Tuesday, March 5, 2024. A UN 'report' backs up Israel but are we the
only ones who'll point out that the laughable report was written by a
woman the Israeli government selected back in December (no, that's not
how investigations work) and much more.
Where to start? Where to start?
How about with this: The First Lady of Israel was raped!
What's that? She wasn't. Then why does the UN offer speaking to her as proof of anything?
If
you missed it, the UN sent a stooge with a team to Israel to supposedly
learn if rapes took place October 7th. You or I might call that an
"investigation." The UN didn't. That's your first raised eyebrow --
the repeated insistence that this is not anything to take seriously. If
you wade through the actual . . . can we call it a 'report'? Is that
okay with the UN? If you wade through
it you find 23 pages of nothing.
They
found no evidence as the Israeli government led them by the hand to
various people (none of them rape survivors). They found no physical
evidence.
They found nothing:
The
main challenge was the limited number of and access to
survivors/victims of sexual violence, and to survivors and witnesses of
the 7 October attacks. While the mission team was able to meet with some
released hostages as well as with some survivors and witnesses of the
attacks, it did not meet with any survivor/victim of sexual violence
from 7 October despite concerted efforts encouraging them to come
forward.
They found nothing:
In the Nahal Oz military base, the mission team reviewed reports of sexual violence
including a case of rape and genital mutilation, neither of which could be verified. With respect
to the latter instance, while the forensic analysis reviewed injuries to intimate body parts, no
discernible pattern could be identified, against either female or male soldiers. However, seven
female soldiers were abducted from this base into Gaza.
They found nothing:
The mission was neither intended to, and nor could the mission team, in such a short
period of time, establish the prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence during and after the 7
October attacks. The overall magnitude, scope, and specific attribution of these violations would
require a comprehensive investigation by competent bodies
Yes, an investigation would require "competent bodies" and clearly the United Nations team sent in did not qualify.
The report is pathetic and laughable.
For the purposes of this mission and report, “conflict-related sexual violence” is defined
in accordance with the framing definition used in successive reports of the Secretary-General on
conflict-related sexual violence. The term thus refers to “rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution,
forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage, and any other form of
sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls, or boys that is
directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.
Forced
abortions? I'm sorry, is that supposed to suggest that Hamas was also
carrying out field abortions during the October 7th attack?
The UN team can't get off the First Lady of Israel:
The mission team met with a wide range of national authorities including the President of
Israel and the First Lady, relevant line ministries including Foreign Affairs, Welfare and Social
Affairs, Health, and Justice.
Again,
was the First Lady raped? Then why do you keep bringing her up. A
ceremonial post with no power and you keep trying to inflate her.
Reminder -- not all women are feminist and there's a reason that no
one's ever called Pamila Patten a feminist. What is she? Someone that
determined this March report would decide rape took place. She made
that clear in repeated interviews going back to January.
Here's YNET news reporting on from February 5th:
According
to Pramila Patten, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
and Special Envoy for Sexual Violence in Conflicts, she has been unable
to sleep for a week since viewing the 47-minute video compiled by the IDF of the atrocities committed on October 7.
The scenes continue to haunt her. "Only after I saw the video did I
understand things that I didn't understand before in terms of the
magnitude of the disaster that happened."
Poor Pramila, ugly and stupid.
(And she truly is ugly.)
Her
laughable report fails to note so much. Such as the reality that
Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR),
repeatedly contacted the government of Israel to conduct an
investigation into events and was refused. But the government of Israel
asked for Pramila. Maybe they love eye bags or pinched faces or purple
lips, who knows? But they asked for Pramila.
She was invited by the government to visit the country more than a
month ago to hear first-hand testimonies from Israeli survivors of
sexual violence allegedly committed during the brutal Hamas and
affiliated militia attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
Patten, according to a press release
in early December, had “responded positively” to the initial invitation
to visit Israel. But it’s unclear if she will investigate alleged
sexual violence and rape that was committed by the militias three months
ago.
[Update, Jan. 10: UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric
told reporters that Patten would conduct a “mission” to Israel and the
West Bank at the end of the month “to gather information on sexual
violence, reportedly committed in the context of the attacks of 7
October and its aftermath” The mission “will be conducted in the
exercise of her mandate, in accordance with her standard UN
methodology.” She’ll be accompanied by experts in “safe and ethical
interviewing, forensic evidence, digital analysis, and accountability,”
but she is not mandated to “investigate”]
[. . .]
Patten, a 65-year-old lawyer originally from Mauritius, said in another press release,
on Dec. 21: “All forms of sexual violence and the taking of hostages
are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian and human
rights law. Accordingly, all the horrific reports of sexual violence
allegedly committed by Hamas on 7 October must be promptly and
rigorously investigated, and the United Nations reiterates its readiness
to independently investigate any such violations.”
Is there anything sadder than a 65 year old whore? Well, a whore with a fish face but we already told you she's ugly.
So
she didn't do an investigation. She spoke to no one of value and she
was invited in by the Israeli government as it attacked other
officials. Hmm. Also, don't claim you filed an ethical report when you
failed to disclose in your 23 pages that the government of Israel
invited you in and did so in December.
A lazy whore exposed herself and, at 65, no one wanted to see it. Sana Saeed dissects it in the following thread of Tweets.
In
an unsigned, ridiculous report for the BBC, all claims are treated as
researched and substantiated -- they are not -- yet there's no mention
of my point above: The whore was invited in by Israel in December -- at
a time when they were refusing requests from UN figures. It's a
conflict of interest that needs to be noted. They selected her for a
reason. People learning the unsubstantiated claims of her 'report' need
to know that. It goes to trust and its unethical not to disclose it.
It undercuts the claims so they want to keep it quiet but that's not
journalism.
And let me add
something else as a rape survivor. Five months? My what delicate
flowers Israeli women must be. Five months after an alleged rape --
excuse me, rapes -- multiples -- none of the women can come forward.
Help me out on that, I don't see myself as exceptionally strong. Other
rape survivors, does that track for you because it doesn't for me. It
does go the sexist mind set that would use claims of rape to sell a
war. It does go to their injured manhood that would claim that a rape
would turn a woman into a body of dysfunction to be shrouded and hidden
away. Or maybe they all just had an attack of the meses? That's about
the level of maturity Pramila and the Israeli government's nonsense
reaches.
AMY GOODMAN:
We begin today’s show in Gaza, where Palestinian health officials say
at least 16 children have died in recent days from starvation and
dehydration as Israel’s assault continues. UNICEF warns the number of child deaths will likely “rapidly increase” unless the war ends.
Palestinians in Rafah searched Sunday under the rubble of a family
home hit by an Israeli airstrike the night before that killed as many as
14 people, including a father and twin babies born in the last few
months.
PALESTINIAN WOMAN:
[translated] We want the United States to get away from us. We don’t
want anything from them. We don’t want anything from the United States.
They are lying and conspiring against us. God is my suffice and the best
deputy.
AMY GOODMAN:
Here in the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris Sunday called
for a ceasefire in Gaza. She made the comments in a speech in Selma,
Alabama, marking the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS:
And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an
immediate ceasefire, for at least the next six weeks, which is what is
currently on the table. This will get the hostages out and get a
significant amount of aid in. This would allow us to build something
more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the
Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination. Hamas
claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as
we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let’s get a ceasefire.
Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide
immediate relief to the people of Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN:
Vice President Harris spoke three days after the United States blocked a
U.N. Security Council statement condemning Israel after Israeli
soldiers opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza City, in a
massacre that left at least 118 people dead. On Sunday, officials in
Gaza accused Israeli forces of killing and wounding dozens more aid
seekers who had gathered at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City. Facing
growing international criticism, President Biden Friday announced the
United States would begin airdropping food aid into Gaza.
Negotiations for a temporary ceasefire faced another setback Sunday
when Israel boycotted talks in Cairo after Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu accused Hamas of failing to provide a list of all living
Israeli hostages.
