British parliament debates Israeli military tribunals

By Joseph Dana December 13, 2010 | Edit
The British Labour party is now debating what the Israeli labor party refuses to acknowledge, the horrific treatment of Palestinians in Israeli military courts. I have covered the military court system extensively on this website in relation to the repression of the Palestinian popular unarmed struggle. Amira Hass’s article  in today’s Haaretz points to positive developments in the UK that could raise international awareness and create pressure on Israel to start behaving like a civilized Western country.
Another member of her faction(British Labour Party), Richard Burden, added: “I thought that the area (West Bank) had lost its capacity to shock me.” But he realized he had made a mistake “when I saw the military court and what went on there.”
The visiting MPs were sitting in one of the caravans – the halls of the court – when they “heard a jangle of chains outside the door of the courtroom,” Osborne continued. “Army officers led child detainees into the military courtroom. The children’s legs were shackled, they were handcuffed and they were all kitted out in brown jumpsuits. One had to wonder if the soldiers felt threatened by 13- and 14-year-old boys.”

Joseph Dana was a contributing writer on +972 Magazine from August 2010 to December 2011. This is an archive of his work.

End of article module for Members

TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence.    We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies.   This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza.   We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.   Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation