Originally published on Global Voices

Iranian airstrikes on Israel on 1 October 2024 by Hanay. Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A specter is haunting Iran — the threat of a full-fledged war with Israel, stirring fears of devastation reminiscent of Gaza and Lebanon. As tensions escalate, millions of Iranians face the risk of serious harm, either directly or indirectly. Yet, surprisingly, even as the majority of Iranian human rights and civil society organizations are based outside the country, in particular in the West, due to the Islamic Republic’s brutal repression, the majority have remained silent, offering no statements, analyses, or even discussion on the escalating conflict.

To explore the reasons behind this silence, Global Voices interviewed veteran human rights activists who offered insights into the complex factors at play.

Decades of work

Iranian human rights organizations in exile have spent decades raising awareness about political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, documenting human rights abuses, and campaigning against state-sanctioned executions and discrimination affecting women, minorities, and journalists. They have also collaborated closely with the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The civil society groups still in Iran, such as the Iran Bar Association, face enormous pressure and restrictions. The Islamic Republic’s authorities even shut down the charity, Imam Ali's Popular Student Relief Society, which worked on combating poverty and helping vulnerable children. Authorities have also imprisoned high-profile activists, such as Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi who was recently hospitalized with severe health issues.

Mohammadi, who believes in the necessity of regime change in Iran, recently issued an anti-war message: “All those responsible for war are not only condemned by the people of the lands and times they devastate, but they are also forever disgraced and ostracised in the annals of human history.”

Funding matters

But despite these efforts, some Iranian activists and citizens have voiced growing concerns about transparency and funding dependencies. These criticisms suggest that some organizations abroad may be prioritizing certain issues over others due to the influence of funding sources, risking the impression that they operate within a discriminatory framework that fluctuates according to funders’ agendas.

Nazila Golestan, France-based media producer and the speaker of human rights and political organization HamAva, tells Global Voices via WhatsApp that “funding sources heavily influence organizational stances, often undercutting their purported neutrality.”

Having worked with human rights organizations in both Iran and France, she has observed that some groups’ silence on the war reflects an unwillingness to alienate donors. Golestan contends that “the mission of any true human rights organization should include advocating for peace and diplomacy, as conflicts impact civilians first and foremost.”

Matt Forouzandy, an Iranian–Canadian queer activist and interdisciplinary artist, agrees. “Funding sources and associated political agendas are decisive in shaping these organizations’ positions, often resulting in actions aligned with donor expectations rather than a true commitment to human rights,” he tells Global Voices.

Forouzandy, who is one of the voices of Iran's exiled LGBTQ+ community, adds that “these tendencies increasingly disillusion Iranian civil society and activists. He advocates for new, grassroots-driven models to bypass the current challenges and foster more effective human rights advocacy.”

Silence amid escalating conflict

The current silence from human rights groups is particularly notable given the humanitarian stakes. While the raison d’etre of these organizations is to urge the Iranian state to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a full-scale conflict between Iran and Israel could jeopardize the fundamental rights of Iranian people, including the right to life, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to education, among others. 

This is clear in the ongoing violence in Gaza, where UNICEF reports that “about 9 in 10 of Gaza’s population are estimated to have been internally displaced. Half of them children. They do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine.” Reportedly thousands of children have been killed or injured in the conflict so far.

Furthermore, the war on Lebanon also underscores the profound impacts of such conflicts on civilian populations, where, according to UNICEF, “the conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of children and their families.”

Risk of alienation

Kamran Ashtray, artist and the executive director of the Nederalnds-based Arseh Sevom NGO which focuses on civil society in Iran, warns in an email to Global Voices that “organizations risk alienating the very communities they aim to represent if they selectively address human rights violations.”

He argues that “failing to advocate for peace could create a perception that these organizations align more with external agendas than with the genuine concerns of the Iranian people. Such selectivity could harm the credibility of these groups, both within Iran and on the global stage.”

According to Ashtary, “a balanced approach that condemns internal abuses by the Iranian regime while opposing escalations that threaten civilians would uphold both independence and credibility.”

When these activists talk about funds, the risk of alienating the Iranian people, and keeping the funders happy, what is at stake is an enormous economy of funding largely supported by the U.S. State Department, which has dedicated millions to Iranian civil society initiatives, including approximately USD 30 million initially earmarked for civil society support.

This funding structure has expanded significantly, with the U.S. Department of State’s financial support for just VPN (anti-filtering) tools increasing from USD 5 million in 2019 to over USD 30 million in 2024.

A pivotal moment

The silence haunts Iranian human rights organizations regarding this looming conflict and raises critical questions about their priorities, independence, and future direction. 

As tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, human rights organizations face a pivotal moment that calls for reflection on whether neutrality aligns with their fundamental mission.

This crisis presents an opportunity to re-evaluate their goals and strategies, echoing a reminder by German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who fought against silence and the Nazi regime and sacrificed his life: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil… Not to act is to act.” How these organizations respond could ultimately shape the future of human rights advocacy for Iran and the broader region.

Written by Fred Petrossian

Originally published on Global Voices

A UNRWA building after it was shelled by the Israeli army in Gaza on January 15, 2009. Photo by ISM Palestine. Source: Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Israel has become the first country to legislate a ban against a United Nations institution, targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and declaring it a “terror group” with a near-unanimous vote of 92–10.

This unprecedented move raises profound questions: What does it mean when a global agency — recognized and funded by the majority of the world’s nations — becomes labeled as a “terrorist organization?” This designation not only undermines UNRWA’s humanitarian mission but also casts a shadow over other international agencies working to uphold human rights and peace.

A deliberate escalation

UNRWA, established in 1949, provides essential services to Palestinian refugees, including education, healthcare, and social support in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Although Israel has long criticized UNRWA, the recent legislation escalates grievances to a legislative level, prohibiting the agency's operation in Israel and controversially extending this prohibition to all areas under its occupation according to international law.

Since October 2023, Israel has been systematically destroying UNRWA buildings in Gaza, including schools sheltering displaced people, and, in May 2024, the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem was forced to close temporarily due to an attack by “Israeli extremists.”

Israeli soldiers rejoicing as a UN run school in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza blown is turned to rubble by Israel.

The UN uses their buildings to offer shelter to displaced Palestinians.

133 UN staff have been murdered by Israel.

pic.twitter.com/6VIOk3LpSw

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) December 12, 2023

According to Adalah Legal Centre, the laws violate the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and may breach the Genocide Convention and the ICC’s Rome Statute. This legislation threatens a vital lifeline for over 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in occupied Palestinian territory, and “represents a deliberate attempt to fundamentally undermine UNRWA and its essential mission of supporting the relief, education, and human development of Palestinian refugees.” Specifically, it aims to strip Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 war of their refugee status and right of return. Adalah has called on the international community to hold Israel accountable.

The governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain, issued a joint statement criticizing the new law, calling it a “serious precedent for the work of the United Nations and for all organizations within the multilateral system.”

Worsening relations with the UN

The Knesset’s recent law highlights a rapidly deteriorating relationship between Israel and the United Nations, marking a crisis in the post-WWII order intended to safeguard peace and human rights. This legislation questions the authority of international law and the relevance of institutions meant to protect human rights, and may embolden other countries to follow suit.

In an August 2024 interview with i24News, former Israeli envoy to the UN Gilad Erdan said, “The UN building in Jerusalem needs to be closed and erased from the face of the earth.” Previously, in May 2024, Erdan gained notoriety by shredding the UN charter during his speech at the General Assembly.

Israeli ambassador to the UN pathetically brought a paper shredder to the UN General Assembly to shred the UN Charter in protest over majority resolution to expand Palestine’s “rights and privileges” at the UN. pic.twitter.com/NsOxHgMxph

— Marwa Fatafta مروة فطافطة (@marwasf) May 10, 2024

Back in July, the Knesset further reinforced its defiance with a resolution that also passed almost unanimously (68–9) rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, contradicting the principles of the two-state solution outlined in the Oslo Accords and all relevant UN resolutions which Israel has historically ignored.

A pattern of UN defiance

Israel’s ban on UNRWA is not an isolated incident but part of a broader trajectory of antagonism toward the United Nations and its institutions. Recently, Israel declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres persona non grata, barring his entry.

This step follows numerous instances of denying entry visas to UN representatives and investigators examining human rights abuses in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel consistently rejects UN calls for investigations into alleged abuses, disregarding resolutions related to settlement expansion, military actions in Gaza, West Bank, or Lebanon.

Israel’s antagonism towards the UN extends beyond Palestinian territories. UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) troops, mandated to oversee peace along the Lebanon-Israel border, have faced direct attacks, sparking condemnation. On October 12, following repeated Israeli attacks on UN peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon, 44 countries, including three UN Security Council permanent members, issued a joint statement condemning the assaults.

In May 2024, the UN Security Council passed a resolution denouncing attacks on UN staff and aid workers in conflict zones. Israel’s actions in Gaza alone have killed at least 237 UN personnel.

International responses and accountability

The international community’s response has been mixed, with some countries voicing concern over the ban’s dangerous implications for UN staff worldwide, though few have proposed significant sanctions against Israel. European nations, while condemning Israel’s treatment of UNRWA, have largely refrained from imposing economic or political sanctions. This lack of consequences raises questions about international law’s credibility, risking a shift from substance to symbolism without enforceable mechanisms.

These developments arise amid an escalation of violence, particularly in Gaza and Lebanon, which risk engulfing the whole region in a larger scale war. Israeli military operations in Jabalia and northern Gaza have led to high civilian casualties and international condemnation, as the country faces genocide accusations found to be plausible by the ICJ.

Public hearings in the case South Africa v. Israel. 16-17 May. Source: International Court of Justice. Copyrights exempt.

University of London research agency Forensic Architecture has recently launched an 827 page report and interactive platform titled “A Cartography of Genocide,” meticulously documenting the impact of the war on Gaza.

NEW: ‘A Cartography of Genocide’. Since October 2023, we have collected and analysed data related to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Our findings indicate that Israel has systematically targeted all aspects of civilian life. https://t.co/UUxYqpTF72 pic.twitter.com/lpqv78S5c4

— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) October 29, 2024

UN human rights experts have warned that Israel risks becoming an international “pariah.” On the first anniversary of the October 7 war, UN experts said that “the world has seen a brutal escalation of violence, resulting in genocidal attacks, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of Palestinians, which risks breaking down the international multilateral system.”

Israel’s hostility toward UN bodies hampers the UN’s ability to respond effectively to the humanitarian crisis unfolding across the region. With UNRWA barred from its work in areas under Israeli control, millions will further lack essential aid and services.

A dangerous precedent

Israel’s legislative ban on UNRWA can be seen as a reflection of a systemic disregard for international law. By enabling Israel’s continuous antagonism toward the UN, the global community risks weakening the institutions meant to preserve order and justice, reducing their power to act — even symbolically — in future conflicts.

