TRUTH
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George Orwell
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Monday, 27 November 2023
"I cannot think of a more dangerous initiative than this."
Nigel Farage comments on the recent call by unelected head of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen, for world leaders to roll out digital ID, CBDC and a cashless society—globally—by 2030.
"If we're not careful, we head towards a Chinese-style social credit system, where unless you go along with the views of the day, you become a non-person."
Source: foxnews.com/video/63369909…
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‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 52: Palestinians in Gaza brace for resumption of Israeli attacks as truce reaches final day
International leaders call for extending the truce as the fourth and final round of captive exchanges is set to take place. Palestinians in Gaza are still not able to count their dead as the majority of hospitals remain out of service.
Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama’ hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli captives released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, at his home in Halhul village near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on November 27, 2023. (Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/APA Images)
Casualties
15,000+ killed*, including 6,150 children, and 33,000 wounded in Gaza Strip.
235 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200
*This figure is based on an estimate as reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa on October 27. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls.
Key Developments
Between Friday and Sunday evening, 117 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them women and children. Hamas released 58 captives, 39 Israelis, 17 Thai citizens, an Israeli-Russian, and a Filipino national.
Netanyahu said that the truce would be extended a day for every ten additional captives released by Hamas.
Qatari Prime Minister said that an extension of the truce would allow Hamas fighters to locate more Israeli captives to be released.
Hamas said in a statement that it released Roni Krivo, a Russian-Israeli citizen, in appreciation of Moscow’s support for the Palestinian cause.
On Sunday evening, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them under the age of 18 years old.
Mohammed Zaqout, the general manager of hospitals in Gaza, told Al-Jazeera that hospitals in northern Gaza are short of fuel and have not received any during the truce.
The Israeli army spokesperson said that 80 out of the 184 remaining captives being held by Hamas have dual citizenship.
Israeli Prime Minister vows to continue the war on Gaza
The temporary truce in the Gaza Strip between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters is approaching its end on Monday night.
Israel is expected to carry on its airstrikes and ground incursion once the truce ends. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday evening to continue the war until achieving the three goals of releasing all captives, destroying Hamas, and ensuring Gaza does not impose a “threat” to Israel.
Netanyahu said that the truce would be extended a day for every ten additional captives released by Hamas.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, whose country hosts a Hamas office, told the Financial Times that an extension of the truce would allow Hamas to locate more captives to release.
“We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find because… one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people,” al-Thani said.
Between Friday and Sunday evening, 117 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them women and children. Hamas released 58 captives, 39 Israelis, 17 Thai citizens, an Israeli-Russian, and a Filipino national.
U.S. President Joe Biden said early on that he was “hopeful” the truce would continue.
“My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can,” Biden said on Friday.
A four-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen whose father was killed in the October 7 attack is expected to be released in the fourth patch of captives held by Hamas on Monday.
39 Palestinians and 13 Israeli nationals released
On Sunday evening, Hamas released the third round of captives, which included 13 Israeli nationals, two Thais, and one Russian-Israeli citizen.
The handing over of the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took place in the center of Gaza City, which saw immense fighting between Israeli forces and resistance fighters.
Al-Jazeera reported that Hamas aimed to show its force in front of cameras during the captives’ release in the northern Gaza Strip, an area the Israeli army believed to be controlling vast parts of it.
Some of the fighters were mounting the infamous white pickup trucks used during the October 7 surprise attack on settlements and army bases.
Hamas said in a statement that it released Roni Krivo, a Russian-Israeli citizen, in appreciation of Moscow’s support for the Palestinian cause.
“In response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, released one of the detainees of the Russian citizenship,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
On Sunday evening, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them under the age of 18 years old. Twenty-one were from occupied Jerusalem, and the rest from Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and one from Rahah town south of Gaza Strip.
Wafa news agency reported that the underage prisoners were transported from Ofer military prisons to the towns of Ramallah and Beitunia, where they were welcomed by thousands of Palestinians.
However, prisoners from Jerusalem were handed to one member of their families at Al-Moskobiya detention and interrogation center. Any scenes of celebration were banned and subject to fine and potential arrest.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center, which documents Israeli violations in Jerusalem, posted footage of the release of a Palestinian child prisoner transported by an Israeli security team in a civilian vehicle and handed to his father in the middle of the night, ensuring no celebration or gathering took place.
Wafa reported that Israeli forces fired tear gas, live and rubber-coated metal bullets at journalists and families who gathered near Ofer to accompany the prisoners’ bus. Several people, including a journalist, were wounded. A full list of the names of prisoners released on Sunday were published by Wafa.
According to the temporary truce terms, 33 Palestinian prisoners and 11 Israelis are expected to be released on Monday, bringing the total to 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinians, one captive for every three prisoners.
Majority of hospitals in Gaza are out of service as Palestinians struggle to count their dead
Health officials in the Gaza Strip warned that hospitals are struggling to cope as Israeli bombardment inflicted severe damages to Al-Shifa’ and the Indonesian hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
Four days of relative calm were not enough to recover nor to count the killed and injured in the Gaza genocide during which Israel has dropped the equivalent of two nuclear bombssince October 7.
On Monday, the death toll in the Gaza Strip was not updated by the Ministry of Health. An estimate published by Wafa said at least 15,000 people were killed and 32,000 wounded.
Al-Jazeera reported on Monday morning that piles of bodies have accumulated in Al-Quds and Al-Rantisi hospitals.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, of whom 1.7 million were internally displaced, are still grasping the sheer destruction caused by the Israeli bombardment of their properties.
On Sunday, Israel announced that it has “seized” a total sum of $1.3 million from “Hamas homes” in Gaza and deposited it in the state coffers. Palestinians described the action as theft and shared stories of Israeli soldiers seizing musical instruments and jewelry and showing them off on social media.
On Monday, Israeli forces shot at people near Al-Maghazi refugee camp, who went back to inspect their houses. Mohammed Zaqout, the general manager of hospitals in Gaza, told Al-Jazeera that hospitals in northern Gaza are short of fuel and have not received any during the truce.
Zaqout said that three hospitals remain working in northern and central Gaza – Ahli Arab Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and al-Awdah Hospital. He added that “Israel destroyed 21 private and 13 governmental hospitals.”
The Israeli army spokesperson said on Monday that 1,200 Israelis have been killed, including 392 soldiers, since October 7, and 9,000 have been injured. He added that 80 out of the 184 remaining captives being held by Hamas have dual citizenship.
On Sunday, Hamas announced the names of some of its senior leaders who were killed fighting the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, including Ahmed al-Ghandour, a member of the Military Council and commander of the Northern Gaza Strip Brigade .
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, called for an extension to the truce which “would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages.”
Dozens of Palestinians arrested in the West Bank
While Israeli jailers were finishing the papers to release 39 Palestinian children on Sunday evening, Israeli forces were at work arresting 60 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Twenty-nine people were arrested in Hebron, and the others were detained from Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, and the village of Jaba.
The Commission for Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs said that since October 7, Israel has arrested 3,260 Palestinians, most of them sentenced to various lengths of administrative detention, a policy used to indefinitely detain Palestinians without charge or trial.
Currently, there are 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, 200 of whom are children. Since October 7, six prisoners have died inside Israeli jails, and 41 journalists remain in detention. Israeli forces and settlers have killed 235 Palestinians during assaults or night raids of towns and villages in the occupied West Bank.
In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says more Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces in the last six weeks, since October 7, than in any entire year since 2005.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister dedicates millions of dollars to expanding settlements and arming settlers
Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy, lambasted the Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich following his announcement of plans of settlement expansion and arming settlers.
“I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli [government] is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements. This is not self-defence and will not make Israel safer. The settlements are grave [International Human Law] breach, and they are Israel’s greatest security liability,” Borrell wrote on the X platform.
Smotrich presented the 2023 budget this week, in which he dedicated a big chunk of it to the war on Gaza Strip, including $4.5 billion to defense and $3.6 billion to civilian war needs.
He also dedicated over $190 million to further the West Bank settlement project, and $530 million to the National Security Ministry, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, to arm settlers in the occupied West Bank and set up teams of armed militias and police.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s supplementary budget request to be spent in the final month of 2023.
Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Smotrich’s budget was “a disregard for international and American positions in support of the two-state solution.”
“Approving this proposal indicates Israeli persistence in accelerating the pace of the annexation of the occupied West Bank… exploiting the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip to create new facts on the ground in the occupied West Bank,” the ministry said.
Borrel wrote in a column in the Financial Timesthat the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should end.
“Our political myopia, to think this conflict was manageable by paying lip service to the two-state solution and then leaving it to fester, must end, he wrote.
He added that leaving the conflict to simmer without fixing it “may trigger displacement of people, including towards Europe, and exacerbate the risk of terrorism and intercommunity tensions.”
He concluded that “Israel’s own security requires the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
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Albert Camus rejected Algerian independence and anticolonial violence in favor of a vision of bourgeois humanism. Palestinians are now encountering similar sentiments, reminding us that humanism is often the privilege of those already living in humane conditions.
Left: French colonial stamp of French-colonized Algeria, 1926. Right: British colonial stamp of British Mandate Palestine, 1922. (Images: Wikimedia Commons) (Graphics by Mondoweiss)
It was 66 years ago that, amidst a raging war, the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus gave his most perilous political speech: outwardly, his speech was a call for a civil truce in Algeria; inwardly, the decline of Arab nationalist aspirations, and in its aspirations, a humanist avowal of shared possibilities on land shared between colonizers and the colonized. Amidst public pleas for decolonial violence, Camus — one of the Pieds-Noirs — presented himself as a person outside the dichotomy of the colonizer and the colonized, a mediator, above all, who despised indiscriminate violence and sought dialogue among the French and the Arabs of Algeria.
As demands for a ceasefire in Gaza gain global political momentum, I think it is worth critically exploring Albert Camus’s thoughts on French colonial history in Algeria for parallels and breaking points with the present moment. Drawing on those parallels, this leads to the conclusion that resisting oppression through violence is sometimes the only means available to the oppressed — importantly, for Camus, this is not a justification for violence but a realistic assessment of the effects of oppression on the oppressed.
When Palestine is calling on resistance, we owe it some difficult questions about the legitimacy of self-defense, the limits of violent resistance, and the accountability of the original oppressor. Albert Camus, I think, can help us find some answers.
It goes without saying that the historical context of Algeria cannot be paralleled entirely with the Palestinian situation. But where the Algerians and the Palestinians share a common fate is in being the recipient of systematic oppression. It is this parallel alone that guides the following reflection.
French colonization of Algeria: a brief history
France’s oppression of the Arab Algerians took place in phases.
The first was a conquest that lasted from 1830 until 1870. Through military action, France committed mass atrocities on a large scale, obliterating entire villages, violating their inhabitants, and seizing their cattle and their crops.
During the second phase in 1870, civilian settlers from the metropole slowly took over Algerian land. The settlements were ruled by French laws known as the “Indigenous Legal Code,” a racist piece of jurisdiction that deprived Algerians of all protections against the rights afforded to the European settlers.
The third phase unfolded after 1870 when the settlers faced erratic insurgencies. In response to violent outbursts, some French called for a reformist approach that would afford limited rights to a limited number of Algerians (those deemed “civilizable”). The real objective behind those reformist attempts was to separate the Algerian masses from the Algerian political leaders, and thus to fracture mass support for Algerian political autonomy. Notably, the FLN challenged France’s division policies directly at the “Battle of Phillipville.” The FLN deliberately caused civilian deaths to separate the Algerians from the French. The battle is now widely creditedas the first victory of the armed insurrection.
This brief history of Algerian colonization should sound familiar to anyone aware of key points in Palestinian history: The mass expulsions in ‘48, the ‘67 war, the First Intifada, the reformist Oslo Accords, the outbursts of violence during the Second Intifada, the subsequent scattering of Palestinian political representation, the withdrawal from Gaza, the Unity Uprising, and so on.
As a young man, and throughout his life, Albert Camus favored the reformist approach of the French progressives. In 1936, he embraced the Blum-Viollette bill, named after the leader of the French Popular Front, Léon Blum, and the French governor-general of Algeria, Maurice Violette. The Blum-Viollette agreement — the Sykes-Picot of French Algeria, as it were — would have granted some rights to a tiny minority of Algerians. Note how not a single Algerian was seated at the negotiating table.
At 23 years old, Camus co-authored a manifesto that supported the reform plans:
“Granting more rights to the Algerian elites would mean enlisting them on [the French] side […] far from harming the interests of France, this project serves them in the most up-to-date way, in that it will make the Arab people see the face of humanity that France must wear.”