Meanwhile, Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz is in the U.S.
for what’s being described as an unauthorized trip to hold talks with
Vice President Harris, Tony Blinken and other top officials. Gantz is
seen as a rival to Netanyahu, who reportedly lashed out at Gantz for
making the trip without his approval.
All of this comes as the official death toll in Gaza has topped 30,500.
For more, we go to Rafah for an update from Akram al-Satarri, the Gaza-based journalist.
Akram, your brother was at the aid convoy when Israeli soldiers
opened fire. What did he explain to you happened, what’s being now
called the flour massacre, for the flour that people were coming to get
to make bread?
AKRAM AL-SATARRI: Good morning, Amy.
Yes, indeed, my brother was one of the people who were targeted by
the Israeli tanks and artillery fire in that area of al-Rashid Street,
particularly al-Nabulsi roundabout, when they were trying to seek food
for their children. To start with, it is the very personal story of my
brother in mind, who was in direct contact with me, seeking to secure
any help whatsoever for his children. He was taking that unsafe trip
towards al-Nabulsi roundabout. He was waiting there. He was waiting from
3:00 in the afternoon. He was hoping that he would get at least some
wheat flour for his children, because they have not eaten bread for
around 25 days or even more than 25 days. He saw many people there
coming from the Gaza north, as well, in the hope that they can secure
some food for their children.
All of a sudden, the bombardment started — not the bombardment;
rather, the tanks’ gunfire started. And, of course, the tanks are using
1.5-millimeter caliber guns, and those guns are very lethal. They can
split a person into two halves. The fire started. The tanks never
stopped shooting at them. And the observation that was — the observation
that was made by the people who were there, including my brother, that
the number of the tanks that were present in that particular time was
[inaudible], in the sense that in the last few days they knew tanks were
like there, but not in the large number that was in that particular
day. The fire started. The fire never stopped. People were shot. People
were falling on the ground. People were running. And some of the wounded
people were grabbing the legs of the other people, asking them to save
and help them. The ones even whose legs were pulled were shot, as well,
and were killed. So, people were crawling. My brother told me that he
was crawling for around 1.5 kilometers, from this al-Nabulsi roundabout
up to al-Shalihat roundabout, which is an area that is around 1
kilometer or 1.2 kilometers far away from the area that they were in.
The firing never stopped.
And to him, it looked like that was preplanned and that the massacre
that was planned, according to the description of my brother and any
other people, was intentional. And the firing never stopped 'til that
very large number of people were killed. And a very large number of
people also was injured. Some of them are dying every day. And this
specific incident was replicated the day after this massacre took place
and the day, three days or even four days after that. So it looks like
this is a policy that is followed by the Israeli occupation army, and it
looks like the objective is to continue the starvation of the people of
Gaza and to kill them when they dare to think that they can secure
something to feed their children. So they were killed when they're
trying to get the wheat flour. They were killed while they were seeking
life.
AMY GOODMAN:
So, the Israeli military says it started a preliminary review and that
Israeli forces did not attack the convoy, but that most of the
fatalities were caused by a stampede. At the same time, the director of
the Al-Awda Hospital told the United Nations some 80% of the wounded
brought into the hospital had been shot. If you could respond further,
Akram?
AKRAM AL-SATARRI:
Well, according to the preliminary diagnoses of the hospital and of the
people who were there, most of the people who were there were suffering
from upper body parts injuries, which is indicative of the gun that was
used, of the fire that was used against them. Some were hit also by
shrapnel because of the — by artillery fire that was hit at them.
Of course, if I were Israel or if I were the occupation, I would tell
the world that I have already started a preliminary investigation, and
they might also [inaudible] came from us, and shoot the Palestinians,
who were not using any arms and who were seeking to feed their children.
That’s typical. That’s normal. This is the Israeli habit. They will say
— because they targeted the Baptist Hospital, and they also said that
was not them, that was an Islamic Jihad rocket, missile, that hit the
people and killed around 600 people. That’s normal.