This situation underscores a need for renewed commitment to international cooperation and real accountability. Without a united stance against the growing pattern of defiance, the UN and its agencies risk losing power in the missions they were created to uphold at a dangerous juncture in the planet’s history. Failing to hold Israel accountable might allow this precedent to erode the system at large and further damage the UN’s credibility after more than a year of failing to stop documented crimes that continue to be committed during its devastating war on Gaza.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

An angle of what remains of the ancient Nabatieh market. Screenshot from a video uploaded to X by user @fouadkhreiss

In just a few hours, two Israeli airstrikes obliterated landmarks that embodied centuries of southern Lebanon’s rich history. The region, known as Jabal Amel, has long been associated with its deep-rooted, predominantly Twelver Shia Muslim community, considered one of the oldest such communities in the world. This mountainous area, with the Litani River running through it, overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and connects to Mount Lebanon, Wadi al-Taym, and the Beqaa Valley.

These attacks are not merely about claiming lives; they aim to erase the roots, culture, and livelihood of the people in both Lebanon and Palestine. This is not collateral damage — it is an intentional strategy to wipe out the soul of the land, its history, and its people.

But as thousands are killed and wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine and brutal attacks on Lebanon, the urgent need to save lives and cope with trauma often overshadows the devastating loss caused by the systematic destruction of heritage, memory, and history.

The heart of the south

One of the countless victims of this campaign was the historic market in Nabatieh, Jabal Amel’s largest city and a bustling center of life and commerce for generations, with buildings and shops older than Israel itself.

Nabatieh has long been a commercial and cultural hub for a region that historically connected Jordan, Palestine, Syria and southern Lebanon, a meeting point where merchants and travelers would gather, exchanging goods and stories, keeping alive the cultural and economic lifeblood of the region.

The market’s destruction is not an isolated incident but part of Israel’s longstanding strategy of targeting cultural landmarks, reflecting a colonial desire to erase the roots and memories of the people who inhabit these lands.

سوق النبطية قبل وبعد #لن_نركع pic.twitter.com/XQl0XNwU4G

— 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓶 (@Hisham10452) October 13, 2024

Nabatieh market, before and after.
We won’t submit

According to Kamel Jaber, a local journalist who has long documented the history of his beloved city, “The destruction is so complete that it renders the souks irrecoverable. Since 1975, we have been gradually losing our heritage due to Israeli attacks, and each time, the response has been to rebuild something modern, not to recreate the old as it was.”

Countless people took to social media to document the faces and stories of this ancient market, among them Badia Hani Fahs, who wrote: 

Nabatieh’s heart has burned …
Here was the Dimasi sweets shop, the one that left Sidon long ago and settled in Nabatieh. Just a few months ago, they did a new renovation and had a fresh start.
Next to it was Kamel Jaloul’s shop, my cousin, the first men’s shoe store in the market. No groom went to his bride without wearing shoes from Jaloul.
On the corner was the Hijazi bookstore. We all bought our bags and school supplies from there for ourselves and our children. When we were young girls, we used to borrow second-hand novels for just a few liras.
Across from it was Studio Al-Amal. You’d walk in to see Al-Husseini and find photos that are 60 to 70 years old, pictures of your grandparents and their friends.
A bit further down was Baalbaki Pharmacy, run by the family who came as refugees from the Beqaa Valley. Their origins are from the Alou family, but they were given the Baalbaki name, which became their family name.
Turning left, we’d come across the pride of Nabatieh’s industry, Sultan Sweets. The smell of cleanliness, fresh cream, and extra crispy kunafa would fill the air. You couldn’t enter without being offered a sweet and a sip of water.
Continuing on, we’d pass Farol Bookstore, owned by the kind Rafaat Hatit, who fled from Kfeyoun during the Mountain War and settled in Nabatieh, keeping the same bookstore name.
Across from the bookstore were the two most important shops in the market, run by two remarkable women: Hasiba, Umm Rami Al-Amin, and Maha, wife of the activist Afif Qaddih.
Next door was Al-Mashaal Spices, owned by Ali Batata.
Going uphill, you’d find Arnout’s Falafel, the most famous falafel shop in all of the South. Arnouti was originally Albanian, and he lived in Akka, where he learned the craft of making falafel. After the Nakba, he came to Nabatieh, bringing his trade with him, and with every attack on Nabatieh, he was hit by another disaster.
Beside him was Mukhtar Hassan Jaber’s shop, which he inherited from his father, Nizar Jaber. This was the shop where you’d find anything you needed. Those who didn’t know Nizar Jaber had never seen love and kindness embodied in a man.
On the other side was Disco Al-Sha’ar, which made the market dance to the latest music trends from east to west.
This is our heart that burned, not just a block of concrete.

Ancient olive trees, historic markets, and entire communities — these are not just casualties of war but deliberate targets in a campaign to deny the people their heritage and identity.

Ancient trees, deep roots

Hours after the destruction of Nabatieh’s market, another Israeli airstrike hit the neighboring town of Mayfadoun, obliterating the Rtail family home known for its ancient Mount Tabor oak which has stood witness to the region’s history for centuries and is locally known as the Maloula tree. Towering at over 18 meters (59 feet) with a five-meter (16-foot) trunk, the Maloula tree is more than a natural relic. It holds cultural, historical, and personal significance.

According to local tradition, the tree has always been there. In 1995, Abu Rashid Rtail, one of its many caretakers throughout the centuries, recounted stories passed down from his father, who lived to be 100, and from an elder of the Najda family, who lived 115 years, both affirming that the tree had looked the same throughout their lifetimes. With a lifespan of centuries, the tree became a living monument, embodying the heritage and memory of Mayfadoun.

The municipality of Mayfadoun named the neighborhood after it —“Hay Al Maloula” — in recognition of its importance. According to Rashid Rtail, the son of Abu Rasheed, engineers who had once visited to inspect it had confirmed its remarkable age of over 500 years, estimating that it might have stood for much longer, perhaps even 1,100 years. This kind of longevity is rare, with ancient trees surviving as a result of their resistance to disease and climate.

In an interview with him in 2010, Rasheed recalls how its size was much larger before it was repeatedly targeted by Israeli artillery, destroying many of its towering branches. And with the destruction of his house “more than once due to the targeting of the Maloula, it refused to fall, even after its counterpart in the town of Deir Siryan fell during the last aggression [in the 2006 war], making it the most prominent ancient tree in the Nabatieh district.”

The tree had served as a gathering place for travelers and pilgrims heading to Nabatieh for the annual Ashura commemoration, a famous event that honors the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in the Battle of Karbala. Linking Nabatieh and Mayfadoun through shared traditions and standing as a silent witness to the region’s most important rituals. Its branches once hosted the laughter of children during festivals, and its shade offered rest to weary travelers and locals alike.

An Israeli airstrike on this ancient and majestic living being and the Rtail family home that stood beside it for generations reduced the house to rubble and damaged the tree that survived centuries and perhaps a millennium but might have been finally killed by this latest Israeli attack.

The heart of Mayfadoun
The house of the late Haj Toufic Rtail, father of the late Haj Rashid Rtail and Haj Mohammad Reda Rtail.
The place of the Maloula tree.

Systematic destruction

The destruction of such cultural and historical symbols speaks to a broader colonial logic. The Maloula tree, the Rtail home, and the Nabatieh market, like countless other landmarks and places, are not just physical structures; they are embodiments of the community’s endurance, history, ties and culture. Their existence defies the narrative of erasure that Israel seeks to impose. For centuries and millennia, this land has been inhabited, its people cultivating rich histories, building cities, and maintaining communities that continue to live, create, and resist.

As we mourn the loss of these irreplaceable landmarks and the heartbreaking loss of life, we find solace in the strength of memory and community. The love that binds the people to their land, their history, and one another remains unbroken. This love, this memory, will allow them to revive, rebuild, and continue to live. Places and stories exist in memory, and from that memory, the people — and nature — will rise again, as they have for generations.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Hebron’s Al-Shuhada Street checkpoint with at least 8 CCTV cameras and the Smart Shooter in view. Photo by AV, used with permission. 2024.

Data collection and technology can have harmful applications, especially when used to monitor and subjugate marginalized people. This can be seen most clearly in how Israel has used technology in its war against Palestinians. Israel is using data collected from Palestinians to train AI-powered automated tools that have been deployed against Gaza and across the West Bank.

Israeli AI-supercharged surveillance tools and spyware, including Pegasus, a malware program, and AI weaponry, including the Smart Shooter and Lavender, have received both condemnation and interest. Graduates of the Israeli military’s elite intelligence unit, Unit 8200, are so coveted by surveillance and military tech companies that there is a term “8200-to-tech pipeline”.

In 2024, UN experts deplored Israel’s use of AI to commit crimes against humanity in Gaza. Regardless of their ongoing use of AI for human rights violations, that same year, Israel signed a global treaty on AI developed by the Council of Europe for safeguarding human rights.

A ‘gamified’ surveillance system

Israel’s CCTV systems, called “Mabat 2000”, were first installed throughout Jerusalem in the year 2000 but have seen significant upgrades in more recent years. A 2023 report by Amnesty International mapped the visible Israeli surveillance system and found one or two cameras every five meters in Jerusalem’s Old City and Sheikh Jarrah. One Palestinian resident said, “Every time I see a camera, I feel anxious. Like you are always being treated as if you are a target.” Israeli CCTV cameras are also mounted on checkpoints and barriers and clustered on buildings and towers across the occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian home in Sheikh Jarrah, with an Israeli settlement on top. There are approximately eight CCTV cameras visible in the photo. Clusters of surveillance cameras can be identified on the pole to the right and surrounding the Star of David and Israeli flags at the top. Photo by the author, used with permission. 2024.

Since 2020, the Wolf Pack of surveillance tech has been rolled out by Israel across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Using the app called Blue Wolf, Israel carried out a massive biometrics registry of Palestinians, often at checkpoints and by gunpoint, sometimes at people's private homes in the middle of the night.

The gendered aspect of surveillance was noted in a 2021 report by 7amleh, with one female interviewee explaining that she would sleep in her hijab, feeling that she could not experience privacy inside her home.

Israeli soldiers took pictures of Palestinians, including children, for cataloguing, and the process was gamified, giving “a weekly score based on the most amount [sic] of pictures taken. Military units that captured the most faces of Palestinians on a weekly basis would be provided rewards such as paid time away.” This tool was playfully referred to as a “Facebook for Palestinians” by Israeli soldiers.

Red Wolf is part of the CCTV facial recognition infrastructure to identify Palestinians as they pass through checkpoints and move through cities. Another app called White Wolf is available to Israelis illegally settling in the West Bank, which allows them to search the database of Palestinians. Somehow, the increased monitoring and surveillance have failed to capture the crimes committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Since October 2023, Israel has rolled out a similar facial recognition system registry of Palestinians in Gaza.

A cluster of CCTV cameras on Via Dolorosa Street in Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo taken by the author, used with permission. 2024.

