Israel-Hamas War 2023

[The Minsky Moment]

Neolithic.

Another temple where the God-king can bask in the worship of the sub-kings.

[crazy canuck]

Same with Canada, although our invitation may now be revoked. 

Ha!

[viper37]

To the surprise of no one but Raz and Otto who cheered loudly, no Israelis have been prosecuted for settler violence on Palestinians since 2020.

Israeli former PM calls on ICC to halt West Bank 'Jewish terrorists' after prosecutions stop

Guardian analysis of settler violence shows no Israelis prosecuted since 2020 for killing Palestinian civilians, as former military, police and spy chiefs describe 'organised Jewish terrorism'

I'd say let the rain of missiles keep going a little longer, and let Bibi complain of war crimes all he wants.

[Syt]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8dkd6lnjdo

Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks face death penalty under new Israeli law

Israel's parliament has approved a law that would make the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks.

Critics have described the new law as discriminatory and several European nations warn it risks undermining "democratic principles".

The new law passed its third and final reading in the Knesset by 62 votes to 48 on Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voting in favour.

The bill stipulates that Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks deemed to be "acts of terrorism" would be executed by hanging within 90 days, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days.

In theory, Jewish Israelis could also be executed under the law - but in practice this almost certainly would not happen, as the death penalty could only be carried out where the intention of the attack was to "negate the existence of the state of Israel".

The legislation was pushed hard by the far-right, with the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir its driving force. After the vote, he posted on X: "We made history!!! We promised. We delivered."

A member of Ben-Gvir's party, Limor Son-Har-Melech, who survived an attack by Palestinian gunmen in which her husband was killed, argued that the law was necessary, citing the example of how one of her husband's killers was later released and went on to take part in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.

During the debate in the Knesset, she said: "For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again."

But Yair Golan, the leader of opposition Democrats party, criticised the legislation and said it would lead to international sanctions.

"The death penalty law for terrorists is an unnecessary piece of legislation designed to get Ben-Gvir more likes," he said. "It does not contribute one ounce to Israel's security."

On the eve of the vote, the UK, France, Germany and Italy expressed their "deep concern", saying that the bill risked "undermining Israel's commitments with regard to democratic principles".

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, condemned the adoption of the law, saying it "seeks to legitimise extrajudicial killing under legislative cover".

And Hamas, which controls Gaza, said in a statement on Monday evening that the approval of the bill "threatens the lives" of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and called on the international community to "ensure the protection of our prisoners".

Amnesty International urged Israeli authorities to repeal the new law. "Israel is brazenly granting itself carte blanche to execute Palestinians while stripping away the most basic fair-trial safeguards", said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the rights group's senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has already petitioned the country's Supreme Court against the law.

"The law is unconstitutional, discriminatory by design and - for West Bank Palestinians - enacted without legal authority," it said in a statement.

The Supreme Court will now have to consider whether to hear the challenge to the bill.

Israel has only executed two people in its history - one of them the infamous Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, who played an important role in perpetrating the Holocaust.

[Legbiter]

Here's the deputy speaker of the Knesset on the left and her settler husband on the right.



Israel at this point is in this loathsome Milosevic-Serbia death spiral.

[crazy canuck]

From the NYTimes

Between the start of the war on Feb. 28 and April 27, 13 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in attacks, hundreds injured and 622 driven from their homes, according to data compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In all of 2025, the office counted as many as 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers.
Put simply, experts say, extremists have seen the war as an opportunity.

"It's a chance to escalate pogroms on Palestinians while the world is distracted," said Idan Yaron, an anthropologist who has spent years studying Israel's radical nationalist groups, including long stretches with extremist settlers. "Their goal is to expel Palestinians from their lands and make them their own."

The violence, often involving beatings, arson, theft and vandalism, has become routine. The attacks — an average of nearly seven a day — showed no sign of slowing after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary cease-fire on April 8.

Extremist settlers even publicize their violent attacks. One online group boasted that, in the Hebrew month ending in April, the fight "against the Arab enemy in the Holy Land" had seen attacks in 40 Palestinian communities, including 79 people injured, 63 cars and 32 buildings torched, and hundreds of olive trees uprooted.

[grumbler]

From the NYTimes

Between the start of the war on Feb. 28 and April 27, 13 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in attacks, hundreds injured and 622 driven from their homes, according to data compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In all of 2025, the office counted as many as 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers.
Put simply, experts say, extremists have seen the war as an opportunity.

"It's a chance to escalate pogroms on Palestinians while the world is distracted," said Idan Yaron, an anthropologist who has spent years studying Israel's radical nationalist groups, including long stretches with extremist settlers. "Their goal is to expel Palestinians from their lands and make them their own."

The violence, often involving beatings, arson, theft and vandalism, has become routine. The attacks — an average of nearly seven a day — showed no sign of slowing after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary cease-fire on April 8.

Extremist settlers even publicize their violent attacks. One online group boasted that, in the Hebrew month ending in April, the fight "against the Arab enemy in the Holy Land" had seen attacks in 40 Palestinian communities, including 79 people injured, 63 cars and 32 buildings torched, and hundreds of olive trees uprooted.

The pursuit of Lebensraum is always ugly. I wonder if the settlers ever consider the fate of their Lebensraum predecessors.

[Syt]

An Italian magazine condemned the settler violence with this cover:



It was initially condemned by some as antisemitic caricature, but there's multiple shots of the guy from different angles, and that's just what he looks like.

[Valmy]

No that's a real picture.

Unfortunately.

[HVC]

Looks like a scene out of sliders

[crazy canuck]

If a state is to be judged by who defends its actions, Israel has some problems - to say the least.  From the NYTimes

Rarely is foreign policy a major political issue in a midterm election year. But the war in Iran has helped turn the U.S. relationship with Israel into a marquee topic among Republicans, pushing allies of President Trump like Ms. Loomer to escalate their attacks on conservative critics of the relationship and creating new fault lines on America's far right.

"It's like a psychosis. It's literally a psychosis," Ms. Loomer said in an interview last week, referring to the turn against Israel among some conservatives. "It really is Israel derangement syndrome."

[The Minsky Moment]

I think Ms. Loomer literally doesn't know what the word literally means. 

Or perhaps she doesn't know what a psychosis is?  That could explain much of her own behavior . . .

[HVC]

When did derangement become the rights favourite word?