But the issue now, if the international community is failing to
compel Israel to conduct a scrutiny into the things that happened, I
think the international community failed before and is still failing to
stop the ongoing atrocities and is helping somehow. When they are
condoning the ongoing bombardment, they are failing to do justice for
the people of Palestine, and they are failing to observe the
international humanitarian law coordinates — the international
humanitarian law dictates, that asks the government to take whatever
precautions are needed to protect the civilian population, civilian
population that is living in Gaza, extremely difficult conditions
[inaudible] food [inaudible]. They were not [inaudible] in a fire
exchange. They were seeking food for their families and for their
children and for themselves, and they ended up being killed.
So, Israel will deny. And I wouldn’t be surprised also if Israel said
that they were killed by other Palestinians. That is a scenario, I
think, that is extremely acceptable for Israel. And Israel allies would
buy anything from Israel. So, no need. The ones who were killed are just
Palestinians, Palestinians who were treated as second-grade humans, who
are still besieged, who are still starving, who are still killed, who
are still displaced for around second or six or seven or eight times,
and who are expecting more of the misery and the death and displacement.
So, the international community is failing, and I don’t think the
Palestinians trust any statements made by the Israeli army about any
preliminary investigation, because there were many preliminary
investigations to be done, but they were never done, and there was many
justice that is expected to be done for the Palestinians but was not
done.
AMY GOODMAN:
Akram, if you can comment on the United States working with the
Jordanian Air Force, dropping 38,000 ready-to-eat meals, largely on the
beach in Gaza? If you can respond to — we just played clips of mass
protest, that there was protest around the world, but one person in
Washington, D.C., commented on the fact that while the U.S. is
providing, is dropping this food, they should stop providing Israel with
the bombs they drop on Palestinians.
AKRAM AL-SATARRI:
The clear analysis of this situation when it comes to the
cause-and-effect relationship between Israel and the misery that the
Palestinians have been living, the United States and the misery that
Palestinians have been living, three C-103 planes were dropping food on
the Palestinians, while countless number of F-16s, F-15s, F-22s and
F-35s, also with the most advanced technology and with the ammunition
that are provided by the United States to the Israel — so, in one hand,
they are providing people with food, and in the other hand, they are
providing people with death, taking their lives.
I think the United States should be reconsidering its position when
it comes to providing Israel with killing ammunitions and thinking that
they are providing people in Gaza with around 35,000 or 36,000 meals
that are ready to eat. The Palestinians might not be able to eat them.
And some of the airdropped assistance that was dropped in Gaza went to
the sea. And one of the people that I was talking to, he was joking and
mocking the whole situation we are living in. He was saying the fish is
very grateful for the American administration because they dropped the
food that was sent to Gaza to the fish in the Gaza Sea. And I think a
president that is dropping the aid for the Ukrainians while the Gaza is
the target is, in a way — needs to reconsider everything about that, and
they need to make sure that they provide unhindered access through the
recognized crossings of Gaza for the people who are displaced, in the
Gaza south and in the Gaza north. So, somehow, it’s — Palestinians find
it ridiculous. Palestinians find it a way that needs to be reviewed and
changed.
AMY GOODMAN:
What word are you getting of ceasefire negotiations? And also, what is
happening on the ground where you are, in Rafah, right now? Al Jazeera
reporting at least 11 were killed, 50 wounded, after an Israeli air
attack on a tent housing displaced people next to an entrance to a
hospital in Rafah city, not far from where you are standing.
AKRAM AL-SATARRI:
Well, the negotiations are still underway. It looks like Israel has
some demands to make. Some of them were not agreed upon in the past, but
now they are coming up with them. Palestinians don’t have high
expectations when it comes to the negotiation.
Palestinians are extremely busy now trying to survive because of the
expansion of the ground operation. In Khan Younis area, they have
already targeted — the Israeli occupation targeted Hamad City area and
also the al-Qarara area, which is an expansion of the ground operation
that has been already starting in Khan Younis for the last — have been
already rolling in Khan Younis for the last three months. The Israeli
occupation forces targeted a tent by a hospital in the Rafah west area,
and they also targeted a home. The number of people who were killed in
Rafah for the last 24 hours is more than 50 people in different
incidents taking place in different parts of Rafah.