The Oslo Accords, a much-scolded concession by the Palestinian Liberation Organization, were welcomed, and justified, in a similar way: the accords would force a face of humanity on the occupation, show to the world the moral righteousness of Israel, and display Palestinians’ “reasonableness” and political “goodwill,” Edward Said famously demurred.
By the end of the Second World War, the repression of Algerians was ruthless and was followed by a decade of massacres. Thousands of Arab civilians were killed by the French army, air force, police, and settler militias. Within less than a decade, France dropped 41 tons of explosives on insurgent areas. These days, Israel has thoroughly surpassed this sad record. These events in Algeria were, and still are, severely underreported. Even by conservative estimates, reports convey the loss of about 10,000 Algerian lives.
The collective trauma inflicted on Algeria cemented the conviction among Algerian nationalists that national independence from France was the only way forward — self-liberation, by whatever means necessary. This decision was followed by a drawn-out war of independence.
Albert Camus, meanwhile, was accused of double standards. When Camus spoke publicly of “massacres,” he was referring to the occasional death of French civilian settlers. In contrast, when Camus spoke of “repression,” he was referring to the systematic killing of more than ten thousand Algerian civilians by the French army, the French police, and settler militias. This should remind us of the narratives surrounding Gaza, pitching terrorism charges on the one side and calls for national self-liberation on the other.
Humanistic colonialism
It should now be clear — Camus was not a staunch anti-colonialist. Camus’s battle was one of common sense, reasonableness, and humanistic commitments. “It Is Justice That Will Save Algeria from Hatred,” he titled one of his post-war essays. But for justice to manifest, he explained, France had to undertake a “second conquest” — a conquest, this time, escorted by diplomatic niceties.
In 1958, Camus finally unraveled. In his infamous speech in Algiers, he eventually made clear to his Algerian audience that his long-standing political work equaled a rejection of Algerian national independence. He dismissed self-liberation as a “purely emotional expression” in sharp contrast to the cold, dispassionate rigors of real politics. In words that must remind us of the enduring Palestinian condition, Camus spoke:
“Reason clearly shows that on this point, at least, French and Arab solidarity is inevitable, in death as in life, in destruction as in hope. The frightful aspect of that solidarity is apparent in the infernal dialectic that whatever kills one side kills the other too, each blaming the other and justifying his violence by the opponent’s violence. The eternal question as to who was first responsible loses.”
In this violent climate, Camus traveled to Algiers, anticipating widespread support for his humanitarian appeals. For him, Algerian national independence simply was not one of the available options. Too strong, he thought, were the ties between the colonizers and the colonized.
Camus’s solution was a sort of republicanism — equal political rights in both Paris and Algiers. In other words, Algeria was meant to remain a part of France, but France had to bestow it with the systematic and sincere application of the rights, duties, and benefits of citizenship. If France failed to do so, he cautioned, it would “reap hatred like all vanquishers who prove themselves incapable of moving beyond victory.” Keep calling for national independence, he warned the Algerian Liberation Front (FLN), and perpetual war and misery would befall the Algerian Arabs.
At the Cercle de Progrès, Camus’s speech expressed how he believed that both sides were right; the problem, tragically, was that each side claimed sole possession of the truth. The audience responded with murmurs of outrage, and soon stones began to fly. When he suggested that “an exchange of views is still possible,” he was silenced by the angry audience. The FLN countered with passionately nationalistic speeches.
Camus failed in his noble goal of saving the lives of countless civilians, Arabs and French alike. Likewise, the current calls for a ceasefire in Gaza will likely yield the same sad results. The slaughter of civilians continued for another six years until France “granted” independence to Algeria. Rather than decolonization by “consent,” political commentators and historians now agree that Algeria has been decolonized by the force of the colonized.
To the French in Paris, Camus embodied the lowbrow philosophical position, a politically naïve mouthpiece of the Arabs; to the Arabs in Algiers, his Parisian aloofness and insistence on transcending the morality of both the colonizers and the colonized were easily identifiable as the common pathology of the white man.
After the events in Algiers, Camus felt hopeless about the situation in Algeria. He stopped speaking publicly, withdrew into writing prose, and slowly realized that his humanistic goodwill was thoroughly misplaced. Only later would he carefully contextualize his absence from the cause, opining in his philosophical manner how he surrendered his lucidity in the realization of the tragic character of the human condition — that there is no room for philosophical thought as violence rages on. This observation was beautifully translated into words by the Palestinian militant intellectual Basil al-Araj.
Albert Camus remained silent because he refused to give up his loyalty to both communities. But in this situation of pure violence, however, he had to recognize the futility of his political goals. He could not, after all, reconcile his humanism with the violent state of war.
After he received the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, an Algerian student questioned Camus about his anti-independence politics. Although he believed in justice, Camus said,
“I have always condemned terror. But I must also condemn terrorism that strikes blindly, for example, in the streets of Algiers, and which might strike my mother and family. I believe in justice, but I’ll defend my mother before justice.”
This implicitly recognized the injustice of the colonial system and the personal effects it had on Camus himself. He was not, after all, the aloof, dispassionate political observer hailing to the colony from the metropole to speak in the service of the “civilized people” of Paris. Both the colonial system and the national liberation movement, he thought, had done him an injustice — he, the French-Algerian, had strong ties with both the colonizers and the colonized. For that matter, he could not choose between them, and all he could do was condemn the violence on both sides. More importantly, Camus believed that any nationalistic ideal was secondary to the safety and well-being of those dearest to him.
Camus failed to recognize that the violence unleashed by systematic oppression is almost inevitably uncontrollable and beyond justification and reason. If we were to ask the FLN, however, I would think they would talk about violence as deliberate, calculated, and part of a strategy. It is only to the outside, to the observers, that violence looks indiscriminate and uncalculated. In a similar vein, Palestinians like Basil Al-Araj were trying to convince me that there is no room for political subtleties, philosophical deep-dives, and bourgeois humanism whenever violence strikes the strongest. Camus’s silence spoke eloquently to this realization, underscoring Basil’s implication that humanism is often the privilege of those already living in humane conditions.
I think I understand Camus’s position. And I think it can be applied to Palestine. The fear and force of violence, Camus noticed, is always stronger than reason and morality. He also recognized that competing nationalisms breed violence, never solutions.
Through encounters with Israelis and Palestinians, I learned to think of Israel and Palestine as a site of possibility — a place where the very idea of the nation-state, which has harmed both peoples, could be remade or destroyed entirely. And it was Palestinians and Israelis alike who opened my thinking to multiple visions of sharing this land.
Addressing visions for post-nationalism in his 2009 film, “The Time that Remains,” Elia Suleiman wants us to raise the Palestinian flag as a sign against oppression and hatred. But, he says, as soon as this oppression is overcome, with all the freedom and dignity it brings, we will have to take the flag down.
Before you go – we need your support
At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever.
Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses.
The mother of 17-year-old Ahmad Qadri Shiyha, standing between her two other children as they wait for Shiyha to to be released from Israeli prison as part of the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel. (Photo: Leila Warah)
On Sunday evening in the occupied West Bank, hundreds of people gathered in the middle of Ramallah to welcome Palestinian children set to be freed from Israeli jails for the third consecutive day.
Youth climbed atop the central roundabout waving flags as families posed with peace signs for pictures amid the sea of keffiyehs, smiling as they waited for the freed children to arrive.
Anticipation filled the air. With every false alarm that the prisoner bus arrived, the crowd of people would jump in its direction, craning their necks to get a good look at the scene.
Among them was a woman who proudly proclaimed that she was the mother of 17-year-old Ahmad Qadri Shiyha, one of 39 Palestinian children set to be released that day.
“The first thing I want to do is hug him; I haven’t been allowed to touch him in a year,” she told Mondoweiss, adding that she only found out hours before that her son would be released.
On November 27, 2022, almost exactly a year ago to the day, Israeli forces stormed Shiyha’s family home during a night raid and arrested him.
“[The Israeli army] took him in the middle of the night while he was asleep. I had a heart attack; he was so young,” Shiyha’s mother told Mondoweiss.
The number of soldiers raiding her home was an almost comically large group composed of foot soldiers and military jeeps, as if her son was a high-ranking official rather than a teenage boy asleep in his bed, she added.
Shiyha’s sentence was one year and eight months; however, he was one of the lucky political prisoners chosen for an early release in line with the temporary four-day truce between Hamas and Israel, which has since been extended to six days.
Since his arrest, Shiyha’s mother has had difficulties sleeping at night as she lies awake thinking about his return, explaining that Israeli forces subjected her son to harsh treatment, humiliation, and solitary confinement, all the while denying him basic necessities.
“It broke me seeing my child sitting in front of me crying and living through such a painful ordeal,” she said, “I only wished to touch his hand, but [the prison guards] wouldn’t allow me to.”
His mother found out only hours before that her son would be among the 150 Palestinian children and women released in return for 50 captives held in Gaza over four days.
An additional 20 Israeli captives and 60 Palestinian prisoners are likely to be released during the truce extension.
As wide-eyed kids sat on their parents’ shoulders, watching her speak, she said, “When I saw his name on the list, I couldn’t believe it.”
After a couple of hours of waiting, just after 9:00 pm, the bus from Ofer prison finally arrived.
The crowds cheered, charging in its direction and momentarily leaving misery behind them as they paraded the young boys, draped in various flags around the square, chanting for the freedom of Palestine and in honor of Palestinian resistance as teary-eyed mothers were finally allowed to hug their sons.
Palestinians gathered in Ramallah to celebrate the release of the Palestinian children set to be freed from Israeli prisons for the third consecutive day. (Photo: Leila Warah)
‘A collective experience’
The struggle of political prisoners resonates deeply with the Palestinian population, as it is a core part of Israel’s ongoing military occupation and apartheid system to assert its dominance while suppressing Palestinian sovereignty and resistance.
There are currently 7000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, over 3,160 of whom have been arrested after October 7, since the Israeli army began a large-scale arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
2070 are administrative detainees who are being held indefinitely on “secret evidence” without charge or trial.
“Each year, approximately 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system. The most common charge is stone throwing,” reported Defense for Children Palestine.
While the families of the freed Palestinian prisoners celebrate the return of their loved ones, it is being felt as a collective victory and a historical moment for Palestinians.
Mayar, a 21-year-old English literature student at Bir Zeit University, told Mondoweiss, “I am here because [Palestinian people] are all one. Our happiness is one, and our sadness is one.”
“This is the first time in my life that I am witnessing something like this, watching our prisoners be released because of the will of our people in spite of our jailers,” she said, explaining that she felt like she may never have the chance to witness something like this again.
Similarly, Jerusalem-based Palestinian activist Adnan Barq, 23, noted the contrast between the celebrations for the prisoners in the occupied West Bank and those in Jerusalem, remarking on the value of a collective celebration.
In Jerusalem, Israel has made it illegal for Palestinians to celebrate the release of the prisoners, meaning any festivities can result in “insane” legal ramifications.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Club, just handing out candy can end in a 70,000 Israeli shekels ($18,700) fine for handing out candy.
“It feels like an individual experience for every family in Jerusalem- you can’t even bring the press to your home,” Barq said, “but [in the West Bank] you can see it is a collective experience.”
He added that it is one of the ways Israel has fragmented the Palestinian struggle across the occupied territories.
“In the West Bank, people are scared of settlers and occupation forces; in Gaza, people are afraid of the bombs genociding their families; in Jerusalem, we are afraid to be arrested for social media posts; and in the north, people are afraid just for being Palestinian.”
“But now, we are all united by the images of parents being reunited with their children. It is heartwarming, but it is also so sad since many Gazans are losing their children. We have a moral crisis.”
Crowds of Palestinians carrying the freed Palestinian child prisoners on Sunday, celebrating the bittersweet victory. (Photo: Leila Warah)
‘We are dancing with broken hearts.’
While everybody marched, laughed, and clapped together, chanting in honor of the Palestinian prisoners, it was a bittersweet victory in light of the thousands of prisoners still in jail as well as Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, which still has no end in sight.
Shiyha’s mom said it is a great feeling to know that her son is getting out, but at the same time, she is “sad for the children of Gaza and all the martyrs” and posed the question, “how can we be happy when there still other prisoners being beaten and humiliated?”
Still, the collective consensus is that everybody was there with a heavy heart and the knowledge that Palestinian happiness and strength are invaluable tools against the occupation.
“We are dancing with broken hearts. We are not out of touch and very joyful,” said Barq.
“This prisoner release is a win for Gaza and for all the Palestinian people. We will continue to resist for our people, and at the same time, we will be happy as long as this happiness disturbs the occupation,” Mayar added.
“I feel like happiness here is not coming from the heart; it is performative; it’s sending a message to the occupation that we are unbreakable even though we are broken. Maybe this is the kind of pride that has allowed us to survive 75 years of genocide,” Barq concluded.
