Top IDF lawyer quits over video leak of detainee sexual abuse

Comment: Even among their own, their pathology is beginning fracture the collective...

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RT

The footage reportedly shows Israeli soldiers at a military base assaulting a Palestinian prisoner.

The Israel Defense Force's (IDF) top military lawyer has quit after admitting she approved the leak of a video allegedly showing Israeli soldiers abusing a Palestinian prisoner at a military base.

Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi announced her resignation on Friday, saying she had authorized the release of surveillance footage from Sde Teiman near the Gaza border, which also serves as a detention site. The video, filmed in early July 2024, showed soldiers taking aside a detainee lying face down, then surrounding him with riot shields to block visibility as they allegedly carried out the abuse. The man was later taken for treatment for severe injuries. The leaked clip was aired by Israel's Channel 12 news that August.

In her resignation letter published by The Times of Israel on Friday, Tomer-Yerushalmi said she approved the release "in an attempt to counter the false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities."

She wrote that while those detained at Sde Teiman "are terrorists and terror operatives of the worst kind," that does not diminish the duty to investigate when there is "reasonable suspicion of violence against a detainee."

Commenting on her resignation, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, "Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF soldiers is not worthy of wearing the IDF uniform."

Following the Sde Teiman incident, five reservists were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm to a detainee, which they have denied. The case sparked outrage among coalition politicians and right-wing activists. Dozens of protesters stormed the military base in an attempt to block the arrests.

The facility, partially converted into a detention camp for Palestinians suspected of militant activity, has faced allegations of widespread torture and abuse. Over 1,000 detainees from Gaza have reportedly passed through the base, including men accused of taking part in Hamas' October 7 attack, which left some 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage. According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health authorities, Israeli military action has killed over 68,000 Palestinians since.

The resignation adds to growing scrutiny of Israel's conduct in Gaza, as both sides say they remain committed to a US-brokered truce.  

See also: Israel's Undeniable War Crimes in Gaza

IDF's top lawyer quits; says she approved leak of detainee abuse video

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Belmarsh Prison Inmate Provides Photos of Julian Assange, Says the ‘Internet is the One Thing They Can’t Control’

Cassandra Fairbanks
The Gateway Pundit 

The Gateway Pundit has obtained exclusive testimony, as well as photos, from a fellow inmate of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside London’s highest security prison. 

The inmate, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent multiple photos of Assange from inside Belmarsh maximum security prison and spoke to The Gateway Pundit about the WikiLeaks founder’s situation using a contraband phone he has inside.

Assange is imprisoned in the United Kingdom and faces eighteen charges under the Espionage Act in the United States for his publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. If extradited and convicted, he could be face a maximum sentence of 175 years for the “crime” of publishing material that the US government did not want the population to know.

Along with the photos from inside the prison, the inmate pushed a fundraiser — causing supporters to worry that he was attempting to extort WikiLeaks or harm Assange by violating his privacy. The Gateway Pundit reached out to him to get his side of the story.

This reporter spoke to the inmate through a series of online messages and a phone call for multiple hours on Wednesday evening. At the beginning of the conversation I asked him if he was a prisoner or someone who works there — and if his motive was to extort money from the organization. 

“I’m in prison right now,” he said, sending a photo from inside his cell. “Extort him for what reason? He exposed the biggest scandals in the world. Whose side do you think someone in prison would be on? The government who have us locked up in here or a fellow prisoner who actually doesn’t deserve to be here?” 

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'American Taliban' Getting Out Of Prison Early; Slain CIA Officer's Father, Senators, Demand Answers

Zero Hedge

John Walker Lindh, the so-called 'American Taliban', is being let out of federal prison over three years ahead of schedule, and people want to know why. 

Lindh converted to Sunni Islam at age 16 after dropping out of school and becoming obsessed with hip-hop and the movie Malcom X (he pretended to be a black rapper online and criticized others for "acting black"). Shortly after his father left his mother for another man, the culturally appropriating Lindh began to attend San Francisco Bay Area mosques. 

After a 10-month trip to Yemen in 1998 to study the Qur'an, Lindh returned home for eight months, only to return to the Middle East - eventually winding up in Afghanistan to take up arms against Northern Alliance fighters in May, 2001.

He was captured on November 25, 2001 and held at an a makeshift prison in Afghanistan, where he would participate in an extremely violent prisoner uprising (the battle of Qala-i-Jangi) that led to the death of CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann and hundreds of foreign fighters. Lindh was one of 86 prisoners who survived after hiding in a basement with a group of detainees who shot at Red Cross workers sent in to collect the dead, killing one. 

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The Prosecution Of Julian Assange Is Infinitely Bigger Than Assange

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium.com

Julian Assange’s mother reported yesterday that the WikiLeaks founder has not been permitted any visitors during his detention in Belmarsh Prison, including from doctors and his lawyers. Doctors who visited Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy have attested that he urgently needs medical care. Belmarsh is a maximum security prison sometimes referred to as “the UK’s Guantanamo Bay”.

And yet we’re asked to believe that this has something to do with an alleged bail violation and a US extradition request for alleged computer crimes carrying a maximum sentence of five years. If you zoom out and listen to the less-informed chatter of the overt propagandists and the brainwashed rank-and-file western mass media consumers, you will also see that people believe this has something to do with Russia and rape allegations as well. 

Actually, none of these things are true.

Assange is being imprisoned under draconian conditions for journalism, and for journalism only. The Obama administration declined to prosecute him after WikiLeaks’ publication of the Manning leaks out of concern that doing so would endanger press freedoms, and the Obama administration didn’t have any more evidence at its disposal than the Trump administration has now. The “crime” Assange is accused of consists of nothing other than standard journalistic practices that investigative journalists engage in all the time, including source protection and encouraging the source to obtain more material. The only thing that has changed is an increased willingness in the White House to prosecute journalists for practicing journalism, and there are an abundance of reasonsto believe that he will be hit with far more serious charges once extradited to US soil. They’re not going to all this trouble for a bail violation and a five-year maximum sentence.

But if you zoom out even further, in the grand scheme of things this barely even has anything to do with Assange. Sure, he has of course been a thorn in the side of those who operate the transnational western power alliance, and given the choice they would of course prefer him to be locked up or dead than free and alive. But that’s not what the corrupt influencers who are strangling our world are shooting for here. They are making a grab for something much, much bigger. Assange just happens to be a stepping stone along the way. 

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Weiner Goes Free: Stiff Sentence Turns Soft As Ex-Congressman Gets Early Release

Zero Hedge

 

After he helped change the course of US history by prompting the FBI to reopen its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server during the final days of the 2016 campaign, former New York Congressman and ex-husband of Hillary aide Huma Abedin has been released from federal prison a few months ahead of schedule thanks to his 'good behavior' on the inside, according to a TMZ report.

 

To be sure, Weiner must spend a few more months under federal supervision before he's completely in the clear. Under the terms of his release, Weiner must now spend a few additional months in federal custody, either in a half way house or other supervised pre-release program, before he can lawfully reenter society. Weiner served his time at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Mass., where he received treatment for his "condition" of being a sex offender.

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"If Ross Isn't Free Neither Are You"...

 

...and 3D Printed Guns for Everyone! - #NewWorldNextWeek

Corbett Report

 

Abduct, imprison, repeat: Israel systematically imprisons Palestinians on false or no charges

RT

People around the world are rightfully outraged by Donald Trump's recent effective handing over of Jerusalem to Israel. 

Behind the scenes, out of sight, an outrageous and illegal practice continues, the alleged“only democracy in the Middle East” on a near-daily basis abducts Palestinian men, women, and children under false pretexts (or no charges at all), using sham legal proceedings to enforce prolonged, illegal, detentions.

According to October 2017 statistics by the Palestinian prisoner support group Addameer, Israel holds 6,198 Palestinians in prison (including 280 children and 58 women).

On October 27, Israeli forces abducted Ashraf Abu Rahme (36) from Bil'in, a village of around 2,000 people, just west of Ramallah. Abu Rahme's alleged crime? “Throwing stones.”

Even were Israel's claims true, under international law, he could have been firing a gun at the occupying forces. The UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/37/43 of December 3, 1982, reaffirms:

“...the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.”

That said, all accounts put Abu Rahme as unarmed and not throwing stones. Bil'in resident Haitham al-Khatib was with Abu Rahme the day of his abduction. Al-Khatib wrote of walking with Abu Rahme and others in Bil'in's fields when the Israeli Army entered and handcuffed Abu Rahme. 

Khatib included a video of the incident.

On November 21, al-Khatib noted that Abu Rahme's already one month-long detention would be extended by another two months, with an additional fine of 5,000 shekels (over $1,400), adding: “He is a peaceful activist like me! Israel is trying to destroy my village's peaceful demonstrations!”

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Historic US bill would outlaw Israel aid used to abuse children

The Electronic Intifada
Nora Barrows-Friedman

Ten members of Congress are cosponsoring a bill to bar the US from financially supporting human rights abuses of Palestinian children by the Israeli military.

The Promoting Human Rights by Ending Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act, introduced on Tuesday, is the first ever bill to prioritize the human rights of Palestinian children as a condition for US support, according to campaigners.

The bill requires the Secretary of State to annually certify that no US funds allocated to Israel will have been used to “support military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children.”

The legislation would block funds used by Israel to inflict “torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment,” “physical violence, including restraint in stress positions,” “hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats or other forms of psychological abuse.”

It would also target solitary confinement, administrative detention, denial of access to parents or lawyers during interrogations and “confessions obtained by force or coercion.”

“It’s an unprecedented bill,” said Jennifer Bing, an advocate for Palestinian children’s rights who directs the American Friends Service Committee’s Middle East program.

“There’s never been a piece of legislation in Congress that says we need to hold Israel accountable for the aid dollars it receives from US taxpayers,” she told The Electronic Intifada.

Bing said that this is a critical opportunity for constituents to advocate for their representatives to support the bill.

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CBO: Nearly 1 in 6 Young Men in U.S. Jobless or Incarcerated

Breitbart

Nearly one in six young men (between the ages of 18-34) in the U.S. were either jobless or incarcerated in 2014, according to a new government report. It details a striking amount of male alienation that has been on the rise since the 1980s.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), out of the 38 million young men in the U.S. in 2014, 16 percent were jobless (5 million or 13 percent) or incarcerated (1 million or 3 percent). The share of young men without a job or in prison has increased substantially since 1980, when just 11 percent of young men fit into either category.

CBO highlights that the level of joblessness and incarceration varies based on young men’s educational attainment. The less they have, the more likely they are to be jobless or incarcerated. The rates also varied among racial and ethnic groups. In 2014 young black men were about twice as likely to be jobless or incarcerated than white or Hispanic young men were. The disparity was largely due, however, to higher rates of incarceration among young black men.

Economic, policy, and skill-set changes contributed to the the large increase in joblessness and incarceration from 1980 to 2014, CBO said.

On the economic side in particular, CBO pointed to the recent recession, technological advances, more women entering the workforce and such debate-inspiring issues as outsourcing and low-skilled immigration.

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VOODOO ECONOMICS: The Massive Prison Industry In The United States, Big Business & Slavery

Arjun Walia
rielpolitik.com

Despite the fact that various social, political, and human rights organizations have condemned the United States’ prison system, it remains one of the biggest businesses in existence today. Did you know that America has four percent of the world’s population, yet still carries approximately twenty five percent of the world’s prison population? That is a staggering number. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world and it is increasing exponentially each year. Almost half of American juveniles will have been arrested before they reach their 23rd birthday, and children as young as 13 years old have been sentenced to die in prison. The cost of this system? Approximately $75,000,000,000 a year…

These are just a few startling statistics outlined in the video below. Check it out.

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Why Can't We End Mass Incarceration?

Comment: Excellent article from May of 2015.

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rollingstone.com

The U.S. federal-prison population swelled from 24,000 prisoners in 1980 to 219,000 in 2013. And federal prisons are just the tip of the iceberg — factor in state prisons and local jails, and there are 2.2 million people locked up in this country. 

The U.S. Sentencing Commission ... is charged with setting and adjusting the detailed schedule of penalties for those convicted of federal crimes. In April 2014, the commission approved a reduction in sentences for certain drug crimes going forward. 

In his final months in office, President Obama has focused more on the need for criminal-justice reform. He has used the executive power of clemency to commute some of the most egregiously unfair sentences of 89 federal drug convicts. 

But a handful of pardons don't amount to much when there are hundreds of thousands of federal prisoners. Nearly half of federal inmates are serving time for drug crimes. Of those, 60 percent were subject to mandatory minimums when they were sentenced.  

Stephanie George was a 26-year-old mother of three when she was convicted on drug-conspiracy charges because the man she was dating had kept drugs and money in her house. Under the federal three-strikes-and-you're-out law, she was sentenced to life in prison. George was locked up nearly 18 years before Obama commuted her sentence. One of her sons died shortly before her release. She says she doesn't think most politicians consider the costs a mandatory-minimum sentence brings. 

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German man locked up over HVB bank allegations may have been telling truth

The Guardian

Gustl Mollath was put in a psychiatric unit for claiming his wife was involved in money-laundering at the Bavarian bank. But seven years on evidence has emerged that could set him free

 

A German man committed to a high-security psychiatric hospital after being accused of fabricating a story of money-laundering activities at a major bank is to have his case reviewed after evidence has emerged proving the validity of his claims.

In a plot worthy of a crime blockbuster, Gustl Mollath, 56, was submitted to the secure unit of a psychiatric hospital seven years ago after court experts diagnosed him with paranoid personality disorder following his claims that staff at the Hypo Vereinsbank (HVB) – including his wife, then an assets consultant at HVB – had been illegally smuggling large sums of money into Switzerland.

Mollath was tried in 2006 after his ex-wife accused him of causing her physical harm. He denied the charges, claiming she was trying to sully his name in the light of the evidence he allegedly had against her. He was admitted to the clinic, where he has remained against his will ever since.

But recent evidence brought to the attention of state prosecutors shows that money-laundering activities were indeed practiced over several years by members of staff at the Munich-based bank, the sixth-largest private financial institute in Germany, as detailed in an internal audit report carried out by the bank in 2003. The report, which has now been posted online, detailed illegal activities including money-laundering and aiding tax evasion. A number of employees, including Mollath's wife, were subsequently sacked following the bank's investigation.

The "Mollath affair", as it has been dubbed by the German media, has taken on such political dimensions that it now threatens to bring down the government of Bavaria. Under the weight of public and political pressure Horst Seehofer, the prime minister of the rich southern state and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats – has now called for the case to be reopened, amid charges that Mollath was possibly the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice.

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Shocking facts about Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli gulags

Uprooted Palestinian's Blog

Official statistics, released on the occasion of Prisoner Day, on the number and state of affairs of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails revealed scandalous facts about the tragedy of Palestinian detainees.

The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ affairs said, in a statement that has been recently released on the occasion, that 5000 Palestinian detainees are still held in Israeli prisons, including 476 sentenced to life.

The statement documented the incarceration of 19 Palestinian women and 200 children in addition to several Palestinian minors who have, ironically, grown to maturity inside Israeli prisons.

The prisoners’ list includes 185 cases of administrative detention along with 11 MPs and several political leaders distributed among 22 Israeli prisons.

Incredible data about the prisoners’ tragedy

Official statistics revealed that more than 800 thousand Palestinians, including 15,000 female detainees and tens of thousands of children have been subject to the ongoing Israeli detention campaigns since 1967 until end of 2013.

Such appalling figures leave little doubt, if any, that every single Palestinian family had been put through detention. According to the statistics, Israeli prisons and detention centers have been built in almost every Palestinian territory.

Ever since the eruption of the second intifada in September 2000, 80 thousand detention cases, including 10,000 children and more than 60 ex-lawmakers and ministers, were documented.

Over the past decades, the Palestinian socio-political scene in the occupied West Bank has been overwhelmed by such detention campaigns. The security pretext, endemic to Israeli alleged incarceration ruses, could no longer be maintained as a taken-for-granted excuse.

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