SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
isaac herzog
Slamming Israeli Media Lies, Freed Hostage Says IDF Strike—Not Hamas—Wounded Her
"I cannot ignore what happened here over the past 24 hours, taking my words out of context," said Noa Argamani. "As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be victimized once again by the media."
Aug 23, 2024
An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7 and held hostage for 245 days before being rescued lashed out on Friday at Israeli media outlets that twisted her words to make it seem as if she was wounded by her captors when in reality she was injured in an attack by the military in which she once served.
Responding to reports in outlets including The Jerusalem Post—which on Thursday ran the headline "Hamas Beat Me All Over"—Noa Argamani said on Instagram that "I can't ignore what happened in the media in the last 24 hours."
"Things were taken out of context," the 26-year-old navy veteran from Be'er Sheva said of her earlier comments to Group of Seven diplomats in Tokyo. "I was not beaten... I was in a building that was bombed by the Air Force."
"I emphasize that I was not beaten, but injured all over my body by the collapse of a building on me," Argamani added. "As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be victimized once again by the media."
Prominent Israelis including President Isaac Herzog and pro-Israel voices around the world including writer Aviva Klompas and the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council amplified the false claim that Argamani was "beaten" by her captors.
Argamani was partying with her boyfriend Avinatan Or at the Nova rave near the Gaza border when the festival was attacked by Hamas-led militants in the early morning hours of October 7. In now-famous video footage, she is seen begging, "Don't kill me!" as her captors whisk her away toward Gaza on a motorcycle. Or was also kidnapped and is believed to still be in Hamas custody.
"Every night, I was falling asleep and thinking, this may be the last night of my life," Argamani said Thursday of her time in captivity.
Argamani was one of four Hamas captives rescued during a June raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, an operation in which Israeli forces killed at least 236 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Three other Israeli hostages taken from the Nova rave were also rescued in the raid.
"It's a miracle because I survived October 7, and I survived this bombing, and I also survived the rescue," Argamani said in Tokyo on Thursday.
Argamani's rescue fulfilled a dying wish from her mother, who had terminal cancer, to be reunited with her daughter before she passed. Argamani was also freed on the birthday of her father, Yakov Argamani, who, from the start of the hostage ordeal, urged Israeli leaders to eschew revenge after the October 7 attack.
There are believed to be around 109 Israelis and others still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Argamani implored the government to make freeing them its top priority.
"Avinatan, my boyfriend, is still there, and we need to bring them back before it's going to be too late," she said Thursday. "We don't want to lose more people than we already lost."
More than 1,100 Israelis and others including Thai farmworkers were killed on October 7, at least some of them in so-called "friendly fire" attacks by Israeli forces. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) employed a protocol known as the "Hannibal Directive" authorizing lethal force against Israeli soldiers in order to prevent them from being taken prisoner by enemy forces. More than 240 Israelis and others were abducted by Hamas and other militants.
Freed hostages have recounted being fired upon by Israeli aircraft as they were being taken by Hamas militants to Gaza. One former captive said in December that "every day in captivity was extremely challenging. We were in tunnels, terrified that it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us, and then they would say Hamas killed you."
Numerous Israeli hostages have been killed by their would-be rescuers, including a trio of men who managed to escape from their captors and were waving white flags and shouting for help in Hebrew when they were shot dead by IDF soldiers in Gaza in December, and five Israelis who likely suffocated to death due to a fire sparked by an Israeli assault six months ago on the tunnel where the hostages were being held.
In contrast to former Palestinian prisoners held by Israel—who, along with Israeli whistleblowers, have reported systemic torture, rape, starvation, and even murder committed by their captors—numerous Israelis kidnapped by Hamas have reported being relatively well treated. Other former hostages said they were physically, sexually, and psychologically abused.
Taking civilian hostages is a war crime in itself.
Israel's 322-day retaliation for October 7 has left at least 144,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced by Israel's bombardment and invasion, which has flattened much of the coastal enclave. A crippling siege has pushed hundreds of thousands of Gazans over the brink of starvation, with at least dozens of children dying of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care. Preventable diseases including measles, hepatitis, and polio threaten public health not only in Gaza but also in Israel and other neighboring nations.