Before you go – we need your support
At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever.
Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses.
Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward as trucks carrying aid and fuel head towards north Gaza during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City (photo)
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. For more news, go here and here. Live broadcast news from the region is here.
Some people are led to be skeptical of the Al Jazeera news network. However, the network has won several Emmys, a Peabody and the Overseas Press Association’s Edward R. Murrow award, among many other honors. The New York Times reports that “its reporting hews to international journalistic standards and provides a unique view on events in the Middle East.” it’s important to remember that all news sources may potentially have bias. For example, CNN uses anchors who used to work for the Israel Lobby, who have lifelong attachment to Israel, and who often exhibit pro-Israel spin and omission in their broadcasts. Similarly, Fox News is strongly influenced by Rupert Murdoch, who has a similarly strong attachment to Israel, and who may have fired Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular host, in part due to the host’s opposition to war and his pattern of failing to exhibit sufficient devotion to Israel).
Latest statistics:
Palestinian death toll: at least 14,568* (~14,329 in Gaza** (including at least 6,000 children and 4,000 women), and at least 239 in the West Bank). *IAK does not yet include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although muchevidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation. Israel killed more Palestinians in a little over a month after Oct. 7 than in all the previous 22 years combined.
Palestinian injuries: 38,904** (including at least 36,000 in Gaza** and 2,904 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to offer an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption.
Reported Israeli death toll has been reduced to ~1,200*** (The Israeli spokesman said the original figure of deaths on March 7 was an “initial estimate” – 4 killed in West Bank, 75 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and ~5,400 injured). The names of the 1,219 identified (about 30 of them children) are here.
Israeli truce violation: A Palestinian farmer was killed and another injured after they were targeted by Israeli forces in the Maghazi refugee camp in the center of Gaza yesterday, the Palestine Red Crescent said. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the report.
Humanitarian update:
UNRWA: “Everything is closed in Gaza … the shops, the pharmacies. While humanitarian assistance is fundamentally critical, and life-saving of course, it is not going to be enough in the medium to longer term. What needs to happen is commercial supplies that need to come in support of the private sector so it [Gaza] can stand on its own feet.” (10:15 GMT)
The UN has said that people are lining up overnight in lines that extend for 1.2 miles to refill cooking gas canisters. The lines were reported outside a filling station in Khan Younis in southern Gaza after Israel allowed aid supplies that included cooking gas to enter Gaza for the first time since October 7. (03:30 GMT)
On 26 November, aid convoys reached areas north of Wadi Gaza. UN agencies and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) distributed 1,062 metric tonnes (MT) of ready-to-eat food to four UNRWA shelters in Jabalia camp; 185 MT of tents and blankets and 890 MT of bottled water to various sites; as well as 164 MT of medical supplies to Al Ahli hospital in Gaza city.
Key service providers, including hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, and IDP shelters, have continued receiving fuel on a daily basis to operate generators.
Over the past three days, cooking gas has entered Gaza, contrary to the time before the pause. However, the amounts fall well below the needs. Queues at a filling station in Khan Younis have reportedly extended for about 2 kilometres, with people waiting at them overnight. Meanwhile, reports indicate that people are burning doors and window frames to cook.
Monday is the last day of the 4-day truce, although mediators are working to extend the deal. Since Friday, Hamas has released 58 people, including citizens of Israel, Thailand, the US and Russia. Israel has released 117 Palestinians from its prisons. 184 Israelis are still detained in the Gaza Strip.
The latest batch of Palestinian children released by Israel as part of the truce deal with Hamas have spoken of their experiences in prison. They claim that they were beaten, tortured, abused, deliberately starved and intentionally deprived of information about what was going on in the world beyond the prison walls. (Read more here.)
Truce extension possible: Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators are close to agreeing on a truce extension butaere still discussing details. Hamas is reportedly seeking a four-day extension, while Israel wants day-by-day extensions, with negotiations continuing over which Palestinian prisoners would be freed.
Since Saturday, at least eight Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank despite the truce. At least 239 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7.
Israeli forces carried out overnight raids and prevented an ambulance from reaching a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to help injured Palestinians.