AI-supercharged weapons

In 2021, Google and Amazon jointly signed an exclusive billion-dollar contract with the Israeli government to develop ‘Project Nimbus’, which is meant to advance technologies in facial detection, automated image categorization, object tracking, and sentiment analysis for military use — a move that was condemned by hundreds of Google and Amazon employees in a coalition called No Tech for Apartheid.

While many of the Big Tech companies have contracts with Israeli military and intelligence agencies, Project Nimbus has faced especially harsh criticism because of the symphony of alarms raised about Israel’s human rights violations brought forth prior to October 2023 by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children and Amnesty International.

Israeli intelligence units have been relying ever more heavily on AI tools to “rank civilians and civilian infrastructure according to their likelihood of being affiliated with militant organizations” within Gaza, speeding up the ranking process from a full year when completed by a person, to half a day by an AI tool.

AI-powered systems, ‘Lavender’ and ‘The Gospel’ (‘Hasbora’), have been designated as a “mass assassination factory” in Gaza with minimal human oversight where “emphasis is on quantity and not on quality”. Another AI-powered tool called “Where's Daddy” tracks selected Palestinians so that they would be bombed when they entered their home — also killing their families and neighbours; thousands of adults and children who were not involved in fighting have been murdered. The system identifies targets based on various criteria, one of which is whether the person is in a WhatsApp group with another suspected individual.

Social scoring technology, such as these, has been banned by the European Union.

Drone terror

Drones have been used by Israel against Palestinians for more than a decade, sometimes for surveillance and other times for strikes that have led to traumatic amputations — although drone use was considered a “well-known secret” in Israeli society for years. As early as 2009, Human Rights Watch reported on Israel’s use of armed drones in Gaza.

In 2021, Israel started deploying “drone swarms” in Gaza to locate and monitor targets. In 2022, Omri Dor, commander of Palmachim Airbase, said, “The whole of Gaza is ‘covered’ with UAVs that collect intelligence 24 hours a day.”

Since October 2023, Israel’s killing of Palestinians has increased dramatically, causing Gaza to be called a “graveyard for children” and “a living hell”. Technology has played a major role in increasing damage and targets, including drones. Hybrid drones such as “The Rooster” and “Robodogs” can fly, hover, roll, and climb uneven terrain. Machine gun rovers have been used to replace on-the-ground troops. There have been allegations that Israeli sniper drones have played recordings of crying infants to lure targets into the open in Gaza.

Drones have been connected to psychological distress for Palestinians because of the 24/7 buzzing sounds and fears of being targeted.

Israel intensifying AI-powered attacks

As early as October 13, 2023, experts were calling Israeli attacks on Gaza a “potential genocide” and a “textbook case of genocide”. Judges of the International Court of Justice said in January 2024 that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged […] to have been committed by Israelis in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention.”

In July 2024, the World Court found Israel responsible for apartheid. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported over 41,000 Palestinians killed, over 96,000 Palestinians injured, and nearly half a million Palestinians facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity in Gaza.

In September 2024, Israel was suspected to be responsible for the exploding pagers attack in Lebanon, which killed at least 37 and injured approximately 3,000 people. In just three days, 90,000 Lebanese were displaced, fleeing Israeli attacks. Within one week, over 1,000 Lebanese were killed in the attacks. Israel continues to increase airstrikes on Lebanon, as well as Syria and Yemen.

Written by Safa

Originally published on Global Voices

Makran IFV and modernized T-72. IRGC Ground exhibition, June 27, 2020. Image by Mohammad Mohsenifar for Fars Media Corporation via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0

In 2024, Iran’s defense budget is set to reach USD 16.7 billion — a 20 percent increase from the previous year and comprising 25 percent of the national budget according to recently published data by Iran Open Data Center. This substantial rise in military expenditure comes at a time when Iran’s economy is struggling with soaring inflation and declining purchasing power.

However, Iran is not alone in prioritizing military spending amid economic challenges; this pattern mirrors developments across the world, as countries from West Asia and other parts of Asia, to Europe and the US ramp up their defense budgets in response to escalating conflicts and rising security threats.

Regional and global dynamics

The surge in Iran's defense spending cannot be analyzed in isolation. The escalating Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, as well as rivalry with countries like Saudi Arabia plays a pivotal role in shaping Tehran’s defense priorities. Israel, which recently assassinated Hamas’s Ismail Haniye in Tehran, and has increased its threats against Iran, has seen its military budget grow by 24 percent in 2023, reaching USD 27.5 billion. This has largely been driven by its devastating campaign on Gaza, which has seen the country drop over 70,000 tons of explosives on the strip in six months — double the explosive power of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. More recently, Israel has also unleashed a devastating bombing campaign on Lebanon, killing nearly 2000 people according to the Lebanese Minister of Health.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia remains the largest military spender in West Asia, leveraging its vast oil wealth to secure its regional dominance. Iran, however, faces a greater challenge to keep up expenditure as it is also dealing with severe economic sanctions and inflation, making such military investments a larger burden relative to its economic capacity.

The military buildup in these countries reflects the broader context of the US–Iran confrontation. Both the United States and Israel have maintained aggressive postures toward Iran, citing concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence in proxy conflicts across the region.

While Israel and Saudi Arabia increase their defense spending, Iran is also driven by the increasing threats posed by US military presence in the region. The US maintains a network of military bases across West Asia, from Qatar to Iraq, posing a persistent strategic challenge to Iran’s ambitions. This dynamic fosters an arms race in which each actor justifies increased military spending by pointing to the threats posed by the others, resulting in a self-reinforcing cycle of militarization.

The IRGC’s expanding role

A large portion of Iran’s growing defense budget is allocated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful entity that exerts both military and economic control within the country. The IRGC's influence extends far beyond conventional military operations; it controls a vast network of businesses and industries, including construction, telecommunications, and oil. This financial independence allows the IRGC to bypass traditional government budget allocations, further deepening its grip on the country’s resources.

According to SIPRI, Iran — the fourth largest military spender in West Asia in 2023 — has seen the share of military spending allocated to the IRGC grow from 27 to 37 percent between 2019 and 2023.

Beyond official spending, the IRGC’s economic activities generate additional unreported revenues, making it difficult to assess the full scale of Iran’s military funding. This financial network reflects Iran’s strategic emphasis on defense despite its fragile economy, with inflation running at 35 percent and prices of basic goods skyrocketing.

A global militarization trend

Iran’s military buildup fits within a broader global trend of rising military expenditures, particularly in regions experiencing escalating conflicts. In Europe, military budgets have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Germany has significantly increased its military spending, allocating a special EUR 100 billion fund in 2022 to modernize its military​.

According to a report by Greenpeace in 2023, “Over a decade, Germany has increased its real military spending by 42%.” The pattern seen in Europe — where economic challenges, high inflation, and energy crises coexist with soaring military budgets — closely mirrors the situation in Iran. Both regions are diverting significant resources to the military at the expense of social spending, revealing a global prioritization of military security in an increasingly volatile world.

East Asia is also seeing an increase in military spending driven by growing tensions. China, the world’s second-largest military spender, with a USD 296 billion budget in 2023, has seen a 6 percent increase from 2022 according to SIPRI. Meanwhile, military budgets in both Japan and Taiwan increased by 11 percent in the same period as tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait increased, especially with increased US military presence in the region aimed to counterbalance China's rise.

Rising instability

The surge in military spending across West Asia, Europe, and East Asia among others reflects a world heading toward greater instability, partly driven by the failure of the UN and its institutions to provide the peace, diplomacy, and conflict prevention they were designed to uphold.

Countries are preparing for potential conflicts that span multiple regions, creating an environment in which security is increasingly defined through military power rather than diplomacy. As Nan Tian, Senior Researcher at SIPRI, noted, “States are prioritizing military strength but they risk an action–reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”​

This shift comes at a time of economic challenges, where social spending is often sacrificed for military investments. The interconnected nature of these conflicts points to a world that is drifting further toward conflict rather than cooperation.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot from the video “Fresh wave of Israeli strikes in Lebanon leaves scores dead” from the Guardian News YouTube channel. Fair use.

In an unprecedented and brutal bombing campaign, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people in less than 24 hours according to initial numbers from the Lebanese health ministry. The death toll is expected to rise as more than 1,600 people have been reported wounded, and many still missing under the rubble amid the ongoing bombing campaigns. In just one day, the casualties have reached nearly half the total from the entire 33-day war in 2006. 

This day marks one of the darkest chapters in Lebanon’s recent history, as the country reels from the destruction and the resulting humanitarian crisis. Hezbollah responded to the airstrikes by launching several waves of rockets on targets in northern Israel including a weapons factory and military airfields. 

Israel announced that it had carried out 1,600 targeted strikes throughout the day, claiming the strikes targeted Hezbollah positions. However, these claims have raised significant alarm and skepticism, especially given the troubling parallels to Israel’s previous military campaigns in Gaza. In Gaza, similar justifications were given for attacks on UN shelters, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure, leading to international accusations of genocide and war crimes. A case has already been filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa, supported by numerous countries, accusing Israel of violating international humanitarian law.

Ghada Majadli, a policy analyst with Al Shabaka tweeted: 

1. Israel's attack on Lebanon is a textbook repetition of Gaza: labeling the entire population as ‘human shields’ to justify making them military targets without any factual basis, issuing evacuation orders to entire villages, to give a facade of legality to their assaults>>

— Ghada Majadli غادة مجادلة (@GMajadli) September 23, 2024

Disinformation and ‘human shields’

In parallel with the bombing campaign, a wave of disinformation has spread across social media and official channels, attempting to justify the widespread targeting of civilian areas across Lebanon. One of the primary claims is that Hezbollah is using civilian homes to hide its missile launchpads, effectively using civilians as human shields. This narrative has been normalized in Gaza over the past year and is now being deployed in Lebanon as a dangerous excuse for indiscriminate airstrikes.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese commented:

Like the Palestinians, the Lebanese know that you are lying. Like the Palestininas, the Lebanese know that Israel's leadership is as unscrupulous as eager to expand its genocidal violence to the region in order to maintain power and advance its settler-colonial agenda. Like the… https://t.co/0e8rDEIugg

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) September 23, 2024

Animated digital videos, presented as “evidence” of Hezbollah’s presence in civilian areas, that bear a strong resemblance to videos used to justify the destruction of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, have circulated online. These animated videos, lacking any independent verification, are being used to justify the destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools, with hundreds killed and thousands displaced as a result. 

Panic and displacement

As bombs rained down on Lebanon, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders through random phone messages and radio broadcasts, warning civilians to leave their homes if they were harboring Hezbollah weapons.

These haphazard warnings, combined with relentless airstrikes, have triggered mass panic and widespread displacement. Thousands of people have fled their homes, unsure of where to go as roads and villages were being bombed continuously.

