‘Systematic torture’: To be Palestinian in an Israeli prison
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank – Palestinian organisations are documenting abuses by Israel and its forces in hopes that one day it will be held accountable. Among them is the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), which works to support Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of PPS, told Al Jazeera there have been even more serious violations of human rights and international standards on the treatment of prisoners these past months. He feels, he added, that the Israeli forces’ transgressions are driven by vengeance against Palestinians since the October 7 attack by the Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Gaza governing party Hamas – and other armed Palestinian factions on Israeli territory. Since then, Israel has launched a relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 28,000 people. In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, it arrested about 7,000 people, sometimes without charges, making the total number of Palestinian prisoners nearly 10,000, adding serious overcrowding to the challenges they face. At least 250 of those taken are children. More than half of these detainees are in administrative detention, meaning Israel will hold them for months without due process or charges. The torture starts right away Hanin al-Masaeed from Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp was arrested in October 2023 and released as part of the prisoner exchange deals in November. Hanin al-Masaeed, shown here with her mother, was released on November 28 [Courtesy: Ahmad Jabran] She told Al Jazeera that on October 11, Israeli forces raided her home, gathered her family in one room, confiscated her mobile phone, and told her there was a warrant for her. She had assumed the raid was a routine search, an everyday occurrence in Aida. She was taken, blindfolded, in an Israeli police car, accompanied by a female soldier playing Hebrew songs loudly, putting the speaker up next to al-Masaeed’s ear to goad her. Her hands were tightly bound for four hours. After four days at the detention centre at Sharon prison, where female guards beat the prisoners, took away their blankets and mattresses at 6am, and gave them only one meal a day, she was transferred to Damon Prison. Al-Zaghari told Al Jazeera that testimonies from released prisoners reveal beatings, insults, and threats of rape. He added that the arrest of Palestinian women and girls has increased and that they face torture, ill-treatment, and intentional neglect. Beaten brutally Jaafar Obayat, who recently left Megiddo Prison after 17 years, told Al Jazeera that in the days after October 7, prisoners were assaulted and clothes, necessities, food, blankets, TVs, radios, tables and chairs were confiscated. That prisoners had such items in their cells in the first place was the fruit of struggles by prisoners over decades. [embedded content] In Negev Prison, prisoner Thaer Abu Asab was killed simply for asking a guard if there was a ceasefire, a released prisoner, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera. He added that prisoners were beaten in their cells near-daily. When Abu Asab asked his question, the response was an ominous “I’ll show you,” then the guard called a whole unit into Abu Asab’s cell. They beat him with iron rods all over, including his face, and left him lying there. The prisoners were afraid to ask for medical attention, but eventually, unable to watch him suffer, they shouted until a nurse came to examine him. Two days later, they were told he had died. Everyone in Abu Asab’s cell, the anonymous prisoner said, was beaten with iron rods after that. The PPS has recorded thousands of injuries – fractures, bruises and worse – among imprisoned Palestinians who get no treatment. Eight prisoners have died in the last four months after being beaten and not treated, like Mohammed al-Sabar, who died in Ofer prison on February 8. Catastrophic conditions, humiliation The significant overcrowding, lack of hygiene, hunger, and cold have led to diseases spreading among prisoners. Jameel al-Draawi from al-Obeidiyah east of Bethlehem, who was released on January 11 after 18 years of detention, said the assaults, deprivations, and denial of medical care have made life unbearable for the prisoners. Prisoners with chronic diseases, he added, were already neglected before the war but prison authorities then stopped their medications and treatment. Mobility aids and other medical devices were also taken away. In prison, prisoners cannot shower and often have to wash their clothes and put them on wet because their other clothes have been confiscated, which spreads disease. Their cells are overcrowded, prisoners sleep on the floor without blankets. PPS has also pointed out that Israeli prison authorities give prisoners nethier enough nor properly prepared food. Israeli authorities have also started making Palestinians strip for transport and assign them numbers instead of names in an attempt to humiliate them – Israeli soldiers even circulate videos of themselves assaulting prisoners. A placard placed in front of the ICRC office by Palestinian protesters, who accuse the ICRC of ‘not standing to its responsibility toward … Palestinian prisoners and the severe aggression against them’, Ramallah, October 26, 2023 [Nasser Nasser/AP Photo] PPS also documented attacks in which special units entered prisoner’s cells to assault prisoners and trample on their heads. In one instance, prisoners were forced to the ground and female recruits were told to step on their heads. Former prisoner Kamal Abu Arab said, “The occupation does not respect our humanity, and the prisoners feel forgotten. No one mentions them; no visits from lawyers, no visits from the Red Cross. “News is prohibited, prayers and the call to prayer are prohibited, medical treatments are prohibited, and requests are prohibited. According to the administration of the prison service, we have no rights as humans. “Does anyone remember us in this world?” Since October 7, prison visits by the Red Cross to prisons in Israel have been stopped, suspending accountability. The organisation would visit each prison at least once a month, and used to be officially notified by Israel’s prison service of all arrests. This allowed the Red Cross to inform the
Qatar PM: Hamas-Israel talks ‘not very promising’, truce efforts to go on
Talks involving officials from Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the US have so far not yielded a deal for a pause in the Israeli attacks. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says his country’s mediation efforts will continue despite an agreement between Israel and Hamas appearing unlikely at the moment as Israel prepares to mount an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza. The talks, which involved officials from the United States and Egypt, have so far failed to produce results as Hamas and Israel have highly diverging views. “The pattern in the last few days is not really very promising but … we will always remain optimistic and will always remain pushing,” Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the foreign minister of Qatar, playing a key mediator, said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. He added that since the scale of this proposed agreement is much larger than the one reached last year, which included a temporary ceasefire and exchange of prisoners, challenges are expected. Al Thani also cited a lag in the “humanitarian part” of the negotiations: Hamas wants Israel to withdraw from Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave, but officials in Tel Aviv have called those “delusional demands”. Osama Hamdan, a senior spokesperson for Hamas, told Al Jazeera: “The main point of disagreement is Netanyahu and his games. He is trying not to have any arrangements or agreements. That is clear.” Hamdan added that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had shown a “positive position” towards negotiations and “willingness” to achieve a ceasefire in a statement on Saturday that said the group wants a complete cessation of Israeli attacks on Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said a new deal “does not appear very close” while again opposing a two-state solution backed by Tel Aviv’s allies in the West, along with countries in the region. “How can we give recognition to such a state after the massacre of October 7? This would be a reward for terrorism,” he said during a televised address in reference to the Hamas attack that Israel has been retaliating for since. Israeli leaders have remained adamant on their plans to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost area in Gaza where more than 1.4 million of the total 2.3 million population has been forcibly displaced, despite international pressure. Israeli attacks continue Israeli forces killed dozens of people on Saturday and Sunday in intense bombings and ground assaults on southern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera journalists reporting from the ground. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has put the death toll since the start of the war at about 29,000 people, with thousands still missing and many injured. However, the US has indicated that it will veto a ceasefire resolution proposed by Algeria in the United Nations Security Council, as US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement late on Saturday. “Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” Thomas-Greenfield said, adding that it “may run counter” to talks between Hamas and Israel. The US has previously used its veto to prevent the UNSC from passing resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will begin public hearings on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine on Monday. Fifty-two states, a record number, will present their arguments. The UN General Assembly voted to ask the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the occupation in December 2022. This is separate from South Africa’s recent filing against Israel under the genocide convention. Adblock test (Why?)
Sebastiao Salgado: From stark realities to vivid conversation
A look inside the acclaimed photographer’s black and white journey from human resilience to natural conservation. Sebastiao Salgado’s photography, initially rooted in news, evolved into a profound documentary-style work that captures human and environmental narratives. His work spans from the raw realities of Brazil’s Mina Pelada goldmines, African famines, and the Rwandan genocide to the beauty and urgency of conservation and the lives of indigenous communities. Salgado’s lens reveals the depth of human resilience, fragility, and the natural world, transforming his images into more than documentation but a testament to the human soul and Earth’s imperative beauty. We explore his journey as photographer Sebastiao Salgado talks to Al Jazeera. Adblock test (Why?)
BJP National Convention: Party passes resolution to establish ‘Ram Rajya’ in India for next 1000 years
The BJP’s national convention on Sunday passed a resolution on the Ram temple in Ayodhya, asserting that this heralds the establishment of “Ram Rajya” in India for the next 1,000 years.
Trump trials will make GOP frontrunner’s daytime campaign events a challenge, but ‘nothing will stop him’
Former President Trump will be on trial in New York City next month to defend himself against charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, taking the 2024 GOP frontrunner off of the campaign trail. But that won’t stop him. He says he’ll campaign at night. “I’ll do it in the evening,” Trump said this week when asked how sitting in court to defend himself against charges brought by brought by Bragg related to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign would affect his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. NEW YORK JUDGE SETS TRUMP TRIAL FOR MARCH 25, DENIES REQUEST TO DISMISS BRAGG CHARGES IN HUSH MONEY CASE The former president, who will likely be the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for the White House by the time the Bragg trial begins March 25, has been forced to tackle competing calendars for the last several months with presidential primaries and court dates in multiple jurisdictions. So far this year, Trump dominated in the Iowa caucuses, left New Hampshire with a commanding victory, swept caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands and is poised to win in South Carolina Feb. 24. But Trump’s victories haven’t come just from crisscrossing the country stumping on the campaign trail. He’s spent days in court in New York for Bragg’s case, the civil fraud trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against him and his businesses and E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial. TRUMP ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $80 MILLION IN E. JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION TRIAL He’s also appeared in court in Washington D.C. for special counsel Jack Smith’s case related to the 2020 election and in Florida for Smith’s case related to classified documents. “President Trump has been attacked by the Democrats for eight years. He has stood strong through two sham impeachments, endless lies and now multiple baseless political witch hunts,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “The Democrats want Donald Trump in a courtroom instead of on the campaign trail delivering his winning message to the American people, but nothing will stop him from doing that.” The first trial on the 2024 calendar was supposed to be in Washington, D.C., March 4 after special counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stem from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial was scheduled for March 4, the day before the March 5 Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee. But Smith has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump has also appealed to the Supreme Court a lower court’s ruling on presidential immunity. TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO EXTEND DELAY IN ELECTION CASE, CLAIMING PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY The trial is paused until the Supreme Court makes its decisions. It is now unclear when — and if — that trial could begin. But that doesn’t make the month of March free for campaign events. New York Judge Juan Merchan this week rejected Trump’s request to dismiss the charges against him from Bragg’s investigation. Merchan set jury selection for March 25 and said the trial will last approximately six weeks. Bragg alleged Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.” Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York. Jury selection in that case will begin just after the Louisiana primary and ahead of April 2, when Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin voters hit the polls to select a GOP nominee. Smith also charged Trump after his investigation into the former president’s alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges from that probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment from Smith’s investigation, an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty. That trial was set to begin on May 20, 2024, ahead of the Kentucky primary on May 21, the Oregon primary on May 25 and New Jersey’s primary June 4. But U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the case, said that date may be delayed. A decision will be made March 1 during the next court date. Should Trump win the GOP nomination, he would spend July 15-18 at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee. However, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed her trial begin just weeks later. Willis charged Trump as part of her investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements. TRUMP CALLS ‘BADLY TAINTED’ FULTON COUNTY CASE ‘A SCAM’ AFTER DA FANI WILLIS’ COURTROOM DRAMA He pleaded not guilty to all counts. Fulton County prosecutors have proposed that trial begin Aug. 5, 2024. But Willis has been in court defending herself after revelations that she had a romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she brought onto her
4th gen farmer blasts Biden admin for sending billions to Ukraine as US farmers suffer: ‘Facing extinction’
John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, told Fox News Digital that farmers are being crushed under the policies of President Biden and criticized the administration for sending millions to foreign governments while farms are being foreclosed. “Quite frankly, we’re facing extinction today,” Boyd Jr., a fourth-generation farmer from Mecklenburg County, Virginia, told Fox News Digital about the state of the farming industry four years into Biden’s presidency. “Every time I look at the news, there’s another commitment to help foreign countries. We probably helped Ukraine, probably $100 billion or so, and we can’t get debt relief for American citizens in this country,” Boyd said. Boyd told Fox News Digital President Biden promised him a meeting at the White House to talk about issues affecting farmers and that meeting has yet to take place. Additionally, Boyd said Biden told him he supported debt relief for Black farmers but “they wound up repealing it.” US FOOD SECURITY, PRICES ARE ‘UNDER ATTACK’ WHILE FARMERS AND LAWMAKERS FIGHT FOR FARM BILL “We’re providing Israel and other parts of the world billions of dollars in relief and, in one instance, we even provided Ukraine farmers with financial relief,” Boyd said. “But everyone frowns when I say that they should live up to their commitment for debt relief for America’s farmers and to stop farm foreclosures.” Boyd spoke to Fox News Digital as President Biden pushes for the House to vote on a $95 billion national security supplemental package to assist Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific that recently passed in the Senate by a vote of 70-29. The United States has sent hundreds of millions in aid to farmers in Ukraine in recent years, and U.S. aid chief Samantha Power said last year the United States has a “collective interest in ensuring that Ukrainian farmers stay in business.” FARMERS, RANCHERS, LANDOWNERS TAKE AIM AT BIDEN ADMIN FOR LATEST CRACKDOWN The price of farmland rose nearly 8% in 2023, pricing many young farmers out of the market. In recent years, Boyd has been an advocate for farmers facing foreclosures, specifically Black farmers who have been fighting with the USDA in recent years over allegations of racial discrimination, Boyd went on to explain that small farmers are not getting enough help in recent years because the “country has made it so difficult.” “For instance, we have beef cattle prices in this country where we’re producing the lowest amount of beef for most countries, 82 million cows and calves,” Boyd said. “We’re down close to 3%, and we’re producing 1 billion pounds less of America’s beef than we did last year this time. And it’s because we’re not investing in America’s farmers and, in this case, beef cattle farmers. “And I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been producing beef for 41 years, and I just came from the livestock market and there are empty stalls. And this is the time that America’s farmers sell beef to pay off all debts. You know, insurance and all of these things that we use that secondary income to pay our bills to survive until we start planting season. And when I went to the market, I noticed a lot of empty stalls when, historically, those stalls had been filled up with beef cattle and farmers selling their livestock. GOP SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM BIDEN ADMIN ON ‘CONFUSING’ REGULATION THAT COULD CRUSH FARMING FAMILIES “And it’s because we’re not investing in America’s farmers, and they can’t hold on so they’re depleting their herds. And that means they’re not having more cows to go into next year. “These are real issues. And if we don’t face them, we are going to be begging other countries to send us food instead of supporting America’s farmers. And all this is happening under this administration, and nobody’s saying a word about it.” If things don’t change in the next five to 10 years, Boyd said the farming industry won’t be able to meet the country’s needs. “We’re going to be — and I’m speaking as the head of the National Black Farmers Association — there are not going to be any farmers left if we don’t hurry up and take action in this country to protect farmers in this country,” Boyd said. “I mean, put some real laws in place to protect America’s farmers. “These are the people that produce food and feed every household in this country, and we should have them at the top of the tier rather than down at the bottom, frowning on the acts to provide relief to farmers.” What the government “doesn’t frown on,” Boyd explained, is providing “billions of dollars to foreign countries that aren’t going to support us when they get back on their feet. “If you don’t believe me, look at Iraq and Afghanistan. We invested billions of dollars in those regions, and they still don’t want us in those countries today,” Boyd said. “So, why do we keep making the same mistakes? Investing all of our money into foreign countries that really aren’t going to support us anywhere. Invest those dollars into our own country, in our own infrastructure and, in this case, America’s farmers. And watch it multiply where we can leave our farming operations to the next generation of farmers.” Boyd told Fox News Digital helping farmers is not a partisan issue and hopes the Biden administration will fulfill its promise to meet with him. “You have an enormous amount of resources to help farmers in Ukraine, which aren’t U.S. citizens. I don’t care how you look at that — Republican, Democrat, independent. Man, that’s bad politics.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson said they “appreciate the work John Boyd, Jr. does on behalf of Black farmers nationwide as the National Black Farmers Association president, as well as the insights he provides on the struggles Black farmers are facing.” “This is why we recently invited him to an event with senior White House officials, including
Renowned Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar dies, PM Modi Says ‘unforgettable for me’
Renowned Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj breathed his last on Sunday at Chandragiri Teerth in Dongargarh in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district after undertaking ‘sallekhna’.
US ‘strongly condemns’ violence in DR Congo after alleged drone attack
State Department says escalating violence poses risk to millions of people facing displacement and deprivation. The United States has condemned growing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), blaming an armed group it says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda. Fighting has flared in recent days in the eastern part of the DRC between the M23 rebel group and government forces, resulting in dozens of soldiers and civilians being killed or wounded. The fighting has also pushed tens of thousands of civilians to flee towards the eastern city of Goma, which is located between Lake Kivu and the border with Rwanda. “This escalation has increased the risk to millions of people already exposed to human rights abuses including displacement, deprivation, and attacks,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. “The United States condemns Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group and calls on Rwanda to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from the DRC and remove its surface-to-air missile systems, which threaten the lives of civilians, UN and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian actors, and commercial flights in eastern DRC,” Miller added. On Saturday, the DRC accused Rwanda of carrying out a drone attack which damaged a civilian aircraft at the airport in Goma. “It had obviously come from the Rwandan territory, violating the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike Kaito said in a video broadcast. The DRC, the United Nations and Western countries have accused Rwanda of backing the rebels in a bid to control vast mineral resources, which Kigali has denied. South Africa said on Wednesday it would send 2,900 troops to support the DRC’s forces against the armed group. The DRC has for decades been at war with many rebel groups that emerged in its resource-rich eastern region in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. M23, which broke away from the DRC army in 2012, says it is fighting in defence of ethnic Congolese Tutsis who face tribal discrimination in the DRC. Adblock test (Why?)
Biden says he told Zelenskyy he’s ‘confident’ US will renew aid to Ukraine
US president warns of further losses of Ukrainian territory if Congress does not renew military aid. United States President Joe Biden has said he assured Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he is confident Congress will renew military aid to repel Russia after its forces captured the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka. “I spoke with Zelenskyy this afternoon to let him know that I was confident we’re going to get that money,” Biden told reporters on Saturday. Biden said he was not confident another Ukrainian city would not fall to Russian forces without US support and that it would be “absurd” and “unethical” for lawmakers not to approve a new package of military aid. “I find it contrary to everything we are as a country,” he said. Biden spoke to Zelenskyy in a call hours after Russia announced the capture of Avdiivka following the earlier withdrawal of Kyiv’s forces, which the Ukrainian leader described as “a professional decision that will save many Ukrainian lives”. Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the capture of Avdiivka, an industrial hub located some 10km (6.2 miles) north of the city of Donetsk, as an “important victory” in the war, which is nearing the two-year mark. The White House said in a statement after the call that Ukrainian forces withdrew after being forced to “ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction, resulting in Russia’s first notable gains in months”. Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram after the call that he was “glad that I can count on the full support of the American president” and that he had faith in the “wise decision of the US Congress.” US Vice President Kamala Harris also took aim at Republicans for holding up aid on Saturday, accusing them of “political gamesmanship” after meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Democrats and Republicans have been sharply divided over continuing support for Kyiv, with allies of former US President Donald Trump insisting the funds be spent on domestic issues, including border security. While the US Senate passed a $95bn package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan earlier this week, the bill faces a difficult road in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has slammed the bill for not addressing security on the US-Mexico border, which he has described as the “most pressing issue facing our country”, and insisted the House will not be rushed to approve the aid. On Friday, Biden blasted House Republicans for taking a two-week recess, saying it was “time they step up” and assuage concerns about the US being a reliable ally. Adblock test (Why?)
Differences between Delhi Metro and Meerut Metro: Know everything here
Know the difference between Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS, also known as NaMo Bharat and Delhi Metro