Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Just another news item “ And large areas looked like Stalingrad after the Second World War.” —  Jan Egeland,  the head of aid organisation Norwegian Refugee Council Comparing Gaza destruction to Stalingrad? This a vase for the German regime to protest against the UN? How dare you compare the destruction of Gaza to Stalingrad, especially that we are helping the Israeli army in this destruction? The UK paper The Telegraph, echoing Madeleine Albright, would say that ‘the price is worth it.”

Just another news item USAid officials meet Israeli counterparts at Sde Teiman base , where detainees say abuse runs rampant

“ By broadening who and what constitutes a military target, mass killings take place under the guise of legal and strategic necessity. Arguably, the fastest way to turn civilians into combatants and civilian infrastructure, such as bakeries, into military bases on a massive scale is through the use of AI.” “[F]or the first time, the army's AI systems are allowing it to generate new targets faster than it can strike them. He noted that in the 2014 and 2021 wars, the IDF had exhausted its list of targets. Previously, finding and justifying new targets seemed to be a bottleneck in Israeli military operations.” Like competition in the ‘free market’, a capitalist has to tap well for a new niche even when the market is ‘saturated’. “The question is not whether AI is good or bad for war, or whether it could be refined to be fairer. The bias in the ‘target factory’ is a political one, pre-existing the elaboration of its data models: that international law integrates an economy of violence ...

It is a long article. “These students were not necessarily representative of the student body in Israel as a whole. They were activists in extreme rightwing organisations. But in many ways, what they were saying reflected a much more widespread sentiment in the country.” “Unlike the majority of Israelis, these young people had seen the destruction of Gaza with their own eyes. It seemed to me that they had not only internalised a particular view that has become commonplace in Israel – namely, that the destruction of Gaza as such was a legitimate response to 7 October – but had also developed a way of thinking that I had observed many years ago when studying the conduct, worldview and self-perception of German army soldiers in the second world war. Having internalised certain views of the enemy – the Bolsheviks as Untermenschen; Hamas as human animals – and of the wider population as less than human and undeserving of rights, soldiers observing or perpetrating atrocities tend to ascribe ...

I personally never forget that I was tortured by a police state that was supported by the major Western powers. I was threatened with inserting a baton in my rectum while I was being beaten and completely naked. I remember the names of my torturers, the police station … And it was only for expressing my ideas and being an activist. At the time, others were subjected to even much worse torture. A few were killed.  I too am ‘deeply and gravely concerned’. The Israeli military practice is just one example Related Rape suspects shouldn’t face criminal charges – poll

“‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza.”

      Abu Ghraib, Iraq 2004 Gaza, Palestine 2023

Related Intersectional struggles against big tech and Israeli apartheid

“According to media reports, since 7 October, hundreds, and potentially thousands of British citizens have left the UK to fight for the Israeli Defense Forces in Israel’s war on Gaza. Many of these Britons may already be complicit in potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, and could face future prosecution should these matters go to trial.  ICJP has urgently asked the government to clarify its position on the legality of British citizens going to fight in Israel or Gaza, noting the difference with its policy on Ukraine.” ***** In a panel discussion in London ,  emeritus professor Avi Shlaim, lecturer of International Relations at the University of Oxford  spoke about how Palestinian resistance has been “decontextualised” and that Palestinians are engaged in a decolonial struggle. During the panel discussion, Wadah Khanfar spoke about a “shameless, explicit hypocrisy” from Western politicians. “Every kind of mask has dropped. And we see the faces of these leader...

Thank you, Shahar In solidarity.

“ Subsidizing Apartheid : How the Canada Revenue Agency Contributes to Palestinian Dispossession”

Ten Myths About Israel An Army Like No Other

A book review Israel is an Army with a Country Attached

“This book places the Israeli army under an uncompromising lens. It reveals a yawning gap between the propaganda about ‘the most moral army in the world’ and the dark reality. Through a wide-ranging historical survey, studded with little known facts, it exposes the army for what it really is: a brutal police force of a brutal settler-colonial state. Essential for understanding the political sociology of Israel today and the reasons for the impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian so-called ‘peace process.’” – Avi Shlaim, author of  The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World An Army Like No Oher

The Meaning of Israel's Massive House Demolition in East Jerusalem Related: My interview with Jeff Halper in June 2008

One of the tools of the oppressor, the terrorist state, is to portray itself as a victim.  And the rest of humanity enjoys the spectacle, as usual. Muslims and non-Muslims have watched the Syrians massacred, the Yemenis slaughtered, refugees drowning, Rohingyas "genocided" ...  The more I hear and read about this, the more I feel ashamed of myself and my position in this world. I had years of struggles and protests against both: first against a police state and then against imperialist one. I came to realise the futility of such struggle. I despaired. The more I read about the last two centuries, the more I know about the huge scientific progress as well as about barbarism and our collective complicity in it. And, sadly, our complacency and complicity will continue in the coming atrocities. My only solace is to continue reading in order to keep a sharp mind; to survive in a swamp. "Area of terror"

The killing of Palestinians is accepted in Israel more lightly than the killing of mosquitoes. There’s nothing cheaper in Israel than Palestinian blood. If there were a hundred or even a thousand deaths Israel would still “salute” the IDF. The Israel Massacre Forces. Again.

Non-violence? "terrorism"? The writer, an ex-soldier, refers to the Palestinian violence as "terror" and "terrorism", but no where he use use the same words to refer to the structural violence of the settler-colonial state. Apartheid, occupation, oppression, etc are all fine but "terrorism" is restricted to those who retaliate against "democracies". "Palestinians' new doomsday weapon"

France, "anti-semitism", the state, the left A good dissection. "First, it is important to establish some of the political and ideological conditions in today’s France. Aside from Germany, France is the European state in which it is most difficult to criticize Israel explicitly. It is the country in which it is possible to be prosecuted for articulating a pro-Palestine position — even a relatively moderate, two-state position. The prosecutions of the journalist  Daniel Mermet , the philosopher  Edgar Morin , the political scientist Samir Naïr, the novelist Danièle Sallenave, to cite a few instances, make this clear." The Anti-Zionism of Fools

Gaza: Darkness before the Storm