Torture in Palestine: a glimpse into Israel’s history of unrivalled cruelty

Torture in Palestine: a glimpse into Israel’s history of unrivalled cruelty

Recognition of ‘Israel’ is tantamount to approval of the crimes against humanity that forged its existence. Such recognition is absolutely inexcusable on any level, moral, legal, or otherwise.

Amnesty International has concluded that there is no nation on the face of the planet in which torture is as well-established and documented as in the case of the state of Israel⁽¹⁾. This, coming from an organisation not exactly renowned for its tenacity with respect to the Zionist entity’s crimes, is particularly telling. In addition to this the Zionist entity has a long history of refusing to investigate or even acknowledge the brutal torture that it visits upon its occupied, dispossessed, and terrorised victims.

The Shin Bet (known officially in English as the ‘Israel Security Agency’) is Israel’s domestic ‘security’ force, which boasts the motto “Defender that shall not be seen”. Reporting directly to the Office of the Prime Minister, the Shin Bet is responsible for carrying out the most unimaginably depraved torture on innocent Palestinian detainees, a handful of which will be documented herein.

Ever since its birth, forged in the fires of Jewish terrorism, ethnic cleansing, massacres and rape, the Zionist entity has encountered resistance (peaceful and armed) from dispossessed and occupied Palestinians. Having absolutely zero moral or legal claim to the land it now occupies, Israel responds to righteous peaceful or armed resistance in the only way it can: with violence and force characterised by unmitigated brutality.

Through a mere handful of examples, the reader will see how with unspeakable cruelty, the Zionist entity destroys individuals and families alike, physically and psychologically. Lives are torn apart, human beings are subjected to nightmarish treatment, inflicting unthinkable pain and distress. Their only crime? Exercising their right to self-determination in the face of a violent foreign occupier.

Torture by the Israeli regime is systemic in Occupied Palestine. It is the Zionists’ bulwark, indeed their onlybulwark, against the rightful resistance mounted by the dispossessed and occupied Palestinians. What is euphemistically called ‘interrogation’, ranges from beatings, to isolation and sensory deprivation. From assault and mutilation of the genitals, to sodomy and rape. Electric shocks at the mouth, temples, and testicles are widely used, as are attack dogs. Invariably detainees are held in stress positions within tightly confined cells, and deprived of sleep, food and water. Detainees often have committed no crime other than having been politically active, voicing opposition to the occupation.

The cases that follow are taken from Ralph Schoenman’s 1988 book, ‘The Hidden History of Zionism’. The source materials he cites include the Al-Fajr Jerusalem Palestinian Weekly, case studies carried out by himself and Mya Shone, as well as a five-month 1977 study by the London Sunday Times.

I cannot stress enough the importance of reading these accounts in full; the pure brutality visited upon the victims stretches even the most cruel imagination.

Fazi Abdel Wahed Nijim was arrested in July 1970. He was tortured at Sarafand and set upon by dogs. Arrested again in July 1973, he was beaten in Gaza prison. Zudhir al-Dibi was arrested in February 1970 and interrogated in Nablus where he was whipped and beaten on the soles of his feet. His testicles were squeezed and he was hosed with ice water. Shehadeh Shalaldeh was arrested in August 1969 and interrogated at Moscobiya. A ballpoint refill was pushed into his penis. Abed al-Shalloudi was held without trial for sixteen months. Blindfolded and handcuffed while at Moscobiya, he was beaten by Naim Shabo, an Iraqi Jew, Director of the Minorities Department.

Jamil Abu Ghabiyr was arrested in February 1976 and held in Moscobiya. He was beaten on the head, body and genitals and made to lie in ice water. Issam Atif al Hamoury was arrested in October 1976. In Hebron prison the authorities arranged his rape by a prisoner trustee.

In February 1969, Rasmiya Odeh was arrested and brought to Moscobiya. Her father, Joseph, and two sisters were detained for interrogation. Joseph Odeh was kept in one room while Rasmiya was beaten nearby. When they brought him to her she was lying on the floor in blood-stained clothes. Her face was blue, her eye black. In his presence, they held her down and shoved a stick into her vagina. One of the interrogators ordered Joseph Odeh “to fuck” his daughter. When he refused they began beating both him and Rasmiya. They again spread her legs and shoved the stick into her. She was bleeding from the mouth, face and vagina when Joseph Odeh fell unconscious.