Israeli forces wounded 21 Palestinians in a crowd awaiting released prisoners at Ofer Prison, the Palestine Red Crescent has said. Among those injured were seven who sustained gunshot wounds as well as four who were hit by rubber bullets and 10 by tear gas. (03:20 GMT)
A report released by Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs said that of the 3,200 Palestinians arrested by Israel since October 7, 41 were journalists, 29 of whom remain in detention. more than 200 children, and about 78 female prisoners, as well as hundreds of sick and wounded people, some of whom need “urgent medical intervention”, the report added.
It also noted that the recent arrests were accompanied by “widespread raids and abuse, in addition to vandalising and destroying of citizens’ homes, and severe beatings of the families of detainees” as well as the shooting of unarmed Palestinians, resulting in deaths. (00:50 GMT)
Home demolition witness deported: Alison Russell, a Scottish-born Belgian citizen and Human Rights Defender, was detained by the Israeli occupation authorities while documenting the demolition of a house in Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli police alleged in a public statement that Alison “supported a terrorist organization.” Her attorney pointed out that this claim had no basis. Nevertheless, the presiding judge issued a verdict couched in fiery nationalist rhetoric, claiming that “There are many faces to Hamas terror. There are various kinds of terrorists. Some terrorists wield guns and bombs while others use a computer keyboard”.
Israel news:
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to allocate large budgets to promote settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. “Smotrich talked about a budget adjustment that allocates millions of shekels to expand the Israeli settlements in Area C in the West Bank and allocates a budget to prevent Palestinians from building in those areas,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X. (10:40 GMT)
Josep Borrell, EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that funding of new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories will “not make Israel safer”. “The settlements are a grave international humanitarian law breach, and they are Israel’s greatest security liability,” he posted on X. (09:35 GMT)
Elon Musk caves to Israel: Israeli PM Netanyahu and Elon Musk walked through the destroyed kibbutz Kfar Aza Monday, and officials described to Musk what had taken place. Musk has been accused recently of promoting antisemitism.
Musk stated, “Those who are intent on murder must be neutralized. Then the propaganda must stop. They’re just training people to be murderers.” He also said Gaza must be made “prosperous.” “If (all) that happens, I think it will be a good future,” he said. “I’d love to help.”
Musk and Israeli leaders also reportedly reached an understanding, whereby “Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip”.
Starlink is a satellite internet venture operated by SpaceX, owned by Musk, that makes it easier to provide internet services in rural and isolated regions of the world where the internet terminals and cables are not strong. (08:15 GMT)
US news:
Three men of Palestinian descent studying in the US were shot in Burlington, Vermont on Sunday. Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said on Sunday that the students were walking to the home of one of the victim’s relatives when they were confronted by a white man armed with a handgun. “Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,” Murad said. “All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.” The three were graduates of the Ramallah Friends School (Quaker) who had left the occupied West Bank to study in the US.
Murad said two of the victims were in a stable condition and the other suffered “much more serious injuries”. Two of the victms were wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.
A suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon:Jason J. Eaton, 48. According to his mother, he had struggled with depression. Inflammatory, inaccurate media reports repeated by Biden, including the false claim that Hamas fighters had “beheaded 40 babies,” have incited outrage in numerous people who don’t know they’re untrue. (While Israeli forces have killed 6,000 Palestinian children including an unknown number of babies in October-November, Gazans have killed approximately 29 Palestinian children, including one infant.)
US Navy in Arabian Gulf: In a statement posted on X, the US Navy said that its aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower had crossed the Strait of Hormuz and reached the waters of the Arabian Gulf “to support” the missions of the US Central Command. The US said the aircraft is patrolling the area “to ensure freedom of navigation in key international waterways” while also supporting the US Navy’s “requirements throughout the region”. The USS Eisenhower is being accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.
US special forces reportedly were deployed to help Israel track down hostages held in Gaza
The Pentagon has “awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build U.S. troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel’s Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza. Code-named ‘Site 512,’ the longstanding U.S. base is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel.
Elsewhere:
School teachers in the Australian state of Victoria have been warned against taking part in pro-Palestinian advocacy. Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said teachers would be contributing to division if they participated in advocacy at schools in Melbourne, such as by wearing a pro-Palestinian badge or inviting Palestinian activists to speak to students. Mr Carroll said, “This action is inflammatory, it’s divisive and only sows more seeds of disharmony in our community.” (05:10 GMT)
