Currently in Rafah

Democracy Now! is talking to reporter Mohammed Omer in Gaza City. He reports that Israel is still attacking Rafah, while they have a temporary ceasefire in other places, and the people have no access to water or electricity.

Omer is Tweeting at https://twitter.com/Mogaza.

Perspective

Professor of Middle Eastern history, Juan Cole, posted this image last month.  (Narrative accompanies the image in Cole's article.)

Meanwhile in the West Bank

Israeli soldiers unlawfully killed two men who had participated in a July 25, 2014 protest in the West Bank against Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to all available evidence. Official medical reports and medical sources indicated that they died of gunshot wounds caused by live ammunition.

A third man at the same protest also appeared to have been killed unlawfully. Although witnesses said he threw stones, he was 35 meters away when he was shot and could not have posed an imminent deadly threat to Israeli forces. Israeli forces have killed 13 Palestinians in the West Bank, most during protests, since the Israeli offensive began in Gaza on July 7, according to reports by human rights groups.

  Human Rights Watch

Because Israel has a right to defend itself.

Constitutional Lawyer Jonathan Turley on Obama's Admission of CIA Torture

Following the admission that the CIA hacked Senate computers and lied to Congress, President Obama today affirmed that it did indeed torture people.

[...]

Just a few points are warranted here.

First, torture is a war crime and the United States has insisted that it was at war. We have an obligation to investigate and prosecute any officials responsible for torture. Instead, both the Bush and Obama Administrations threatened countries like Spain and England for even investigating aspects of these crimes. Saying that we “tortured some folks” is not compliance with these law – either domestic or international

Second, it does not matter if we are “afraid” or angry under international law. These treaties clearly reject defenses like “just following orders” or justified torture.

Third, Obama has yet to explain his promise to the CIA employees after taking office. After his election, various high officials said that Obama told them privately that no Bush or CIA officials would be prosecuted. His staff denied the stories but he then soon thereafter told the CIA staff precisely that.

Finally, not only has the United States refused to hold our own officials to the same standards that we impose on other countries, but those responsible for our torture program are giving interviews and writing books in plain sight. In the meantime, the Administration has successfully blocked torture victims from seeking judicial review or relief in our courts.

That record makes the admission that “we tortured some folks” a bit less satisfying. No one familiar with the cases in this area should seriously doubt that we tortured people. What remains unclear is how we can justify not prosecuting those responsible. We may have “tortured some folks” but we never “prosecuted other folks.”

  Jonathan Turley

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Retaliation Recap for "Kidnapped" Soldier

UPDATED BElOW

The Israeli military death toll rose to 64 after Israel announced that Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old infantry lieutenant feared captured in Gaza, was actually killed in battle. His funeral is later Sunday. Three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side since hostilities began.

Israel had earlier said it feared Goldin had been captured by Hamas militants alongside two other soldiers who were killed Friday near Rafah in an ambush that was followed by heavy shelling that left dozens of Palestinians dead.

Large swaths of Gaza have been destroyed and some 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the war began.

[...]

In nearly four weeks of fighting, more than 1,700 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed as well as nearly 70 Israelis, almost all soldiers.

  alJazeera

Obviously, the IDF never investigated whether Goldin had been captured - or as they put it "kidnapped" - or killed, opting instead for the handy immediate excuse to slaughter more Palestinians.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

 UPDATE: As I read more info about this incident with Hadar Goldin, it appears that the IDF did know, and Hamas admitted, to capturing Goldin, but apparently, he was subsequently killed along with his captors. I am unable to ascertain how that occurred, whether by the Hamas soldiers or by the IDF accidentally.

 UPDATE: 8/4

Following the capture of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier Hadar Goldin, reports are circulating that the Israeli military may invoke the covert 'Hannibal Directive' to prevent the Second Lieutenant being used as critical leverage in the ongoing Gaza conflict. The controversial protocol, introduced in the late 1980s, allows IDF commanders to take any necessary action to foil an abduction of a soldier, even if it means endangering the life of the captive Israeli.
[...]

The protocol is founded on a fear that any captive Israeli will be used as a bargaining chip, like Shalit, who was held for five years before being released in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

[...]

"In certain senses, with all the pain that saying this entails, an abducted soldier, in contrast to a soldier who has been killed, is a national problem," [Shaul Mofaz, former IDF Chief of Staff,] told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

  IBTimes

The New Hitler - Exterminate Them in Place

The area of Rafah along Gaza’s border with Egypt has been the scene of intensive bombardment over the weekend as Israeli troops retaliated for the suspected kidnapping Friday of a 23-year-old soldier, Hadar Goldin, by Hamas fighters.

The IDF later said Goldin had been killed in the area, along with two other Israeli soldiers.

  RT

Seriously?! The IDF has used the excuse of a “kidnapped” soldier for several days to slaughter innocent Palestinians.

There were media reports on Sunday that the IDF may be withdrawing tanks from Gaza in a possible indication of a scaling down of hostilities. But the Israeli military later said the tanks were moved for redeployment.

[...]

Amid the growing worldwide protests against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his government will act “according to our security needs and only according to our security needs” in a speech Saturday.

Despicable man.

“It is simply intolerable that another school has come under fire while designated to provide shelter for civilians fleeing the hostilities,” said Robert Serry, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, in a statement.

  alJazeera

Or, it should be, anyway. It is obviously quite tolerable for the people with the arms and the people who support them.

Trapped

Israeli Spies

Israel eavesdropped on US Secretary of State John Kerry during doomed peace talks with the Palestinians last year, German news weekly Der Spiegel reported today.

The article said the Israelis and at least one other secret service listened in on Mr Kerry's conversations.

  RTE

Hey, Israel has a right to defend itself. Even Mr. Kerry says that.

The news magazine said Mr Kerry's office and the Israeli government declined to comment on its report.

I bet.

It's Sunday

The USA Freedom Act

Christ. Why can't they just name a bill to indicate what it actually is? Oh, yes, I forgot - this is Congress - we don't really want things to be clear.

While initially proposing much for Americans, if not our friends overseas, to like, the version [of the NSA reform act] that eventually passed the House in May was, at best, utterly neutered. Today’s version, hashed out between Sen. Leahy, Obama Administration officials, and civil liberties proponents, moves the needle much closer to the original version.

Of course, as this USA Freedom Act moves through the Senate, the bill could change. And if it passes the Senate, the House will have to reconcile this version with its own gelded one.

But for now, there are things to like, things to hate, and things remaining to fear in USA Freedom.

  Just Security

Read the article for the breakdown.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.