Israel brands Palestinian detainees with numbers on their foreheads
Israel brands Palestinian detainees with numbers on their foreheads
Troops humiliate Palestinians swept up in West Bank raid by referring to them only by their numbers instead of by name
When Israel re-arrested Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank town of Dura, the detainees faced familiar treatment.
They were blindfolded, handcuffed, insulted and kept in inhumane conditions. More unusual was that each man had a number written on his forehead.
Osama Shaheen, who was released in August after 10 months of administrative detention, told Middle East Eye that soldiers brutally stormed his house, smashing his furniture.
"The soldiers turned us from names into numbers, and every detainee had a number that they used to provoke him during his arrest and call him by number instead of name. To them, we are just numbers."
You would think Israel, of all countries, ought to know how blatantly evil this kind of stuff looks.
They do, they just don't care.
They do, and that’s the point.
Israel of all countries is the one desperately trying to prove it's more like Nazis (strong white Europeans in their opinion) than like their victims. That's the lesson they got from it all.
They are a broken nation.
And I understand how they become one, what I don't understand is how Armenians haven't (having plenty of their own weaknesses, of course).
what I don't understand is how Armenians haven't
Because they don't have a regime supporting them them in that?
Have you not seen anything they've done previous to this? It's all completely conscious, they absolutely mean to treat Palestinians like the Nazis did Jews etc.
I have, that's why I said this kind of stuff to instead of this in particular, I was referring to all of it pretty much
They don’t care. No one is preventing them from becoming Nazis themselves.
I know a Holocaust survivor who is horrified by everything going on in Israel and Palestine. I also am related to deceased Holocaust survivors and their children, grandchildren, cousins, etc. all seem to think this situation is pretty awesome. They call the Palestinians animals and other terrible things and talk like it's all political and say that people who disagree with them are brainwashed and unintelligent.
I can't be 100% certain, but I think I now understand what it was like to sit at a table with burgeoning Nazis and Nazi-supporters and I'm sad to say that I failed the test. Yes, I argued, I disagreed, and I walked away, but I'm starting to get why everyone didn't just attack the Nazis in Germany. What do you do when you recognize a Nazi but that Nazi helped raise you and didn't seem to be a Nazi until they suddenly doubled down on the wrong choice?
That sounds really tough man I'm sorry. Thank for you at least sharing your perspective. It's an important perspective to keep in mind. This stuff gets oversimplified, and often, ironically, by disregarding the element of human relationships.
"It's clobberin time"
I know, but when you're in the actual situation then you start asking yourself "am I really gonna hit my 80-something year-old great-aunt?" And you start realizing that the cops are definitely gonna get called and then there's gonna be even more Nazis around you and that the new ones have a trigger-happy reputation.
Institutionalized segregation always leads to conflict. Nations onlynrecover once they abandon that segregation. Israel and Palestine need to come together into one nation as unrealistic as that might seem.
Remember when they almost achieved peace nearly 30 years ago and then an ultra-Orthodox Jew murdered the Israeli prime minister? He was probably a member of Hamas.
\s
Personally, I’d tell them they’re the ones behaving like animals, and cut all future contact.
Maybe someday they’ll wake up and realize that they’re on the wrong side of history. Or they’ll pass on to the next life and figure it out when they’re not in heaven.
How disappointed the generation before them would be, having survived that same treatment only to become the monsters that they struggled to escape.
Israel wasn't founded by holocaust survivors and treated them less than equal.
I’ll take history repeat for 1000.
This seems vaguely familiar but I can't quite put my forearm on it.
Elizabeth Warren supporters?
Numbers are so 1940's, I thought they might have moved to QR codes by now.
Harder to draw quickly, gotta have them pre printed and then there is the ink costs and where on earth could Israel get the money for that?
They couldn't turn the world today into a movie because the writing would be called too lazy and ham-fisted to be realistic.
"The Nazi analogies were so over the top, like we get it, they're bad people... It's insulting to the audience."
—average review
"You're watching it wrong! Those are protagonists!"
—US government in the comments
For fuck sake, how blatant does it need to get before people recognize this for what it is?
The people who are willing to recognize it for what it is have already done so.
You mean admit to it? They can just continue refusing.
This is no longer a boring dystopia
Literally 1940
... branding detainees with numbers, check... now, what's next on Hitler's to do list?
—Bibi, apparently
It's not a brand. It's a mark with a marker. And I think even Bibi and his legions of assholes might be sensitive about tattoos and actual brands.
wow what a distinction.
first of all Bibi is a Hitler apologist. the only thing he's sensitive about is the existence of brown people.
second of all it's the same exact shit. the point isn't the method, it's the dehumanization.
They have become that which they hated.
Treating Gaza like an open air extermination camp and even branding them the way prisoners were tattooed in German camps.
History repeats itself
Yea but a number drawn with a sharpie would fade away. Have you thought of some more permanent way of inking those numbers in their skins? Not to mention that the forehead is a bit too much, it might make the guards uncomfortable. Have you considered someplace a bit more discreet, like maybe the wrist? /s
My grandfather had a number tattooed on his arm. Never again means never again for everyone.
Shame on Israel. Zionism is an evil racist ideology, distinct from Judaism
I wonder why this seems to be the only news org posting this. It seems we know there are camps in the West Bank where people are being detained, and we know the conditions are brutal, but the numbers on the forehead is a very specific extra detail that I can't seem to find any other sources on numbers being written on foreheads. Did MEE just get the exclusive scoop or what?
Well if all you are used to is your establishment talking heads in narrow lockstep then it might be off putting. It isn't at all damning for a single outlet to report on something. Especially when working somewhere so dangerous to be.
In reality this is, as others seem to be at pains to point out, a minor addition to the mountian of nightsoil. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to fabricate such a lightweight appendix if it is likely to undermine reporting on more serious events.
Calling it branding isn't entirely out of scope with the normal usage of the word either. It just is slightly problematic in that we are now conditioned to expect the very worst of humanity from some of the IDF soldiers so our minds expect hot irons.
Yeah that's what trips me up: it seems like such a "lightweight appendix" (good expression) to tag onto what we already know. I guess some stories just break with one reporter and one lead.
Every prisoner should have the right to be branded with their very own personalized NFT.
NFT, Necessary Forehead Tattoo
Writing a number on someone with a marker is not branding. This is stupid. The IDF is committing actual atrocities, and this article is about writing a number on people with a marker and referring to them by that number. Relatively humane prison systems refer to people by their inmate number as well.
What is even going on? This is literally a distraction from the actual terrible things regularly occurring. Think about it this way: within the horrifyingly violent context of Palestine right now, here is an entire article that could be headlined: "IDF Uses New Weapon Against Palestinians: A Marker." See how absurd that is when there are much more important events occurring?
Who wrote this? The IDF?
They did not hold a prison number sign. Or a piece of clothing with a number. They were marked with the number on their forehead.
No prison system kidnaps people and throws them in a "jail" without process, writes a number on their forehead, tortures them for months and then releases them because they were innocent.
And I do not mean a combination of those things.
I mean not one of those things is done in a prison.
TBF it depends on the prison. In this comment I will be referring to jails and prisons within the U.S., and I am working with the same assumptions you made in your comment.
People are put in jail without trial all the time, when awaiting trial. This is extremely common especially with poorer people who can't afford bail.
Most prisons and many jails give prisoners a number, and will sometimes even refer to them only by the number. It's not written on their head, but it is often attached to their uniform, and they can sometimes be punished for taking them off. It's weird to write it on their head, and really just kinda silly if you ask me. They probably don't have the resources for name tags because they've spent 200% of the budget on more bombs it seems.
Some jails and prisons have conditions that equate to actual torture according to the UN. Extreme heat without AC, cruel punishments, inadequate nutrition and safety. Most notable of these is solitary confinement, which is a very common prison punishment, and which is rightly classified as torture by the United Nations. Some people spend months or even years or decades in solitary confinement.
I think we all agree that the IDF is committing acts of genocide and inexcusable violence against civilians and captured combatants, but it's also important to not inflate the facts, and to focus our attention on greater issues. Does it really matter so much that the IDF writes a number on their forehead, when they're also bombing children? Is a marker really a greater evil than a bomb?
Personally I'd be unwilling to write numbers on people and refer to them by that number, I just read a lot of accounts of the holocaust and that's too close for me to be around without feeling sick. Don't know how IDF can stomach this. But, you know, no end to the depth of human depravity and evil. I'm not a great person. Still couldn't do this.
Revelation 13:16-17 King James Version 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Behold The Beast
Yellow star was already patented
Hmmmmm 🤔
You can't make this shit up
As someone living in "Israel" im not shocked, I wouldn't be suprised if they put it on their forearms next time
The right-wing religious nutters in Israel read plenty of NKVD and SS manuals.
Israel: Yes, again.
The headline says "brands Palestinians". The article doesn't mention branding. They had numbers written on their foreheads. Most prisons identify prisoners by numbers. Probably not a great idea to just write it on their foreheads but if you have limited ways of marking prisoners it makes sense.
Israels soldiers are shit but how about we use accurate language to describe what they are doing. Lying helps no one.
I agree with your take. Shitty headline. When I think of “branding” , I think of hot iron burnt into flesh.
What they are doing is genocide and straight from the Nazi playbook
i would strongly urge you to familiarise yourself with figures of speech lest you're -- you know -- branded as an ignorant person.
Yes, but I think it's also intentional to mislead for clicks.
This is still a heinous act of dehumanization,... When I hear of a human being marked as a "brand" I think of a hot iron. I opened the article fearing the worst. Thankfully this is not that.
If we're comparing with established prison practice let's also mention how prisoners also get human rights, habeas corpus, due process, equal treatment and stuff like that. Israel has none of that for Palestinians.
According to the article this is not standard practice at all. The number practice continued during their arrest while they were beaten and tortured
More unusual was that each man had a number written on his forehead.
"The soldiers turned us from names into numbers, and every detainee had a number that they used to provoke him during his arrest and call him by number instead of name. To them, we are just numbers."
According to the PCHR, most detainees are beaten during these campaigns, and the Israeli army is trying new steps to intimidate them.
"Usually, a Palestinian is arrested and transferred to a known interrogation centre where he is interrogated. But the Israeli soldiers have replaced that with these humiliating measures, and they say that they have the right to detain any person for six hours without reporting him as a detainee to the Israeli army," Abu Hawash said.
Here is an article about numbering of prisoners in the California penitentiary system. It's been a system to identify prisoners for more than 100 years. Numbers are used to dehumanize all prisoners. It isn't an israeli/palestinian thing.
I only have an issue with the use of "branding" in the headline. If you can't link to a source that doesn't use deceptive headlines then don't post anything. You can't really convert people in good faith to your cause if you're lying to them with ambiguous language.
Brand
1): a mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership
(2): a printed mark made for similar purposes :
It mentions a printed mark. Read a dictionary next time you are
boardbored and want to defend the IDF.Edit: God I hate modern autocorrect and IDF bought people being wrong while pedantic
It's not a trademark and it's not a mark made with a hot iron, so atleast according to the definition that you tried to use as a gotcha, it's not a brand.
Edit: After I had commented, the person edited out part of the 2nd definition so that the definition would fit their narrative. What was edited out: " (2) : a printed mark made for similar purposes : trademark".
From Miriam Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brand
They're basically using the (edited) definition of trademark branding to claim that these written numbers are a branding.
I think an arm tattoo would be better...
VOTE
ITT: a bunch of non-native English speakers lecturing native English speakers on the meaning and usage of English words in colloquial English :-/
I have a theory that people that willingly post links from this site are doing it on purpose to cause more harm to Palestinians. Hear me out.
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No other news source has confirmed this act.
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Everyone in the comments are assuming the literal and first dictionary definition of branding by physical mutilation.
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People that actually read the article are pointing out that the headline is misleading but they are getting drowned out by pedantic discussions of semantics when it's clear the implication is physical mutilation.
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There is so much heinous actions committed by the IDF but here we are talking about made up news. See where this is going?
There is something fucky going on.
No other news source has confirmed this act.
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the domiannace of the big news outlets by zionists is well documented.
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notice how Israel has killed all the journalists and the sites that do report carefully use passive lagnuage for israeli actions and active and adverserial language for anything lebanese or gazan people do. Its obvious bias and controlled jouranlism. So why would you think them not covering something is meaningful?
Maybe you are just lookinbg for confirmation of your own bias?
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Everyone in the comments are assuming the literal and first dictionary definition of branding by physical mutilation.
Why do you keep insisting this childish bullshit that no-one has argued for?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brand
a(1)
: a mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership
(2)
: a PRINTED mark made for similar purposes
b(1)
: a mark put on criminals
I'm curious, are you a native English speaker? In colloquial English the term "branded" is almost never referred to the second point in the Webster dictionary. The term originates from a particular context and the etymology derives from germanic "to burn". I'm not doing the semantic bullshit game that already happened in this thread. No one uses "brand" colloquially for printed form. I suspect you know this.
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Isn't this the mark of the beast that Christians are so scared of?
No, because the mark of the beast is voluntarily added and does not differ per person because it is more of a logo that represents who they follow. A MAGA hat is closer to the mark of the beast
Very good point. MAGA hats it is, then.
Christians will be excited about this and make them want to support Israel even harder. The whole point in supporting Israel is to manifest the end times prophecy from the book of revelations.
"brands" by writing a number on the forehead with a pen
A French 7
I just call that the correct way to write a seven
It's not a brand. It's marker. like they do to runners in some race. With all the other horrid shit Israel does to folks in Gaza, this is pretty small beer and hardly worth the electrons to post it.
The optics of it still ain't good cuh.
If your local police force rounded up all the males in a minority group and wrote the processing numbers on their foreheads do you think it might make the news?
Yeah no one is saying that markers are inhumane, this is clearly a post drawing parallels between Nazi Germany and Nazi Israel
Writing the number on their foreheads is flat out dehumanising. How is that in any way contentious?
