What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Palestine? Part 7: Impunity

I’ve covered this topic before but it’s time to put it at the very centre of my episode: Israel’s impunity.

Gaza might not be bombed anymore yet so much remains. The blockade, the occupation with all of its mechanisms, apartheid, and so many questions.

One of these questions sounds simple but is so important to ask:

Who can hold Israel accountable?

And if the answer is ‘no one’, we have to talk about impunity.

In this episode, I summarise several thematic areas where we find that impunity in Israel and Palestine (the recent bombing of Gaza being just one of them), I point to the lack of accountability in the past, I ask which organisations would have any power here, and remind us why this topic is such a big one.

I’ve added all of my references just below the episode link itself and here are the two embedded videos that I mentioned in it:

WATCH: The owner of al-Jalaa tower pleads with an Israeli officer on live TV to let journalists collect their gear before he bombs it.

Moments later, Israeli air strikes demolish the #Gaza building that housed several international media offices used by AlJazeera and MEE pic.twitter.com/a5PRzQNOkC

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 15, 2021

As you can see, they both exemplify recent attacks on journalists by the Israeli military.

This Palestinian journalist smiled after being told "keep your head up" while being arrested by Israeli forces.

Zeina Al-Halawani and fellow journalist Wahbi Makiya were arrested while covering events in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/mEWkbVdfeL

— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 1, 2021

Give it a listen. Join the debate.

Well, it’s not really a debate when it comes to daily humiliation, military occupation, and war crimes. But you know what I mean.

References:

• Israeli strike destroys Gaza tower housing media organisations by The Guardian
• Eleven children receiving NRC trauma care killed in their homes by Israeli air strikes by the Norwegian Refugee Council
• 67 Palestinian children killed in Gaza as missing toddler’s body is located in rubble by Defense for Children International – Palestine
• Israeli forces kill 17-year-old Palestinian in Arroub refugee camp by Defense for Children International – Palestine
• Israel by Reporters Without Borders
• Israel now holding 13 Palestinian journalists by Reporters Without Borders
• Israel bombs additional building housing media office in Gaza; Israeli security forces assault Palestinian journalist in East Jerusalem by Committee to Protect Journalists
• UN Rights Council votes to launch Gaza probe by Deutsche Welle
• State-Backed Settler Violence by Btselem
• Netanyahu to Lod police: ‘You will receive support, do not be afraid’ by Jerusalem Post
• UN highlights rise in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians by Al Jazeera
  

Added on June 21, 2022:
Here’s an excellent article by Gideon Levy on impunity as an unchanging Israeli state policy.

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