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Instead of Holocaust Museum, Detour Signs Direct Israel's Herzog to The Hague
"How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?" asked one Dutch Jewish organizer behind the protest.
Mar 10, 2024
Human rights activists in The Netherlands greeted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday with large protests and directed him towards the International Criminal Court at The Hague over his nation's alleged war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Herzog was in Amsterdam to attend the opening of the new National Holocaust Museum, but demonstrators said Herzog's presence needed to be challenged given the large scale death and destruction that Israel's military has unleashed in Gaza over the last five months.
As Al-Jazeerareports:
Dutch Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rave, which organized the demonstrations at the musuem’s opening with the Dutch Palestinian community and Socialist International, said that while it is important to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, it cannot stand by while the war in Gaza continues.
"For us Jews, these museums are part of our history, of our past," said Joana Cavaco, an activist with Erev Rav, addressing the crowd before the museum's opening ceremony. "How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?"
A pro-Palestinian Dutch organization, The Rights Forum, called Herzog's presence "slap in the face of the Palestinians who can only helplessly watch how Israel murders their loved ones and destroys their land."
Along Herzog's route through the city, members of Amnesty International—which has accused Israel of apartheid and backed the findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which said policies in Gaza may amount to genocide—carried fake detour signs pointing the motorcade towards the nearby ICC.
As the president of Israel, Amnesty International Netherlands said Herzog "is the political symbol of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. It is unfortunate that Herzog was invited after his controversial statements. That is why we are taking action."
Amnesty and other rights groups have documented numerous incidents in Gaza and the West Bank that they say may amount to "war crimes," including the indiscriminate bombing of civilians areas, the use of prohibited weapons like white phosphorous, attacks on hospitals and emergency medical personnel, the blocking of life-saving food, water, and other supplies, and other acts of "callous disregard for Palestinian lives."
At a square nearby the museum where Herzog gave his speech, reportsReuters, demonstrators crowded the streets and chanted slogans like "Cease-fire Now!" and "Stop Bombing Children!" as they held signs that read "Jews Against Genocide" and "The Grandchild of a Holocaust Survivor Says: Stop Gaza Holocaust."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended an opening of Amsterdam’s Holocaust museum, where pro-Palestinian protesters demanding an end to Israel's assault in Gaza booed him https://t.co/L3NceMdAwk pic.twitter.com/ZspcNrl8FF
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2024
Ahead of Sunday's opening, the Jewish Cultural Quarter that operates the new museum, said in a statement that it was "profoundly concerned by the war and the consequences this conflict has had, first and foremost for the citizens of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank."
The statement said the museum stands "for a just and resolution for all those directly involved" and the impact the ongoing violence and hatred is having beyond the Middle East:
The reduction to black-and-white opposites and apparently incompatible arguments – oppressed against oppressor, good against bad, truth against lie. This polarization has spread hatred toward Jews and Islamophobia. It takes courage to speak out against injustice. It takes courage to recognize that the real world is complex and contradictory, and that our empathy need not be confined to one side.
At the heart of the National Holocaust Museum's mission is the desire to build a just society in the Netherlands by signalling the danger of dehumanizing and excluding those who live among us. That is the message in our presentation, our educational program and our events.
The group said Herzog had been invited to attend the opening prior to the Hamas-led attack on October 7 of last year, but that the fighting since has only further revealed the importance of remembering and learning from the past.
That "the war continues to rage," the statement concluded, "makes our mission all the more urgent."
Keep ReadingShow Less
What We Want From Biden As We Prepare to March on Washington for Gaza
We plan to call upon the president to take three steps: Secure a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, stop unconditionally funding the Israeli government, and hold Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers accountable.
Jan 10, 2024
This weekend, hundreds of thousands of people plan to march to the White House in what may be the largest U.S. demonstration for Palestinian human rights of the past three months.
Like the Americans who protested Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War and George W. Bush over the invasion of Iraq, we are marching because we cannot sit quietly here in America while our government enables an unjust war overseas.
We plan to call upon President Joe Biden to take three steps: Secure a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, stop unconditionally funding the Israeli government, and hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers accountable for the war crimes they have committed with American taxpayer dollars.
We must say to Biden what was said to LBJ, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush years ago: Stop this war.
