Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; feature) – On August 2, Turkey blocked Instagram, the country’s most popular social network. Although Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) did not officially state the reason for the ban, the move came after Fahrettin Altun, the Presidential Communications Director, criticized Instagram for preventing users from sharing content related […]
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Human Rights
Gaza war: 75 years after signing of the Geneva Conventions, Israel’s deadly attack on a Palestinian school shows their limitations
By Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, University of Bristol | – (The Conversation) – Gaza is reeling after a missile strike launched by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted a building and mosque within a school complex in Gaza City on August 10. The Israeli military said the school was operating as a Hamas command and control post, but […]
Gaza confronting Israeli-created Famine as Kerem Shalom Food Aid Trucks drop 80% to 24 Trucks a Day
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Although the United Nations has not officially declared a famine in Gaza, people living there are in no doubt about it. The New Humanitarian quotes Diana Harrara, a 33-year-old mother of three in Gaza: “No word better describes what we’re experiencing than ‘famine.’ Firstly, we have nothing to eat but […]
The Geneva Conventions at 75: do the laws of war still have a fighting chance in today’s bloody world?
By Marnie Lloydd,New Zealand Centre for Public Law and Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington | – (The Conversation) – It has been 75 years since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions on August 12 1949. In theory, these rules of war are universally agreed by every nation. In practice, they are routinely […]
Covering Gaza: The deadliest War for Journalists
Written byWalid El Houri ( Globalvoices.org ) – 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 […]
On the Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Carbon Colonialism yet Reigns
By Aviva Chomsky ( Tomdispatch.com ) – On August 9, 2001, in Colombia, riot police and private security forces from the Cerrejón coal mine — one of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world — surrounded the remote community of Tabaco. They then dragged residents out of their homes and bulldozed what remained of […]
B’Tselem accuses Israeli Authorities of Systematically Torturing Thousands of Palestinian Prisoners
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The brave and meticulous Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has issued a report aptly entitled “Welcome to Hell” on the functioning of the Israeli prison system, in which it concludes that Israeli authorities are now routinely using torture on Palestinian prisoners. This violence, B’Tselem showed, is part of Israel’s longstanding […]
Assassination is always unlawful – Regardless of who is Killed and on whose Orders
By Mary Ellen O’Connell, University of Notre Dame | – (The Conversation) – >Assassination is a particular form of murder. Regardless of who carries out the act, on whose orders or why, it is always unlawful. This is the reason Vadim Krasikov was languishing behind bars in Germany prior to being released on Aug. 1, […]
Israeli Lawmakers try to Block Torture Prosecutions
By Bill Van Esveld, Associate Director, MENA, Children’s Rights Division | – A standoff at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base this week has thrown longstanding abuses against Palestinian detainees and the Israeli military’s history of impunity for torture into stark relief. On July 29, Israeli military police arrested nine Israeli soldiers at the base on […]