Southern highway – making our way to Beirut – Israeli air strikes along to highway pic.twitter.com/NY4W7mQHGj

— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) September 23, 2024

Escalating tensions

This escalation follows a week of intense attacks on Lebanon, some of which have been described as violations of international law. The assassination of senior Hezbollah commanders in Beirut has also contributed to the escalating violence, with several civilians, including children, killed in the attack. Hezbollah responded by targeting Israeli Ramat David airbase and the Rafael military-industrial complex in northern Haifa. 

According to Al Jazeera — whose office in Ramallah was raided and closed by the Israeli army on September 22, 2024 — there have been an estimated 7800 attacks by Israel on Lebanon between October 7, 2023 and September 6, 2024, compared to 1800 strikes by Hezbollah.

Adding to the volatile situation are the inflammatory statements made by Israeli officials. Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel called for expanding illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank, and more threats of escalation coming from its highest office. Such rhetoric only fuels the fears of a broader regional conflict, with no end in sight to the violence. 

Need for accountability

The lack of international accountability for Israel’s actions in Palestine has emboldened its government to pursue increasingly aggressive military campaigns, both in Lebanon and Palestine. Despite mounting evidence of war crimes, no serious pressure has been placed on Israel to accept a ceasefire or halt its escalating behavior. This absence of real pressure to de-escalate the conflict has led many to fear that the violence will only intensify.

Calls for an immediate ceasefire have been growing, with countries around the world urging Israel to halt its military operations and allow humanitarian aid to reach affected civilians in Gaza, and Hezbollah clearly stating that its attacks will stop the moment the war on Gaza stops. However, with no clear path toward accountability the violence appears set to continue.

As Lebanon mourns its dead and the international community debates its next steps, the human toll of Israel’s bombardment becomes clearer. Entire families have been wiped out, neighborhoods destroyed, and a country left grappling with yet another devastating chapter in its long history of suffering.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot from a CCTV video circulating on social media showing the moment a device exploded in a supermarket.

In a devastating and unprecedented attack, thousands of pagers simultaneously detonated across Lebanon, resulting in thousands of injuries and the deaths of at least nine people, including 8-year-old Fatima Jaafar Abdallah. This attack has raised questions about the use of personal technology as a weapon, sparking accusations of terrorism and a dangerous escalation in the region.

The attack

While Israel has not officially claimed responsibility, Hezbollah has accused it of being behind the attack. One official added that the communication devices contained lithium batteries that appeared to have exploded due to overheating, while other reports have claimed that a shipment of pagers imported five months ago was rigged to include a small explosive charge.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from a now deleted post by his advisor Topaz Luk on X (formerly Twitter), which hinted at Tel Aviv's responsibility for the attack before it was deleted.

The Lebanese government also held Israel responsible, stating that “the Israeli aggression constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty.” The explosions killed nine people, including a young girl, and injured 2750 others — including Iran's ambassador — with about 200 critically wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Among those killed by the explosions is the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar. An additional 10 injured were reported in Syria.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah also announced 10 of its members killed, two of whom — including the son of their MP — were attributed to the pager explosions while the circumstances that killed the others remained unclear. The pager attacks come at a time when Israeli officials have recently increased their threats to escalate on their northern front.

The mass detonation of pagers, devices commonly used by Hezbollah as well as by medical professionals and emergency services, is suspected to be a highly sophisticated operation. According to SMEX, a Beirut-based digital rights organization, there are three possible explanations for how the attack was carried out:

1. Tampered devices: The pagers may have been rigged with small explosive devices during transit and remotely detonated.
2. Overheated batteries: Israeli intelligence could have exploited a vulnerability in the pagers, causing the batteries to overheat and explode.
3. Radio wave activation: A supply chain attack may have allowed the pagers to be tampered with and later activated via radio waves, potentially from a ground station or an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).

Technology and war

Pagers are used for their long battery life and their reliability in areas with poor mobile coverage. SMEX highlights their importance: “Pagers are used by doctors, nurses, and emergency services because they operate in areas where mobile phone signals are weak and are crucial for transmitting critical information.” Despite their seemingly outdated technology, pagers remain a vital tool for professionals in several fields.

However, this attack signals a new frontier in the use of everyday technology for mass harm. Commentators have expressed concern that this incident opens the door for more widespread use of such tactics, endangering civilians around the world.

Marwa Fatafta, from digital rights group Access Now, highlighted on X the connection between the Israeli intelligence community and its burgeoning cyber tech industry:

We should never underestimate the huge revolving door between the Israeli intelligence and its cyber tech industry. What starts as a state offensive capability often ends up on sale for the highest bidder. I’m sure many govs right now are viewing the incident with great interest. https://t.co/2kxahu5n6t

— Marwa Fatafta مروة فطافطة (@marwasf) September 17, 2024

Fatafta was commenting on a warning by Youssef Munayyer, a political analyst who highlighted the broader implications of this technological attack:

The apparent Israeli mass cyber attack in Lebanon that detonated cellular devices/pagers is a grave violation of international law and opens a dangerous pandoras box. Almost every human is a walking ticking bomb and it won't be long before this tech will be used by many actors

— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) September 17, 2024

Accusations of terrorism

The attack has also sparked a debate about the ethics of cyber warfare, particularly when civilians are involved. Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed mass surveillance programs, took to X to condemn the incident:

What Israel has just done is, via *any* method, reckless. They blew up countless numbers of people who were driving (meaning cars out of control), shopping (your children are in the stroller standing behind him in the checkout line), et cetera. Indistinguishable from terrorism. https://t.co/th4fYwa0jr

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 17, 2024

This sentiment was echoed by transfeminist queer artist and activist Leil-Zahra Mortada, who mourned the death of Fatima Jaafar Abdallah. In a series of tweets, they criticized media narratives that attempt to justify the attack by labeling all victims as members of Hezbollah:

Here we go with the media narrative!
Pagers are also used by doctors, nurses, ambulance & hospital staff.
Also, #Hezbollah is a political party with many institutions, from schools to hospitals to other services, which employ civilians and provide services to civilians. This is…

— Leil-Zahra Mortada (@LeilZahra) September 17, 2024

Nadim Houry, a prominent human rights advocate and director of the Arab Reform Initiative, further emphasized the indiscriminate nature of the attack:

The attack is clearly indiscriminate. Imagine if Hezbollah detonated the cell phones of israeli reservists as they went about their daily chores surrounded by families etc. Will folks be celebrating it as a brilliant targeted attack or will we be talking about terror attacks?

— Nadim Houry (@nadimhoury) September 17, 2024

A dangerous escalation

The use of personal devices for mass destruction marks a chilling development in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Lebanon increasing the risk of a regional war. This attack not only represents a serious escalation but also sets a troubling precedent for future warfare, where civilian devices could be weaponized on a large scale.

Meanwhile, international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza continue to be defied by Israel, which has been accused of ignoring numerous UN Security Council resolutions and International Court of Justice orders to stop its war on Gaza as it faces accusations of genocide.

What happened in Lebanon may only be the beginning of a more dangerous chapter in the use of technology and in the conflict, one that threatens to turn everyday tools into instruments of mass harm.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Unfinished Palestinian flag on a wall in Jerusalem. Picture by brionv via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The ongoing suppression of Palestinian voices on social media platforms has sparked significant concerns about freedom of expression and the integrity of democratic debate. Organizations like SMEX and 7amleh have been at the forefront of documenting these digital rights violations, revealing the extent to which platforms like Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram) are complicit in silencing Palestinian content.

In October 2023, a collective of human rights and civil society organizations, including Oxfam, Access Now, and others, urged “tech companies to immediately take strict measures to protect their users from harm in light of the escalating events in the region.” The collective accused platforms like Meta of consistently over-moderating Arabic content, misinterpreting it as violent, even when it merely critiques Israeli policies. Meanwhile, Hebrew content that incites violence against Palestinians frequently escapes scrutiny, exposing a glaring double standard in content moderation practices.

In a July campaign, 7amleh stated, “Meta and Facebook have not adequately protected Palestinians from hate speech in the last decade, which has manifested in millions of conversations inciting violence and genocidal rhetoric during the last nine months of the Israeli war on Gaza.”

In 2021, Human Rights Watch accused Facebook of suppressing Palestinian voices calling for more transparency in how content is evaluated and deleted. In 2022, SMEX described how social media companies, under pressure from governments, disproportionately target Palestinian narratives and how Israeli authorities often request the removal of content they find unfavorable, and platforms tend to comply without transparency or due process.

Broader implications

This issue extends beyond digital spaces, with real-world consequences. In February 2024, a coalition of human and digital rights organizations warned that Meta's policies prevent Palestinians from sharing their experiences, and hinder efforts to combat real antisemitism. The petition titled “Meta: We Need to Talk about Genocide,” and signed by over 52,000 people reads:

The powerful voices of Palestinians and allies on social media have been a lifeline during the Israeli government’s genocidal war on Gaza — and often the only way for Palestinians to tell their stories, document human rights abuses, and seek international solidarity during this time of utter horror.

As Palestinians in Gaza face plausible genocide (according to the International Court of Justice) it is disturbing that Meta is choosing this moment to consider a policy that would further silence criticism of the Israeli military, Israeli government, and Zionism by shutting down conversations involving the term “Zionist.” Meta is proposing to treat “Zionist” as a proxy for “Jew” or “Jewish” — but this won’t make any of us safer. Instead, it will undermine efforts to dismantle real antisemitism and all forms of racism and bigotry.

Palestinians should be able to name the political ideology that impacts their survival without fearing reprisals. Anti-Zionist and non-Zionist Jews should be able to criticize the ideology that claims to represent them. And human rights defenders should be able to hold the Israeli military and government accountable — now, more than ever.

This censorship has broader implications for democratic debate. As social media platforms have become modern public squares, they are essential for the exchange of ideas and the shaping of public opinion. When these platforms selectively silence certain viewpoints, they distort the democratic process and hinder the free exchange of ideas. Critics argue that this censorship not only affects Palestinians but also has a chilling effect on discussions about human rights and social justice, as activists and journalists fear repercussions and begin self-censoring.

In the case of Palestine it is also part of a larger crackdown, especially in Europe and the US, on protest and Palestine solidarity, one that has been documented by human rights organizations.

The role of tech companies

The censorship of pro-Palestinian voices on social media is more than just a localized issue; it is part of a broader problem concerning the role of digital platforms in regulating speech and shaping public discourse. As these platforms continue to grow in influence, the need for transparency and accountability in their content moderation processes becomes increasingly urgent.

The tech sector, in general, has been complicit in discriminatory policies against Palestinians for years, a trend that has intensified since the onset of the war on Gaza. Microsoft, for example, has faced criticism for its decision to block Palestinian accounts, cutting them off from crucial online services. In July 2023, the BBC reported that “Palestinians living abroad have accused Microsoft of closing their email accounts without warning — cutting them off from crucial online services.”

In response, 7amleh's campaign highlighted the impact of these actions: “By blocking its services, Microsoft is effectively cutting Palestinians off from social, professional, and financial opportunities during a time of immense suffering and devastation.” Microsoft's decision to restrict its services has further compounded digital rights violations, especially in the context of telecommunications blackouts in Gaza, which are often imposed by Israeli authorities.

The broader trend of censorship extends to other platforms as well including X (formerly Twitter) which has recently faced criticism for platforming far-right accounts and LinkedIn, typically seen as a platform for professional networking, which has been accused of censoring pro-Palestinian content, and restricting or removing accounts that advocate for Palestinian rights.

Indeed, one of the most troubling aspects of this censorship is the inconsistency in how social media platforms handle content moderation. While pro-Palestinian accounts are frequently targeted, far-right and racist content often remains visible and thrives on the same platforms.

Organizations like Access Now, 7amleh, and SMEX are leading the call for change, urging social media companies to adopt fair and transparent policies that do not disproportionately target marginalized communities, ensuring that digital spaces remain open and accessible.

The fight against censorship on social media is a fight for the future of democratic debate itself. Without a commitment to protecting free expression, the very foundations of democracy are at risk.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Photo by Issam Hajjaj, illustrated by Zena El Abdallah, used with permission.

This story was written by Issam Hani Hajjaj and originally published in Arabic by UntoldMag on August 1, 2024. It was translated into English by Walid El Houri and published on Global Voices with permission.

The reality in Gaza is more challenging than one might imagine. Two weeks ago, I drank what was supposed to be potable water. My stomach still aches from time to time, even today. The water is as potable as Gaza is livable.

A week after we were displaced from the European Hospital in Gaza to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area — an area the Israeli army touts to the world — I was awakened by the sound of a child screaming, “America is nuking Palestine!”

Although it is the Israeli occupation forces that are striking Palestine, with support from the United States, I wondered how such thoughts formed in this child’s mind. How did he come to articulate a sentence like that?

Al-Mawasi is a large area in Khan Yunis and Rafah that the Israeli occupation forces have designated as a zone for displaced citizens before they enter any governorate. The tents here are crowded together, some bearing the names of donor countries. The tents differ in shape and fabric, with some made of leather and others of different materials. The most prominent tents are from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Germany due to their size, followed by Pakistani tents known for their distinct geometric shape and fabric.

People here live in a constant state of displacement, forced to move whenever the army decides to enter a new area, each time leaving behind a trail of innocent lives.

In reality, the Mawasi area has become the most dangerous place in the Gaza Strip due to repeated bombings by the Israeli army. Countless people have been killed in an instant, for no reason other than that the army can do so.

The displacement journey begins the moment the army announces the evacuation of a place. People scramble to find vehicles to transport themselves and their belongings, and the suffering of the displaced begins with the war profiteers who demand exorbitant prices for transport. No one has a choice but to pay because survival is the priority.

You dismantle your tent, gather everything you can, and move to a new location where you can set up the tent again. Once there, you start preparing a bathroom. Water is the most important resource, so people seek locations near water sources.

After we found a place to set up our tent in the Mawasi area, specifically in Asdaa City, we bought a tent and set it up with the seller's help. The next day, we dug a circular hole two meters deep to drain the bathroom. We bought a cement base for the bathroom, extended a plastic pipe to the hole, and thus completed the construction of the ground bathroom, known as the “Arab bathroom.” It’s a small, enclosed space, measuring 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) by 1.5 meters, surrounded by cloth or tarpaulins.

Some people can build a Western-style bathroom, especially in camps supported by certain parties. However, the Arab bathroom is more suitable for displacement, as it uses less water and is healthier for the body’s posture. However, this type of bathroom is difficult for someone like my father, who has injuries to his hand and foot, which should be treated in a hospital.

My father suffers from double fractures in his left hand and right foot, both of which now contain internal plates. He has also lost his left eye, making life unbearable inside the tent under the harsh sun, which further aggravates his condition. He needs three immediate surgeries, but no one sees his suffering except us, and despite his critical condition, we have not been able to get him out of Gaza for treatment.

To create some privacy, you enclose yourself with tarpaulins, covering one side of the tent, and designate corners for the kitchen and laundry.

In Asdaa City, waste disposal is different from other areas in Gaza. People dig holes to bury their waste because garbage trucks cannot reach this place, and building a landfill is impossible here.

The tent is unbearably hot during the day and freezing cold at night. During the day, you feel like stripping off all your clothes, while at night, you shiver under your covers. The sun wakes you up in the morning, drenched in sweat, with flies buzzing around your face. Sand is everywhere — on your body, in your clothes, and even in your food.

Initially, the discomfort is overwhelming, but eventually, you adapt. In the area, there is a large well called “Al-Hawoz,” which supplies water to the entire region. People come from different areas to fill their tanks, transporting them by donkey carts and makeshift carts, or carrying the water by hand over long distances.

As for potable water, sometimes a free truck arrives, and people rush to it, fighting to get water. This is the only chance to get somewhat drinkable water without paying USD 1 for 10 liters (2.6 gallons). In this intense heat and with the pressing need for water, such a small amount is insufficient.

Many people cannot meet their daily needs and survive on whatever little is available. This situation forces people to drink regular water, which often leads to colic and diarrhea. With a lack of proper care, their situation is heartbreaking.

Read more: Israel's war on Gaza

For a family like mine, consisting of eight people, we need about USD 550 per month just for food because of the high prices. Other necessities, such as charging phones, using the internet, and countless other things, come at an additional cost. Life forces you to prioritize what is most important for you and your family according to your income, but you won’t always succeed.

Many people have lost their jobs and have turned to selling goods. Trading has become the most common profession because everything else has ceased — except for the trade of goods, and war profiteering. As dire as life in Gaza looks on screen, the reality is far more difficult than one can imagine.

Two weeks ago, I drank some water, and my stomach still hurts. The water was supposed to be potable just as Gaza is supposed to be liveable.

Written by UntoldMag

Originally published on Global Voices

Reuters armored vehicle damaged by an Israeli rocket strike on Gaza in 2006. Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, and a local journalist were injured in the attack. Two years later Shana was killed when his marked Press vehicle was hit by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza. Image by Eric Huybrechts via Flickr. CC BY-ND 2.0.

On July 31, Al Jazeera journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi were killed by Israel in the Shati refugee camp in the north of Gaza while reporting on the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyya in Iran.

The Israeli army admitted to killing al-Ghoul and al-Rifi, accusing them of being members of Al Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, and of participating in the October 7 attack. This dangerous accusation — thoroughly refuted by the channel — has been used repeatedly by the Israeli side to justify killing journalists, which risks normalizing the targeting of journalists with unfounded accusations.

Al Jazeera said that Al Ghoul, who had previously reported on the Israeli raids of Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, was detained by Israeli forces in March and released 12 hours later, disproving the claims of his affiliation with Hamas or other organizations.

Nicola Perugini, associate professor of politics and international relations at the University of Edinburgh, warned on X about using such accusations against journalists:

The Israeli military crystal clearly affirming that Gaza journalists who are documenting its annihilation war are legitimate military targets. “Nukhba” has become a synonym for killable and torturable civilians. pic.twitter.com/qfmopfcY2A

— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) August 1, 2024

A disturbing pattern

According to preliminary figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 113 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023, with three confirmed to have been targeted and 10 more under investigation. The Gaza government media office put the number at 165 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed. 

According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), “29 of [the 120 journalists reported killed by [RSF] have been killed in circumstances that point to intentional targeting, in violation of international law.” Three complaints have been filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the press freedom organization urging independent investigations of these war crimes.

The Al Jazeera Network — banned by Israel since May 2023 — has been heavily targeted, with five of its journalists killed in Gaza since the war began. Hamza al-Dahdouh, son of Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, and Moustafa Thuraya were killed in a January airstrike. The Israeli army also alleged the two men were “members of Gaza-based terrorist organizations,” which was equally refuted by the channel and others.

In February, a drone strike injured Wael al-Dahdouh and killed cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa. Wael's wife, seven-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old son were also killed in an Israeli airstrike on October 28, 2023.

“These deadly attacks on Al Jazeera personnel coincided with a defamation campaign by Israeli authorities,” according to RSF, warning that “conflating journalism with ‘terrorism’ endangers reporters and threatens the right to information.”

“The killing of al-Ghoul and al-Rifi is the latest example of the risks of documenting the war in Gaza, the deadliest conflict for journalists the organization has documented in 30 years,” Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s CEO told Al Jazeera, emphasizing that the killing of journalists by Israel has been a disturbing pattern over the past 20 years. “This appears to be part of a broader [Israeli] strategy to stifle the information coming out of Gaza,” she explained, adding that the ban on Al Jazeera from reporting in Israel is part of this trend.

Trauma and exhaustion

Since October 7, Israel has not allowed any foreign journalists to enter the Gaza strip to report on the ongoing war except if embedded with the Israeli army. This complete ban has meant that local journalists are the ones to bear the brunt of coverage at great personal risk.

The immense trauma and exhaustion experienced by these local journalists, who remain vulnerable despite taking all possible safety measures, was best expressed in a poignant quote from Al Jazeera English journalist Hind Khoudary that went viral after the killing of her colleagues.

“We do everything. We wear our press jackets. We wear our helmets. But we have been targeted in normal places where normal citizens are.”

Al Jazeera's journalist Hind Khoudary reports on the killing of her colleagues, journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifee, who… pic.twitter.com/QjRMZEWM8k

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 31, 2024

Another colleague,  Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Najwan Simri wrote in a tribute to her colleague Ismail:

بالذات إسماعيل، كان يكفي أن تنظر في عينيه، وتتأمل ملامحه، لتشعر بعمق حزن غزة وعتبها علينا.. كنت أشعر دائمًا أنه يعاتبنا بأدبٍ مفرط.. وبعشم كبير، وكأنه لم يفقد الأمل فينا للحظة.#اسماعيل_الغول pic.twitter.com/8ykT155btE

— Najwan Simri نجوان سمري (@SimriNajwan) July 31, 2024

It was enough to look into his eyes, and contemplate his features, to feel the depth of Gaza’s sadness and reproach towards us. I always felt that he reproached us with excessive politeness.. and great hope, as if he had not lost hope in us for a moment.

- Najwan Simri (@SimriNajwan) 31 July, 2024

Meanwhile, local journalists in Gaza protested and held a vigil in response to al-Ghoul’s killing expressing their outrage at the perilous conditions they navigate daily and the lack of accountability and protection. Al Jazeera Arabic staff held a silent protest live in their studio.

An emotional video of the moment Al Jazeera Arabic presenter received and shared the news of the killing of Ismail Al Ghoul and Rami Al Rifi, went viral.

Bayan Abusultan, a feminist Palestinian journalist in Gaza tweeted:

They want to silence us.
They threaten all journalists who are still in Gaza city, and the north.

Covering the news here = Being targeted by the israeli forces.

Remember to keep talking about #Gaza even if they got every last one of us.

— Bayan (@BayanPalestine) July 31, 2024

A history of impunity

Israel has a history of targeting journalists with impunity, as evidenced by the case of Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by the Israeli army while reporting in Jennin in the West Bank on May 11, 2022. Abu Akleh’s killing highlights the dangers faced by Palestinian media professionals due to a lack of accountability.

Read more: Prominent Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh shot dead by Israeli bullet to the head

Carlos Martínez de la Serna of thr CPJ criticized Israel for refusing to cooperate with the FBI and blocking potential ICC investigations into her killing, calling for an end to Israel’s impunity in journalist killings, which have only increased during the ongoing Gaza war.

Tribute to Shireen Abu Akleh in London, May 14, 2022. Image by Alisdare Hickson via Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

In 2022, Abu Akleh’s family and Al Jazeera requested the ICC to investigate her killing, but Israel's leaders, including former prime minister Yair Lapid, resisted any interrogation of IDF soldiers and declined to open a criminal investigation into the killing.

The scale of journalist killing by Israel during this war is best seen when comparing it to the global number. More than three quarters of the 99 journalists killed worldwide in 2023 were killed in the Gaza war according to the CPJ. This alarming number emphasizes the urgent need for accountability and the enhancement of protection measures for journalists everywhere, ensuring the safety and protection of all the journalists who courageously report from the front lines of conflicts.

Written by Walid El Houri

Originally published on Global Voices

Image by Arzu Geybullayeva

Much of Turkey awoke on August 2 to the news that one of the country's most popular social media sites, Instagram, had been blocked by the country's communication authority. According to the reports, the site was blocked after Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun criticized the platform for censoring condolence messages for the death of Ismail Haniyeh, a key official of Hamas — an Islamic Resistance group that governs the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Altun said:

I also strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram which is actively preventing people from posting messages of condolences for the passing of Hamas leader Haniyeh without citing any policy violations. This is censorship, pure and simple.

Turkey views Hamas as a resistance movement, rather than a terrorist organization and has long provided material support to the group and its leadership.

On July 31, Haniyeh was reportedly killed in Iran following an assassination attempt. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the killing in a strongly worded statement on X, formerly Twitter, calling it a “treacherous assassination” and “a despicable attempt to undermine the Palestinian Cause, the glorious resistance of Gaza, and the rightful struggle of our Palestinian brothers, aiming to demoralize, intimidate, and suppress them.” He also named August 2 a national day of mourning in honor of Haniyeh.

Altun accused Israel of dragging the region “into further turmoil through assassinations and covert actions intended to kill any chance of peace. The assassination against Ismail Haniyeh is the latest example of state-sponsored terrorism in blatant violation of state sovereignty of another country.”

On August 2, the day of the country-wide mourning, Turkey blocked access to Instagram. An open-source resource on internet censorship around the world, OONI Explorer, confirmed the blocking:

Screenshot of OONI Explorer confirming the blocking of Instagram in Turkey as of August 2, 2024

In response to the blocking, professor of law and expert on internet freedom issues in Turkey, Yaman Akdeniz, tweeted:

Güne Instagram platformunun erişime engellenmesi ve sansürlenmesiyle başlıyoruz. Gerekçesi milli güvenlik ve kamu düzeninin korunması. / Access to Instagram platform has been blocked from Turkey as of this morning. https://t.co/TSppZrQQ3w

— Yaman Akdeniz (@cyberrights) August 2, 2024

We are starting the day with blocked access and censorship of the platform Instagram. The grounds for the blocking are national security and public order.

Akdeniz also said the decision was “arbitrary,” adding that the decision to block the platform was likely made by the president or one of the ministries. According to existing legislation, a judgeship of the peace must approve any website blocking before it is carried out. However, no such approval was issued at the time of writing this story.

Hours after the blocking, an official who spoke to news platform Medyascope said Altun's remarks were not the real reason the platform was blocked. They claimed the decision was a long time coming, due to the platform's failure to follow state demands on numerous issues, including offenses against national security and public order, child abuse, encouraging suicide, illegal betting, and others. Turkey's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, said that even though the government had warned the platform on several occasions, it refused to comply with state demands. “We are in communication with [Instagram]. Once they comply, we will lift the ban,” said the minister in a statement on August 2.

The blocking of the popular platform led to much criticism online. Journalist Mehmet Emin Kurnaz tweeted:

Yeter artık. Bizim adımıza Heniye için yas tutar, keyfine göre Heniye için instagram kapatır, sabah Haniye, akşam Haniye diye ağlar sızlarlar. Sizi İsraille ticaretten vazgeçirmek için bile 30 takla attık, başaramadık. Gidin kimin yasını tutarsanız tutun bizi niye zorluyorsunuz.

— Mehmet Emin Kurnaz (@m_emin_kurnaz) August 2, 2024

Enough already. They mourn for Haniye in our name, shut down Instagram for Haniye as they wish, cry for Haniye in the morning and in the evening. We tried 30 times to dissuade you from doing business with Israel, but we failed. Go and mourn for whoever you want, why are you forcing us?

Writer Abdullah Naci tweeted:

ülkeyi 17 yaşındaki kanzi kafasıyla yönetiyorlar. ne devlet aklı kaldı, ne yasa, ne teamül. bir gece ansızın gelebiliriz diye atar yapıyorlar, canları sıkılınca instagram'ı kapatıp trip atıyorlar dünyaya.

— abdullah naci (@abdullahnaci) August 2, 2024

They rule the country with the mentality of a 17-year-old kanzi [a male bonobo monkey]. There is no sense of state left, no law, no custom. They threaten to enter overnight, and when they are bored, they shut down Instagram and sulk.

Naci's reference to an overnight invasion comes from President Erdoğan's recent threat to enter Israel overnight to end the conflict with Gaza on July 28 which triggered a minor diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel.

Another journalist Fatih Altayli also chimed in, writing on X that in blocking access to Instagram, the authorities had reached a “new dimension in censorship and pressure on the media.”

Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu in a live feed on X said, “Limiting access to social media platforms stifles free expression and hinders the flow of information.”

Meanwhile, President Erdoğan wished everyone a “blessed Friday on his personal Instagram account, however, the post was deleted shortly after:

Instagram'ın kapatıldığı gün Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'ın hesabından Hayırlı Cumalar storysi paylaşıldı pic.twitter.com/pwzngP2SFj

— nevsin mengu (@nevsinmengu) August 2, 2024

The day Instagram was blocked President Erdoğan shared a story from his Instagram account wishing everyone a Blessed Friday.

The BTK and its powers

In 2000, the Turkish government set up the Telecommunications Authority, “to perform the regulatory and supervision duties in the electronic communication sector.” The agency was restructured in 2008, taking on a new name: the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). It operates under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

In 2016, following the failed coup attempt, Turkey shut down the Department of Telecommunications and Communications (TİB) — Turkey’s leading internet censor — and handed all of its authority to the BTK.

TİB was set up in 2005 with the main purpose of centralizing, “the surveillance of communications and execution of interception of communications warrants.”

In the aftermath of the coup, the authorities claimed that the “TİB was used as a hub for FETÖ [The Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation] for surveillance and wiretapping purposes.”

As such, with its new powers, the BTK went from being a regulatory body to an authority with surveillance powers that included, “the authority to take any measure it deems necessary to uphold ‘national security and public order; prevent crime; protect public health and public morals; or protect the rights and freedoms’ and inform operators, access providers, data centers, hosting providers and content providers of the said measure, who then need to take action within two hours.”

The same year authorities shut down TİB, the country adopted Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data, which prohibited the processing or storage of personal data without consent from the subject. However, there were a few exceptions to the law, wherein this data could be processed and stored if it was a matter of national security. As such, the law states, in the “processing of personal data within the scope of preventive, protective, and intelligence activities carried out by public institutions and organizations duly authorized and assigned to maintain national defense, national security, public security, public order, or economic security,” the Data Protection Law shall not apply. In addition, three new decree laws allowed interception of any internet data without a court order or supervision, of individuals allegedly linked to the coup.

According to the most recent Internet Censorship report produced by the Free Web Turkey platform, “access to 219,059 URLs, including 197,907 domain names were blocked in Turkey in 2023. While the number of blocked news was 14,680, the most blocked news was about corruption and irregularities.” In addition according to the findings of the report, 5,641 social media posts and 743 social media accounts were also removed or banned.

Turkey has a long history and tradition of blocking content or throttling internet access. Most recently, on July 12, access to the storytelling platform WattPad was blocked without citing any reasons for the block. In December 2023, the BTK imposed an access ban on 16 VPN providers. Following the devastating February 2023 earthquakes, access to Twitter and TikTok was temporarily throttled. The country is ranked “not free” on the annual Freedom on the Net report published by Freedom House.

Written by Arzu Geybullayeva

Originally published on Global Voices

Image by Arzu Geybullayeva

A verbal spat between Turkey and Israel highlighted the country's complicated relationship with Israel and Palestine and drew attention to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's penchant for doublespeak.

During a speech in the province of Rize on July 28, Erdoğan said there was no reason for Turkey not to intervene in Israel's war on Gaza, just like it has done in Karabakh and Libya. The president did not elaborate on what this intervention would look like. 

The remarks triggered an exchange that started with Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, comparing Erdoğan to Saddam Hussain in a post on X, writing, “Erdoğan follows in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein and threatens to attack Israel. Just let him remember what happened there and how it ended.” The Minister was referring to Saddam Hussain's capture and eventual execution.

Katz also urged NATO to expel Turkey following Erdoğan's remarks. An opposition figure Yair Lapid also joined the fray, calling on the world and NATO to “strongly condemn [Erdoğan's] outrageous threats against Israel and force him to end his support for Hamas,” adding that Israel “won’t accept threats from a wannabe dictator.”

There were no statements from NATO or any of its members at the time of writing this story, with the exception of a bipartisan group of US lawmakers who denounced Erdoğan's threats.

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on X, comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, “Just as genocidal Hitler ended, so will genocidal Netanyahu. Just as the genocidal Nazis were held accountable, so will those who try to destroy the Palestinians.”

Turkey's public broadcaster TRT took it a step further in a tweet:

“Soykırımcı Hitler’in sonu nasıl olduysa, soykırımcı Netanyahu’nun sonu da öyle olacak.” pic.twitter.com/iF9QxX8Oke

— TRT HABER (@trthaber) July 30, 2024

“Just as genocidal Hitler ended, so will genocidal Netanyahu” The murderer of millions, Hitler, drank cyanide and then shot himself after losing Berlin. Just as genocidal Hitler ended, so will genocidal Netanyahu.

The Directorate of Communication also tweeted, “They have committed an atrocity that will outshine Hitler, the most cursed figure of the last century. Gaza has become the world's largest extermination camp today.”

Since October 2023, Turkey went from trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas to recalling its ambassador to Tel Aviv and announcing total restrictions on all trade with Israel until the war on Gaza ends. But a recent investigation by Turkish journalist Metin Cihan showed how Turkey has continued to steadily supply oil to Israel via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline — a gas pipeline that carries Azerbaijani oil through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean ports, where it is then shipped around the world, including Israel.

Turkey continued to maintain the flow despite calls to halt the supply of Azerbaijani oil exports to Israel (Turkey did restrict the sale of certain goods to Israel in April and announced its decision to cease all trade ties with Israel in May 2024). Reportedly, the sale of Azerbaijani oil to Israel increased by 23 percent between January to April 2024, compared to the indicators from 2023.

Using data from BOTAS — Turkey's state-owned oil and gas company which operates Turkey's section of the BTC — Cihan wrote how millions of barrels of oil are shipped from Ceyhan on a monthly basis. “We don't know how much of it goes to Israel,” wrote Cihan on X. “According to our Minister of Energy, we do not have influence nor authority over where oil is shipped. The oil is sold by Azerbaijan. We simply get our share,” explained Cihan.

In his following tweets, Cihan wrote that after looking into relevant agreements, Turkey cannot sanction this trade route given the existing agreements. “According to an agreement with British Petroleum (BP) we would pay compensation to the company in case of a delay of petroleum for any given reason,” explained Cihan. “According to the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline agreement [Turkey] signed we are obligated to continue supply oil even at times of war or terrorism. This trade is considered superior even to human rights and state sovereignty. In exchange, we receive a share of 80 cents per barrel of oil loaded onto tankers from Ceyhan,” added Cihan.

Due to this agreement, Erdoğan's statement was viewed in Turkey as nothing but an empty threat. In a tweet, veteran journalist, Amberin Zaman wrote, “If Erdoğan meant any of it he would start off by halting Azerbaijani oil sales to Israel which go through Turkish ports.”

President Erdoğan has made empty provocative statements before. On two occasions in 2022, he said Turkey could invade Greece overnight.

Turkey also took a U-turn in the Gulf Diplomatic Crisis. During the crisis, Turkey backed Qatar while Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt severed their ties with Qatar. After openly supporting Qatar in the conflict, Turkey's relations with Saudia Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt took a chilly turn. However, once the crisis ended, Erdoğon changed his tune on these countries and relations improved dramatically.

In the case of Egypt, relations between the two countries soured after former president Mohammed Morsi was ousted in a military-backed uprising in 2013. Morsi was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had ties with the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP). But in 2022 during the opening of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the infamous handshake between President Erdoğan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signaled that changes were afoot.

Brushing aside past name-calling and accusations, the Turkish and Egyptian presidents shared an enthusiastic handshake on the sidelines of Qatar's World Cup and followed it with claims of a “new era” in ties. (by @NazlanEr) https://t.co/Hi9obw01N8

— Al-Monitor (@AlMonitor) November 23, 2022

In January 2024, Erdoğan traveled to Cairo where he signed several agreements with al-Sisi.

On the United Arab Emirates front, the ties between the two countries showed signs of thawing in 2022, when the UAE expressed interest in purchasing Turkey's Bayraktar drones. After Erdoğan's victory in the May 2023 election, the two countries signed a five-year trade agreement.

But the recent strongly worded statement from the President should not go unnoticed, warned Sinan Ciddi and Sophia Epley in a recent policy brief for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington DC-based research institute. The authors wrote:

Erdoğan often threatens other countries to bolster political support from his nationalist and Islamist base. Neither the United States nor its NATO allies should ignore Erdoğan. President Joe Biden in concert with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg should demand a de-escalatory statement and corrective language from Erdoğan.

There is also the matter of domestic audience as Gonul Tol, the director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey program explained in an interview with Al-Monitor, “The tough rhetoric against Israel is his attempt at keeping his most conservative supporters from defecting to New Welfare and to maintain his image as ‘a tough guy who stands up to Israel.”

According to a survey by the Turkish Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research (SETA), which is known for its close ties to the ruling party, in 2024, an overwhelming 83 percent of the respondents expressed support for Palestine. In October of last year, hundreds of thousands of Turks attended a pro-Palestine rally waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.

Erdoğan's statement also stirred some international controversy, especially with his reference to Karabakh — a formerly disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which Azerbaijan reclaimed control over last year. Turkish troops were not directly involved in the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 but the country did provide operational and political support “by supplying arms and conducting joint military drills during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.” Naturally, the president's remarks about “entering Karabakh” raised eyebrows as both Turkey and Azerbaijan denied direct involvement of foreign troops during the war and after. In response to a media inquiry, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense called the statement untrue.

Written by Arzu Geybullayeva

Originally published on Global Voices

Around 70 individuals marched towards Singapore's presidential palace to deliver a letter urging the government to cut ties with Israel. Participants carried “watermelon” umbrellas whose colors reflect the Palestinian flag. Photo from the Facebook post of Ng Yi-Sheng. Used with permission.

On February 2, around 70 people marched toward the presidential palace of Singapore and delivered a letter urging the government to cut ties with Israel over the continuing attacks on the people of Palestine in Gaza. On June 27, the police filed charges against three women for allegedly organizing the event without securing a permit.

The three women — Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, and Mossammad Sobikun Nahar — were charged with organizing a procession in a prohibited area, an offense under the Public Order Act. Other participants could also face prosecution.

The police issued a statement advising the public to refrain from emulating protesters in other countries.

We understand that some people may feel strongly about the Israel-Hamas conflict, but they should not break the law to express their views, nor emulate the protestors in other countries. They could instead participate in the many forums and dialogues, and donation drives, which have been appropriately organised on the issue.

Transformative Justice Collective, the organization of one of the accused, Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, bemoaned that “the government has chosen to respond vindictively with criminal sanction.” It added:

Such sanctions levelled against the three are also a continuation of the intimidation of peaceful support for Palestinian lives in Singapore.

Our freedom to stand in solidarity with others, to call for action where injustice is seen, to act according to moral principles and not on the government’s permission, are fundamental to a healthy and flourishing democratic society.

We call for the charges to be withdrawn and for an end to all other investigations into, and intimidation of, peaceful action for Palestine.

The opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was quick to denounce the filing of charges against the young activists.

The petitioners walked in an orderly and peaceful manner to deliver a letter. How much more respectful could they have been? Even then, the Government saw it fit to crush the spirit of these young and conscientious Singaporeans.

Without the freedom to speak and think freely, Singapore will be mired firmly in the past. At a time when our nation needs to develop into a mature and sophisticated society, prosecuting our citizens for exercising their basic rights is myopic, unenlightened, and counter-productive.

However, the Singapore government clarified that the three women were charged because they illegally assembled — not because they expressed support for Palestinians.

They were not charged for organising support for the Palestinian people. Organising support for the Palestinian Cause is not a criminal offence. The Government itself has organised many events in support of the Palestinian Cause.

It also reminded citizens to uphold the stability and social harmony in Singapore.

We would like to urge members of the public not to engage in activities that will damage the peace, public order and social harmony which Singaporeans have worked hard to achieve, and enjoy today. We should not deliberately break the law, even if to make a point. If we do so, eventually, we will become a lawless, unstable, and disorderly society.

The government imposed a “false information” notice on the post of SDP by citing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). SDP responded by asserting the Constitutional right of citizens to free speech. It insisted that “given the peaceful and constructive nature of the procession, prosecution was unwarranted.”

Singaporeans, young and old, must view the present action with grave concern. We must not allow the [People’s Action Party or PAP] to remove our rights that give meaning to our citizenship. The use of POFMA to silence its critics makes being a Singapore citizen even more meaningless.

The simple act of Singaporeans peacefully delivering a letter to the President’s office must be respected and protected.

Writer Kirsten Han criticized the actions of the ruling party.

I don’t think the PAP government fully appreciate how strongly many Singaporeans—especially young Singaporeans—feel about what’s happening to Palestinians right now, and how upset and disgusted they are about Singapore’s connection to this violence.

…the more the police open pointless and pedantic investigations into events and actions that only attract state intervention because of overly broad, rights-violating legislation, the more they normalise the notion of getting questioned by the police.

Singapore Youth for Peace expressed solidarity with the pro-Palestine activists.

For if Palestine is a litmus test for the world's humanity, it is also a test of Singapore's principles. And the first indicator of whether we have passed this test is the way we treat our activists and civil society. For what crimes have the trio committed that could warrant a court appearance?

If found guilty, the three women could be fined up to SGD 10,000 (USD 7,300 ) or jailed for up to six months. Various individuals and groups outside Singapore expressed their support to the activists.

The Singapore government claims that it is neutral on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It has joint programs with Israel but it also voted in favor of UN resolutions calling for the protection of civilians in Gaza.

Written by Mong Palatino

Originally published on Global Voices

No internet in Gaza. Screenshot from a video “Can Starlink Provide Internet To Gaza?” by Interesting Engineering. Fair use.

When the combination of big tech and politics failed the Palestinian people by overlooking the internet disruptions affecting Gaza, grassroots technology known as the “network tree” came to the rescue. Utilizing the humblest of elements such as buckets, smartphones, and e-SIMs, this ingeniously simple technology provided much-needed connectivity to a community fragmented by war, in the face of severely damaged infrastructure.

Since the war on Gaza began in the aftermath of October 7, the telecommunications infrastructure has been severely damaged, along with critical sectors like education, healthcare, and more. Telecommunications disruption in Gaza has significantly hindered daily interactions and vital operations. Repeated blackouts have intensified Gazzawis isolation. According to the UNRWA’s June 5, 2024 report, it is becoming “increasingly difficult to communicate with humanitarian personnel on the ground.”

This is further exacerbated by direct attacks on civilians attempting to access the internet. According to a report by Euromed Monitor dated May 16, 2024: “The Israeli army continues to repeatedly target and kill Palestinian civilians, including journalists, as they attempt to access communications and Internet services to reach their families or employers.”

Communication disruption has caught the attention of international figures like the acclaimed director Manolo Luppichini. Since 1994, Luppichini has directed several projects, gaining numerous awards. In an April 16, 2024, interview over Zoom with Global Voices, he discussed his recent trip to Rafah aimed at improving internet access, his commitment to the Palestinian cause, and the challenges he faces:

Rafah is just the latest beat in my 25-year closeness and care about the Palestinian issue. I believe if we neglect international issues, particularly those involving war, we fail to see the full picture and are heading rapidly towards a permanent global war. 

The Palestinian problem is just the tip of the iceberg, a very visible and significant issue. Just look at what's happening in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, among other countries. The language of war has been subtly yet consistently injected into our global narrative over the last 20 years. 

As a filmmaker I traveled to Gaza to make documentaries, so I had the chance to talk to people. I have shared experiences with Gazzawis, who are like brothers to me. It's also quite frightening because during our chats, there's this sense that it might be the last time we speak. It's truly heartbreaking.

Reflecting on the limited impact of filmmaking for social change in the face of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza despite widespread exposure, Luppichini decided to move beyond raising awareness to actively participate in finding solutions with tangible impact:

Lately, I've felt the need to become more involved. Showing films often doesn't lead to change; people watch them, but then, nothing happens. So, I thought that “putting my hand in the metal” and creating something with a direct impact would be more useful.

I have released very powerful videos, I naively thought that my communications could improve the situation. Bullshit, no one cared, nothing changed at all.

This decision drove Luppichini to go to Rafah, where he felt a moral outrage at the apparent disregard for human life.   

I was in Egyptian Rafah. We couldn't see much, but could smell the war on the other side of the wall. The situation is beyond shameful; having people starve on one side, while the food, water, and medicine is rotting in the heat of the desert in the trucks on the other side.

In Italy, we have a saying: “You shouldn’t shoot at the Red Cross.” It means that some actions are despicable. But now, hospitals are being targeted and people are buried under their ruins in broad daylight, yet, there is no international reaction.

I am shocked, because anyone can claim to have moral authority, but on which moral authority is the USA standing? What is happening is Gaza is making us vulnerable to any consequence. This indifference will enable the worst assholes. Forgive my language!

Communication barriers in Gaza hinder information flow, worsened by a global narrative shaped by colonialism-influenced mainstream media. This narrative often misrepresents the situation on the ground and undermines Gazzawi voices, presenting a skewed perspective.

 It is incredibly frustrating dealing with communication blockades, especially for those who understand the reality on the ground. We can’t communicate with our brothers and sisters there. 

Back in 2009, while in Gaza, I found myself picking up bomb fragments, analyzing the types of metals used. I had not heard of Dense Inter Metal Explosives (DIME) bombs then, the ones designed to cut the legs. While filming there, I've been shot at several times. 

This firsthand experience amplifies my frustration when Western journalists say that they need to go and tell the story in Gaza, as if Gazans can't tell their own stories or share real-time information. This colonialist approach makes me question why patronizing Westerners need to narrate Gaza’s experience instead of recognizing the voices from within? It's a very strange way to interpret press freedom.

Luppichinic decided to tackle the communication problem in Rafah by collaborating with old comrades, who are committed to leveraging their technical skills and experience with early digital activism. They wanted to use grassroots technology to reclaim power in the oppressive situation in Gaza. 

I'm part of this group of elderly but active people — you might remember from the media back around the Seattle anti-globalization movement in 1999–2000 and the Indymedia network.

This group of nerds managed to create a community on the internet way before social media platforms were established. So, we began to explore ways to overcome the Israeli blockade of the internet.

Their journey entailed significant challenges related to logistical and bureaucratic obstacles in delivering essential supplies to Gaza.

It was a complete mess. We explored several options, but they all turned out to be disastrous because everything was either expensive or required lengthy permissions from the Egyptian government. It is impossible to import anything through the border. 

We were in the warehouse, where the rejected items were stored. It was an incredible scene with items like, solar panels, baby incubators, and oxygen cylinders for hospitals, all rejected. The policy was absurd — if they found even one prohibited item in a truck, they would reject the entire truck, even if everything else was permissible. This made it incredibly difficult to get technical equipment through.

The ‘Network of Web Trees’

Luppicchini partnered with the Associazione di Cooperazione e Solidarietà (ACS), an Italian NGO focused on emergency and sustainable development in global majority countries in collaboration with local communities.

ACS developed the “Network of Web Trees,”a system using the latest generation mobile phones equipped with eSIM technology — virtual SIM cards activated by a code to function as traditional SIM cards. This system, set up as Wi-Fi hotspots that could transmit radio signals across the border, supports up to 50 additional devices, allowing connections to Egyptian or Israeli cellular networks without the need for modern phones. The Web-Trees are grown by local ‘Web-Gardeners.’ 

We sent the Web-Gardeners money and they managed to buy these items on Gaza's black market. Our technical team outside Gaza worked with the Web-Gardeners inside Gaza, exchanging photos and messages for feedback. It was a collaboration between people from Italy and Gaza.

They found the necessary tools, and we sent them the QR codes via WhatsApp to activate the eSIMs. 

Then it magically worked. We were so happy, we were crying. It was so sweet.

However, even the simplest solutions can be dangerous in Gaza.

Ali's “bucket” has become emblematic of how igneous Gazzawi people can be. Photo by  Associazione di Cooperazione e Solidarietà ACS. Used with permission.

Open areas near beaches typically have clear reception without obstacles. However, in other regions, to catch a signal from across the border, people have to climb to higher positions like rooftops. This can be dangerous because those bloody drones target anyone they detect.

Ali, the most experienced in the Web-Gardeners team came up with a very funny solution that has become emblematic of how igneous Gazzawi people can be. He created what he calls “the bucket.” Essentially, they place the mobile phone with a power bank inside a bucket and attach it to a pole and raise it like a flag using a rope. This setup allows the phone to connect to and spread the signal from a safer, elevated position without anyone having to physically be up high.

Despite the simplicity of the grassroots communications network, it has been crucial for civilians, who are the real victims of the communication disruptions.

The real impact of internet disruptions is felt by ordinary Gazzawis. They are left without knowledge of what's happening with their neighbors or relatives, potentially just 500 meters away, due to movement restrictions or the risk of being shot.

This grassroots movement is Luppichini and his team’s effort not only to maintain critical social bonds, but also serves as a form of resistance against cultural genocide.

This is simply a grassroots operation that not only connects people to the outside world but also connects people within the community itself. This connection is crucial for maintaining community bonds. It is also one solution in the face of global double standards that mobilized solutions in Ukraine, but failed to do so in Gaza.

Genocide involves not only physical destruction but also cultural erasure, disconnecting people from their cultural and physical references. Thus, keeping Palestinians in Gaza connected among themselves is crucial to combating the ongoing genocide. 

Written by Mariam A.

Originally published on Global Voices

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a meeting of the Russia High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council. Photo from the website of the President of the Russian Federation (CC ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL).

While hypocrisy is nothing new in global politics, Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan takes the practice to soaring new heights. He is a seasoned hypocrite, causing irreparable reputational damage to himself, and Turkey’s interests.

Erdoğan’s stance on the Gaza war is demonstrative of the pot calling the kettle black. He wants the world to believe he is the champion and protector of Palestinians. From his perspective, Gazans are being killed by a “spoiled” and “aggressive” Israeli war machine that is enabled by Western powers, particularly the United States. His supposed principled stance to stop Jerusalem from prosecuting its war against Hamas is based on three pillars: the refusal by Ankara to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization and to provide material support to it, and its leadership. As far as he’s concerned, Hamas is a resistance movement, struggling to liberate stolen lands from Palestinians by Jewish occupiers. Ankara also delivers the most aid to Gazans, coming in first among all nations shipping vital supplies to civilians caught up in the war against Hamas. Finally, Turkey inserted itself into legal proceedings against Israel. Turkey declared its intention to join a lawsuit, filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. 

Given that Erdoğan is president of a Muslim-majority country, which is overwhelmingly critical of Israel’s actions against Hamas in Gaza, one could be forgiven for thinking that Erdoğan is simply echoing the sentiments of his people. Especially throughout the Muslim world, Erdoğan wants people to know that Turkey is the loudest condemner of Israel’s actions, while many Arab states — especially those which are signatories of the Abraham Accords, have chosen to remain quiet. He employed a similar tactic against the ousting of Egypt’s Mohammad Morsi in 2013 by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, by calling upon world audiences to reject the forceful deposition of a democratically elected leader.

Erdogan’s entire stance is a façade, built on lies and hypocrisy. If Erdoğan believed Israel to be the “terror” state he accuses it of being, committing genocide which even “Hitler would have been jealous of,” why would Ankara continue business ties? Since October 7, trade with Israel has been a top issue that has sharpened criticism against Erdogan at home. With a total bilateral trade volume of USD 5.7 billion in 2023, Turkey has been a top exporter of goods to Israel. This figure is even more important when one considers Ankara to be among the top suppliers of strategic goods vital to Israel’s defense industry. Exports include USD 1.2 billion in steel and USD 563 million worth of vehicles. Additionally, Turkey continued to sell other vital materials, including everything from explosives, and concrete to thermal underwear worn by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Many political elites with business interests in Israel and close to Erdogan, including former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and Erdoğan’s own son, are profiteers from continued business with Israel. 

The escalation of the war against Hamas coincided with Turkey’s local elections on March 31. The country’s political opposition exposed Erdoğan’s weak underbelly and exploited it to devastating effect. The Islamist New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah-WP), led by Fatih Erbakan, appealed to conservative constituents who ordinarily voted for Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). Erbakan cornered Erdogan, by directly exposing his ongoing business ties with Israel. Supported by fiery speeches and journalists’ disclosures of trade statistics, Erbakan did not land any big victories, but he may have helped divert 7 percent of the vote from the AKP, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) clobbered the AKP nationwide. A lot of the dissatisfied voters likely punished Erdoğan for his bad stewardship of the economy, plagued by high inflation and high consumer prices. However, there is little doubt that pious voters are seriously disaffected with the AKP.   

It took losing the March local elections for  Erdoğan to get serious about cutting trade ties with the Jewish state, although speculation is rife that goods are still being shipped from Turkey to Israel, by way of third countries. To regain credibility with constituents, on April 9, Ankara announced trade restrictions against Israel, covering 54 categories of products, including iron, steel, cement, aluminum, and construction equipment. On May 2, Erdoğan announced the total suspension of trade with Israel “until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

These moves by Erdoğan signal two things: that Erdoğan and his cronies have been motivated more by greed than principle, and that his U-turn to punish Israel may backfire. The Israeli government likely has recourse to take Turkey to court for breaking existing contractual obligations. Already, U.S. members of Congress got the ball rolling by signing and sending a bipartisan letter to the Biden administration, calling upon the White House to “invoke antiboycott provisions under the Export Control Reform Act.” If the Turkish trade restrictions are enforced, then many Turkish firms engaged in business with Israel are likely to be hit with significant revenue losses.

This whole saga furthers the damage that Erdoğan’s greed-fueled hypocrisy is doing to Turkey’s international reputation. Turkey’s European allies are watching in bewilderment. In two recent yet separate meetings, one with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (November 2023) and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (May 2024), Erdoğan publicly admonished two allies that consider Hamas a terrorist organization. During a live press conference, Erdogan rebuked Germany’s support of Israel, remarking, “We [Turkey] do not owe Israel anything” — a clear reference to Germany’s Nazi past. Given Ankara’s dealings with Israel, public displays that feign moral outrage towards other states fall upon deaf ears, and nobody takes Turkey seriously. 

While the decision to champion Hamas may be a personal choice for Erdoğan, broadly representative of the views of Muslims around the world, he overlooks one important point. Turkey is not just a Muslim country. It is a NATO member and a candidate country to join the European Union (EU). Turkey is the only country in NATO and aspiring member of the EU to vocally champion Hamas. This is different from being critical of Israel. There are far better avenues to be critical of a country’s policies, without being glaringly hypocritical. It appears that this thought did not cross Erdoğan’s mind. 

Written by Sinan Ciddi