It has been nearly 100 days since Netanyahu's far-right government started wantonly and deliberately attacking civilians in Gaza—civilians who had nothing to do with the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The Israeli bombing campaign, which Biden reportedly admits in private is "indiscriminate," has killed over 22,000 Palestinians, including at least 10,000 children and over 100 journalists.
The Israeli bombing has also reduced much of Gaza to uninhabitable rubble, displaced a large portion of its population, and created a humanitarian crisis. People across Gaza face starvation and live without access to running water, electricity, or gas.
None of this was accidental, and none of it should have come as a surprise to President Biden.
In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks, Israeli officials made it clear that they intended to respond with a scorched-earth policy in Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a supposed moderate, declared, "It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true."
The Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the government was justified in cutting off water, electricity, and other basic necessities to all Palestinians because Israel is fighting "human animals."
Netanyahu justified the mass bombing of Gaza by referencing an ancient biblical verse about the mass slaughter of an entire city from animals to infants.
Despite such threats and clear evidence that the Israeli government has spent three months acting on them, Biden has not condemned them, conditioned U.S. support for the Netanyahu government, allowed U.N. cease-fire resolutions to take effect, or even privately demanded a cease-fire.
Just as Biden reportedly stopped Netanyahu's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza in 2021 by picking up the phone and telling him that "we're out of runway," he must do so again.
In stubbornly refusing to change course, Biden has ignored the majority of his own party who support a cease-fire, harmed our nation's moral standing on the global stage, tarnished his own presidential legacy, contributed to a rise in anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Palestinian racism, and enabled horrific violence unseen since the bombings of Aleppo and Grozny.
We must to say Biden what was said to LBJ, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush years ago: Stop this war.
If the president will not listen to the wails of Palestinian mothers grieving over their mangled children in besieged hospitals or to the pleas of journalists facing the threat of assassination or to the cries of children trapped under the rubble of their homes, we must ensure that he hears the voices of the American people in Washington, D.C.
That's why, on January 13, hundreds of thousands of Americans from all faiths, backgrounds, and political orientations plan to come together in our nation's capital to demand the following three things:
1. An immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza
The Biden administration has the ability to exert extreme pressure on the Israeli government to agree to an immediate and permanent cease-fire. As an Israeli official admitted, the government could not fight this war without resupply from the United States.
Just as Biden reportedly stopped Netanyahu's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza in 2021 by picking up the phone and telling him that "we're out of runway," he must do so again.
Securing a cease-fire that results in an end to the violence and the release of hostages in Gaza and political prisoners in Israeli jails should also set the stage for broader negotiations to pursue a just and lasting peace by ending the occupation.
2. Ending the unconditional U.S. funding of Israel's genocide against Gaza and the occupation of Palestine
The United States has provided 10,000 tons of arms and weaponry to the Israeli government since the start of its genocidal campaign. Biden has bypassed Congress multiple times to send billions of dollars in weapons to the Netanyahu government.
As long as Israel believes it will face no financial or diplomatic consequences for slaughtering Palestinians and scuttling the remaining hopes of a Palestinian state, it will not change course.
3. Hold Israel accountable for war crimes committed against the Palestinian people and its continuous violations of international law
Whenever the Israeli government's war on the people of Gaza comes to an end, our nation and international bodies cannot simply return to business as usual as if nothing happened. The Israeli officials responsible for these atrocities must be held accountable for their crimes and, at the very least, treated as international pariahs.
To that end, the Biden administration must not interfere with efforts by the International Court of Justice or other global bodies to hold the Israeli government or officials accountable for their crimes. The administration must refuse to welcome Netanyahu or other members of the current government to the White House and impose sanctions on those responsible.
Fulfilling these three demands is both a moral necessity and also in the interests of the United States.
The violence in Gaza threatens to drag our nation into another Middle Eastern forever war—American naval forces have already engaged Houthi forces in the Red Sea while the Israeli government is exchanging fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu appears to be intent on prolonging and even escalating the violence to preserve his political power and delay a reckoning over his government's failures on Oct. 7.
For the sake of the innocent who are being slaughtered by the hundreds every day, for the sake of the innocents in danger of being slaughtered, for the interests of our nation, we urge the Biden administration to fulfill the demands laid out here.
Time is running out to not only save innocents in Gaza, but also—as President Biden would say—to save the soul of our nation.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular