence against them or not.
And because he couldn’t get away with it here, he tried to get some ‘suspects’ extradited, outsourcing justice, just like he’ll outsource the NHS and the other public services.
Compare and contrast.
And as the saying goes:
Every picture tells a story.
SHAMELESS Starmer Gets A BRUTAL Gaza Wake Up Call!
We need some serious reflection on Gaza and what has happened in the last 16 months as hopefully peace may prevail.
Some argue Hamas felt it was being left behind by all the Middle East deals with the Occupation Force (the undemocratic Arab elite had bought into capitalism via oil) and Hamas felt it had to do something.
Hence its political & military strategy to attack the Occupation Force’s illegal armed settlements.
But some of us were very worried at the time after previous uprisings had caused massive over-reactions from the Zionist Occupation Force & I naively at the time said 20,000 Palestinian lives could be lost, so tragically perhaps times this by ten?
Some also argue Hamas’s big hope was that other forces would come to their aid but though some argue Iran has the missiles that can get through, and the USA had to rush in a defence system, perhaps they knew it was the whole imperial West behind the scenes that they were up against and that they couldn’t beat so they put their survival first.
Sometimes some quotes toll a bell throughout history like this:
“We will have a little Jewish Ulster surrounded by a sea of Arab antagonism.”
– 1st Governer of British Mandate in Palestine, 1919 – Bernard Regan, The Balfour Declaration.
I think we have to act as Anti-Apartheid activists did re South Africa.
A great article in The New Left Review a few years argued that once the Black Community in the USA totally supported BDS against South Africa it broke Apartheid’s back & its white elite had to settle so we need to step up BDS against the Apartheid Occupation Force in Palestine.
Positives:
*The oppressed of the world has woken up.
*The Occupation Force’s economy has been hit by £300b.
*Western Lightweight Careerist politicians have been exposed as they really are and we will never forgive & forget.
*Some universities, organisations & companies have disinvested.
*The Occupation Force’s arms companies around the world have been seriously disrupted.
*Starbucks has lost £12b manly due to boycotts in the Middle East & McDonald’s have had to get rid of all there franchises there for the same reasons.
The best thing we can all do & peacefully is via BDS kick capital in the economic bollocks – it’s all the little people understand.
Oh and support Palestinian intellectuals who call for “A new Palestinian grassroots approach.”
And One Multi Ethnic Democratic State of Palestine.