New Accounts Of Torture In Israeli Detention

Plus: A New Film Examines Dehumanization In Israeli Society // U.S. Republicans Relish Talk Of Bloodshed

Since I last published this newsletter, two weeks ago, Gaza authorities say 500 additional people have been killed in the Strip, bringing the toll since Oct. 7 to 38,098. 

Other extremely disturbing trends continue as well, including additional reports of torture from Palestinians who were held in Israeli custody. One comes from Dr. Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, who was recently released after seven months in Israeli captivity without charges. “We were subjected to extreme torture,” Dr. Abu Salmiya said, according to The New York Times account from a news conference. Per the Times, Salmiya “said he had been beaten over the head repeatedly and that his finger had been broken.” 

Similarly, the lawyer Khaled Mahajneh last month visited the Sde Teiman detention center, the Israeli military base at which more than 4,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel since Oct. 7. Mahajneh was working on behalf of Al Araby TV, seeking information about Muhammad Arab, a reporter for the network who was detained there, also apparently without charges.

“The situation there is more horrific than anything we’ve heard about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo,” Mahajneh said, 972 Mag and Local Call reported. The report continues: 

• Soldiers dragged out the detained journalist with his arms and legs tied, while Mahajneh remained behind a barrier. After soldiers removed his blindfold, Arab rubbed his eyes for five minutes, unaccustomed to the bright light. “Where am I?” was the first question he asked Mahajneh. Most Palestinians at Sde Teiman do not even know where they are being held; with at least 35 detainees having died in unknown circumstances since the war began, many simply call it “the death camp.” [...] Mahajneh told +972 that Arab was nearly unrecognizable after 100 days in the detention facility; his face, hair, and skin color had changed, and he was covered with dirt and pigeon droppings. The journalist had not been given new clothes for nearly two months, and was only allowed to change his pants for the first time that day because of the lawyer’s visit. According to Arab, detainees are continually blindfolded and tied up with their hands behind their backs, forced to sleep hunched over on the floor without any bedding. Their iron handcuffs are removed only during a weekly, minute-long shower. “But the prisoners began refusing to shower because they don’t have watches, and going beyond the allotted minute exposes prisoners to severe punishments, including hours outside in the heat or rain,” Mahajneh said. All detainees, Mahajneh noted, face deteriorating health conditions due to the poor quality of the daily prison diet: a small amount of labaneh and a piece of cucumber or tomato. They also suffer from severe constipation, and for every 100 prisoners, only one roll of toilet paper is provided per day. “The prisoners are prevented from talking to each other, even though more than 100 people are kept to a warehouse, some of them elderly and minors,” Mahajneh told +972. “They are not allowed to pray or even read the Qur’an.” Arab also testified to his lawyer that Israeli guards sexually assaulted six prisoners with a stick in front of the other detainees after they had violated prison orders. “When he talked about rapes, I asked him, ‘Muhammad, you’re a journalist, are you sure about this?’” Mahajneh recounted. “But he said he saw it with his own eyes, and that what he was telling me was only a small part of what was happening there.”

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right extremist national security minister, wrote in a tweet this past week (this is a Google translation):

• “Since I assumed the position of Minister of National Security, one of the highest goals I have set for myself is to worsen the conditions of the terrorists in the prisons, and to reduce their rights to the minimum required by law. This is what I committed to my voters and the people of Israel back in the elections, when I announced that I would claim the position [...] I have already proposed a much simpler solution, of enacting the death penalty for terrorists, which would solve the overcrowding issue.”

U.S. Republicans Relish Talk Of Bloodshed

This is an extremely troubling trend and, obviously, it’s been going on for years. Nonetheless two recent instances stand out. 

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said during a recent interview. 

The Heritage Foundation is the primary group behind Project 2025 – the agenda-in-waiting for Trump’s second term, if he wins one – as well as the primary grantee behind an effort to create a blacklist of government employees who may stand in the way of Trump’s plans. (Roberts’ comments came soon after the conservative majority on the Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.) 

And in North Carolina, the GOP nominee for governor was similarly frank: “Some folks need killing!” said Mark Robinson, the nominee, The New Republic reported. “It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity!”

What I’m Watching

In last week’s newsletter, I mentioned the upcoming release of “Israel's Reel Extremism,” a new, roughly 40-minute documentary from Mehdi Hasan’s journalism enterprise Zeteo. A few days later, a production assistant at Zeteo reached out and invited me to watch a screening of the film at Angelika Film Center.

I’m glad I went, the documentary shook me to my core. The film features interviews with Israeli soldiers who openly defend, and even celebrate, the dehumanization of Palestinians – through social media videos featuring soldiers wearing abandoned Palestinian lingerie, or joking about destroyed schools, or presenting a faux kitchen remodeling show in a bombed out home. 

It’s a haunting collage of Israeli society right now, and even more so because the Israeli cheerleaders who promote these obscene videos – TV hosts, right-wing politicians and activists, smiling on camera as they describe the content – seem to share something in common with other far-right nationalist parties around the world, that is, a sort of mocking acknowledgement that they are operating outside the realm of accountability. 

I would recommend watching the film when you can. 

What I’ve Written

HuffPost, “Arizona GOP Official Said She’d ‘Lynch’ Election Official” (June 25, 2024)

HuffPost, “RFK Jr. Has A Big Problem With Consistency — Will His Voters Care?” (June 26, 2024) 

HuffPost, “Trump Stood Up For Jan. 6 Rioters — Once Again” (June 28, 2024)

What I’m Reading 

WaPo, “The AI deepfake apocalypse is here. These are the ideas for fighting it.” (April 5, 2024)

Forever Wars, “Netanyahu, As Predicted, Humiliates Biden” (June 24, 2024)

In March, HuffPost and other outlets reported on musicians boycotting South by Southwest (SXSW) due to the event's financial ties to the U.S. Army and weapons makers. Late last month, SXSW announced that "the US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025."

YouGov, “Who wins on policy? American support for Biden's and Trump’s proposals” (June 26, 2024)

HuffPost, “Palestinian Lives Were Invisible To Both Donald Trump And Joe Biden In The First Debate” (June 28, 2024)

HuffPost, “Washington Moves Trans Woman Back To Men’s Prison In Unprecedented Act” (Jun 28, 2024)

HuffPost, “Evangelical Christians Are Throwing Their Support Behind Israel. They’re Partly Driven By Antisemitism.” (June 30, 2024)

Associated Press, “Israel turbocharges West Bank settlement expansion with largest land grab in decades” (July 3, 2024)

HuffPost, “Trump Claims To Know Nothing About Far-Right Plan Pushed By His Own Aides” (July 5, 2024)

What I’m Listening To

Iceblink, Carpet Cocoon (2020)