So, the misery is continuous, and the bombardment is continuous. And
the number of Palestinians who are killed because of that and the number
of people who are displaced because of that is increasing, I would say,
by the second, not by the minute.
AMY GOODMAN:
Finally, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has the
negotiating team boycotting the negotiations now in — the ceasefire
negotiations in Cairo, because he says Hamas has refused, as part of the
deal, to provide the list of living hostages. Your thoughts on this and
where these negotiations stand?
AKRAM AL-SATARRI:
As a matter of fact, that — I’ve been following the news about this
from the Israeli media sources and from the Palestinian media sources,
as well. That specific request was not made by the Israeli security
forces, security agencies in the past. Now Netanyahu is inventing
something new for the sake of just continuing the delay.
It looks like this delay is taking place for some purely political
reasons where Netanyahu is interested in prolonging the war. They have
disputes. They have issues. One of the top leaders is now in the U.S.A.
Netanyahu is busy calling Blinken and calling other people, telling them
that it is an unauthorized trip. It looks like there is something that
is internally happening in the Israeli political arena that Netanyahu
wants to stop and prevent from happening. And that’s why everything that
he wants to do eventually reflects on the Palestinians, now more
killing, more displacement, now refusing the request to provide some
names — now asking to provide some names.
So, I think we will see a great deal of procrastination like the one
that we have been seeing for the past few months. Netanyahu is
interested in his personal safety when it comes to his political career,
political life, and I think that’s why even the Israeli security
forces, that are not being able to end this military confrontation with
the Palestinian factions in Gaza, are now trying to, through the
political means, to come to, I would say, honorable end for this, but
they are failing to do so.
AMY GOODMAN:
You’re talking about Benny Gantz being in Washington now to meet with
today Kamala Harris, Tony Blinken — she’ll be meeting with — and other
officials. I wanted to, finally, ask you about the issue of famine,
about the number of children who are dying of hunger and dehydration,
and how the Palestinians are dealing with this at this point.
AKRAM AL-SATARRI:
Well, according to the statistics that were released by the Palestinian
Ministry of Health, around 1 million Palestinians have developed some
diseases of any kind, be them some diseases that have to do with the
digestive system, with the respiratory system, with the upper
respiratory system, which is indicative of the quality of life, where
quality of life has reached in Gaza, and what is the situation of the
public health. When you don’t have water desalination plants, when you
destroy the water purification systems, when you destroy the solar
panels that are on top of the houses of the people, when you destroy the
heavy vehicles that are used by the municipalities to remove the waste,
when you are destroying everything that has to do with the life of the
Palestinians, this result is normal and is projected, and it will
continue to deteriorate.
Now, with the children, 18 children have died in northern Gaza. More
children are dying in southern Gaza. People cannot get decent food for
their children. When people are drinking the water, the water is
polluted, and it causes them some serious public health issues. And now
the children are the most vulnerable people within the community. We
have 1 million child in Gaza, 1 million child that do not have
appropriate shelter, do not have appropriate feeding systems. They don’t
have appropriate water systems, and they end up consuming water that is
polluted, food that is polluted. They end up exposed. The twins that
were killed yesterday, they were just twins. They were children. They
were killed with their father. So they were deprived from the right to
live, and they are still deprived from the right to access decent water,
shelter and food supplies. So this is the situation in Gaza as it is.
It is an ongoing suffering because of the fact that the Israeli
occupation denied them the right to be treated as humans. This is the
whole issue.
AMY GOODMAN:
Akram al-Satarri, we want to thank you so much for being with us, a
Gaza-based journalist, speaking to us today from Rafah. Please be safe.
Where's
the video? We posted it yesterday. For a few hours you could stream
it. YOUTUBE's now put a warning on it. The Israeli government can kill
but YOUTUBE won't allow the damage to be shown.
