The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has published a major new report documenting how the Israeli prison system has become “a network of torture camps,” where physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners is normalized and routine. The report, titled “Welcome to Hell,” collects the testimony of 55 Palestinians who were detained by Israeli authorities since October 7 and later released, almost all without charges. This comes as a group of U.N. experts condemned the widespread torture of Palestinians and as Israel’s Channel 12 News aired shocking footage of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a prisoner at the Sde Teiman army base, where thousands of detainees from Gaza are held. Sarit Michaeli, the international advocacy lead for B’Tselem, says the abuse in Israeli prisons is “systemic, ongoing and state-sanctioned,” reflecting the cruelty and thirst for revenge among a growing number of Israelis. “They would like to have a completely open field in terms of what they can do to Palestinians,” says Michaeli.

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has published a major new report documenting how the Israeli prison system has become “a network of torture camps,” where physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners is normalized and routine.

The report, titled “Welcome to Hell,” collects the testimony of 55 Palestinians who were detained by Israeli authorities since October 7 and later released, almost all without charges. This comes as a group of U.N. experts condemned the widespread torture of Palestinians and as Israel’s Channel 12 News aired shocking footage of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a prisoner at the Sde Teiman army base, where thousands of detainees from Gaza are held.

Sarit Michaeli, the international advocacy lead for B’Tselem, says the abuse in Israeli prisons is “systemic, ongoing and state-sanctioned,” reflecting the cruelty and thirst for revenge among a growing number of Israelis. “They would like to have a completely open field in terms of what they can do to Palestinians,” says Michaeli.

You can find the full report of testimonies here

    • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      They might be referring to the rather shitty treatment of the native Ainu peoples?

      While bad, I wouldn’t call it apartheid however.

    • Snowflake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      01·
      3 months ago

      Source 1 Source 2

      Apartheid is mostly a word used by antisemitics anyway in my opinion.

      As in people don’t care about any other apartheid states(there are many) they only care about Israel which is weird.

      • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        Yeah I don’t think posting an article of how Abe got slammed for the suggestion is the smoking gun evidence you think it is. Japan’s coming to terms with its past being – well let’s be blunt an call it an embarrassment – is tangential.

        Seriously I’m a bit confused. You’re accusing Japan of Apartheid and what you’re coming up are those two things, and not the de facto complete absence of a civic, as opposed to ethnic/cultural, national identity?

          • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            3 months ago

            You can get Japanese citizenship after five years of residency, somewhat surprisingly there’s not even a language test. And many many Zainichi did and do.

            If that is Apartheid then I don’t want to know what you have to say about Estonia.

            • Snowflake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              01·
              3 months ago

              And many many Zainichi did and do.

              Where’s the source. I’ve got one that says the opposite.

              Current Discriminatory Practices

              Nonetheless, despite significant progress, discriminatory practices persist in Japanese society. Naturalization remains the primary means of acquiring full citizenship rights, but the process is complex and discourages many. Nowadays, most Zainichi Koreans are descendants of the forced labourers in the 1920s, so they were born and raised in Japan and speak only Japanese, but they are not eligible for citizenship unless one of their parents is Japanese. Furthermore, as it is against the law in Japan to have two nationalities, for Zainichi Koreans to naturalize would require them to renounce their Korean identity entirely. As Chung put it, “Japanese nationality is closely associated with ethnocultural identity, naturalization applicants must not only renounce their allegiance to their country of origin but must also demonstrate evidence of cultural assimilation”. Moreover, if their ethnic roots were revealed, they would still be seen as outsiders in Japanese society, therefore naturalizing would not even address the underlying causes of prejudice.

              Even though there is no fee to pay for naturalization, applicants frequently have to pay hefty attorney costs to prepare the numerous documents needed to authenticate their family histories.

              Estonia

              Apartheid too? I will say this, doubt you’ll see anyone who gives a single fuck.

              • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
                0·
                3 months ago

                Where’s the source.

                Like here. About 6000 naturalisations per year.

                Are there issues? Yes. Is it Apartheid? If you think it is, then you are trivialising the shit out of what South Africa has done. What Israel is doing.

                Apartheid too? I will say this, doubt you’ll see anyone who gives a single fuck.

                The Soviet Union settled plenty of people in Estonia when they occupied it, those people didn’t get Estonian citizenship once Estonia got its independence, they got permanent residencies instead. A metric fuckton naturalised in the year since then, which involved learning Estonian.

                Bit of a difference because Estonia was the victim of colonialism, not the aggressor, they would’ve been perfectly within their right to just expel everyone, but the associated identity vs. nationality stuff very much applies.

                • Snowflake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  01·
                  3 months ago

                  … trivialising the shit out of

                  From 1937–1945, the Japanese military regime may have killed nearly 6 million people, including around half a million Koreans. This estimate includes Koreans who were conscripted into the Japanese army, where over 22,000 were killed.

                  I’m with the demons and henchman.

                  • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
                    0·
                    3 months ago

                    That’s a lot of things, bad things, but it’s not Apartheid. Words have meaning. It’s also not current.

      • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        01·
        3 months ago

        You’re entitled to your opinion; but your sources are a desire of Shinzo Abe never put into practice, and crimes against humanity committed by Imperial Japan during WWII.

        The facts are that there are three international definitions of Apartheid. The defining policies of which are overwhelmingly present in Israel, as evidenced by investigations by multiple human rights organizations.

        Currently, three main international treaties prohibit and/or explicitly criminalize apartheid: the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention) and the Rome Statute of the ICC (Rome Statute).

        Amnesty International The element of an “institutionalized regime” of systematic oppression and domination may entail a wide range of discriminatory and exclusionary laws, policies and practices that are imposed by the state or, in certain circumstances, an armed group for the purpose of maintaining domination (or control) by one racial group over any other racial group or groups. Indeed, “it is this institutionalized element, involving a state-sanctioned regime of law, policy, and institutions, that distinguishes the practice of apartheid from other forms of prohibited discrimination.”

        As outlined above, apartheid consists of a system of prolonged and cruel discriminatory treatment by one racial group of members of another with the intention to control the second racial group. This chapter examines the extent to which Israel has created such a system of oppression and domination over Palestinians in all areas under its jurisdiction and effective control, as well as over Palestinian refugees whose right of return to their homes remains controlled by Israel. It does so by first establishing Israel’s intent to oppress and dominate all Palestinians by establishing its hegemony across Israel and the OPT, including through means of demography, and maximizing resources for the benefit of its Jewish population at the expense of Palestinians. It then analyses the laws, policies and practices which have, over time, come to constitute the main tools for establishing and maintaining this system, and which discriminate against and segregate Palestinians in Israel and the OPT today, as well as controlling Palestinian refugees’ right to return. It divides this analysis by the key components of this system of oppression and domination: territorial fragmentation, segregation and control, dispossession of land and property and the suppression of Palestinians’ human development and deprivation of their economic and social rights.

        The blockade and Israel’s repeated military offensives have had a heavy toll on Gaza’s essential infrastructure and further debilitated its health system and economy, leaving the area in a state of perpetual humanitarian crisis. Indeed, Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, the majority of whom are children, has created conditions inimical to human life due to shortages of housing, potable water and electricity, and lack of access to essential medicines and medical care, food, educational equipment and building materials.

        Other reports about how Israel is an Apartheid State:

        Human Rights Watch Report

        B’TSelem Report with quick Explainer