Tag: Israel

  • Bella Hadid’s sister creates Palestinian film company to expose truth about Israel

    Bella Hadid’s sister creates Palestinian film company to expose truth about Israel

    Fashion designer Alana Hadid, who is the sister of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, has started a film production and distribution company called Watermelon Pictures, according to Deadline. Watermelon Pictures aims to be a Palestinian-owned independent film label. It plans to support filmmakers from all over the world who are not well-represented in the industry, with a focus on cultural diversity and social issues.

    Watermelon Pictures, as mentioned on its website, is committed to giving a voice to those often overlooked in the film world. The company wants to share stories that haven’t been told before and believes in using creative expression to make a difference in society.

    Their first project, a documentary called ‘Walled Off’, focuses on the ‘Walled Off’ Hotel in Bethlehem. This hotel, facing the Israeli West Bank barrier wall, is a special place financed and thought up by famous British street artist Banksy. It stands as a symbol of artistic resistance against political challenges.

    A lot of famous people are working together on the documentary Walled Off, including Anwar Hadid, who is Alana Hadid’s brother. Roger Waters from Pink Floyd is also part of the team. Plus, Kweku Mandela, who is Nelson Mandela’s grandson, is helping with the production.
    Alana, who is the Creative Director of Watermelon Pictures, shared her vision for the company,: “We want to make a place where voices that often get ignored can be heard. We want people to express themselves creatively against unfairness. With our films, we hope to teach and inspire people all around the world to stand up against injustice.”

    Watermelon Pictures isn’t just about supporting important causes; it also celebrates Palestinian culture as a big part of who they are. They’re proud of Palestinian heritage and want to show how vibrant and strong it is. That’s why they chose a watermelon as their symbol because it shares colors with the Palestinian flag.

    As Watermelon Pictures starts sharing different stories and encouraging important conversations, they’re making a big effort to include everyone. Their work is a big step towards making sure everyone’s voices are heard in the movie world.

  • Palestinian Muslims mark sad and tense ‘holiest Ramadan night’ in Jerusalem

    Palestinian Muslims marked a tense and sombre last Friday of Ramadan in Jerusalem as Israeli police controlling the entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque – the third holiest site in Islam – attacked worshippers.

    Some 120,000 people descended on the shrine, which dominates the Old City, officials said, with grand mufti Muhammad Ahmad Hussein urging the faithful to brave the heavy police presence because of the war in Gaza.

    Adli al-Agha, 53, from Jerusalem, told AFP that many people “had to flee dawn prayers” after Israeli police deployed a mini-drone spraying tear gas to disperse people chanting “Glory to God”.

    “In our soul and our blood, we sacrifice for you Al-Aqsa,” worshippers declared, according to Agha.

    Police said they arrested eight people for inciting terrorism.

    Yasser Basha, from Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said police were restricting entrance to the mosque to the old and the very young. Only men over 55 and women over 50 were being allowed inside, he said.

    “If it wasn’t for the war, things would have been much easier,” he added.

    Friday also marks Laylat al-Qadr (“The Night of Destiny”), the spiritual climax of the Muslim holy month, which commemorates the moment the archangel Gabriel first appeared to Prophet Mohammed and began revealing the Koran.

    It is the night when Muslims believe their prayers are most likely to be granted, a festive moment while children stay up late and shops stay open till the small hours.

    But many Palestinians are not in the mood to celebrate and are praying for an end to the war in Gaza after almost six months of bloodshed.

    Sameeha Al Qadi, 55, who had come from near Bethlehem, said Jerusalem “is sad and has lost its light — we all feel what is going on in Gaza. We can’t escape it for a minute.”

    This year there are few Ramadan decorations or lights in the Holy City, with Palestinians instead having a bitter coffee and a date — traditionally to mark mourning — on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when feasts are usually held.

    “There is sweet nothing about the feast this year. People are not celebrating,” said Sabah, 54, some of whose relatives have been killed in Gaza.

    “Everything is bitter in my mouth. It is so painful at this time which is all about family.”

    Easter was similarly subdued last weekend for Palestinian Christians.

    Adnan Jafar, 60, a sweet maker in the Old City, said usually in Ramadan his shop is at its busiest.

    “But I have never had a Ramadan like this. And we all know why. (Gaza) is not just affecting us, it is affecting the whole world.”

    Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 33,091 people since October 7, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

  • Israeli fire ‘most likely’ killed woman hostage on Oct 7: Army

    Israeli fire ‘most likely’ killed woman hostage on Oct 7: Army

    An Israeli investigation found Friday that an Israeli woman who had been seized during the October 7 attack was “most likely” killed when a combat helicopter fired on her kidnappers’ vehicle.

    Efrat Katz and most of the militants in the vehicle were killed when the Israeli aircraft fired on them on October 7, the army investigation said.

    The helicopter “fired at a vehicle that had terrorists in it, and which, in retrospect, based on the testimonies, also had hostages in it,” the army said in a statement.

    “As a result of the fire, most of the terrorists manning the vehicle were killed, and most likely, Efrat Katz … was killed as well.”

    The “tragic and unfortunate” event occurred at a time of “fighting and conditions of uncertainty,” Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar said in the statement.

    “The commander of the air force did not find fault in the operation by the helicopter crew, who operated in compliance with the orders in a complex reality of war.”

    The army statement said the mistake occurred because surveillance systems could not distinguish hostages from kidnappers once in a vehicle, and that “the shooting was defined as shooting at a vehicle with terrorists”.

    Katz, 68 at the time of Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz close to the Gaza border.

    Her daughter Doron Katz-Asher and her two children were taken hostage during the attack, but were later released on November 24.

    Katz’s partner Gadi Moses and his ex-wife Margalit Moses were also taken hostage during the attack. She was later released but Gadi is believed to remain in captivity in Gaza and still alive.

    The Hamas attack resulted in the death of 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

    Palestinian militants took more than 250 hostages, of whom 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli army says are dead.

    Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 33,091 people since October 7, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

  • Israel increases Gaza aid; admits ‘mistakes’ in aid worker deaths

    TEL AVIV: The Israeli army on Friday admitted a series of errors and violations of its rules in the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, saying it had mistakenly believed it was “targeting armed Hamas operatives”.

    The two brigade officers who ordered the drone strikes, a colonel and a major, are being fired, the army said, and its Southern Command chief reprimanded.

    It was a rare confession of wrongdoing by Israel in its nearly six-month war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where the health ministry of the Hamas-ruled territory says more than 33,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

    The victims — an Australian, three Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole — were killed Monday night in three strikes over four minutes by an Israeli drone as they ran for their lives between their three vehicles, the military said.

    The US-based charity for which they worked, World Central Kitchen, demanded an independent inquiry, and Poland called for a “criminal” probe after the military’s announcement.

    The drone team who killed the aid workers made an “operational misjudgement of the situation” after spotting a suspected Hamas gunman shooting from the top of one of the food trucks the aid workers were escorting, an internal Israeli military inquiry found.

    Senior Israeli officers showed reporters clips from drone footage of what they said was a “Hamas operative” joining the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy.

    Although the roofs of the three aid workers’ vehicles were emblazoned with WCK logos, retired Israeli general Yoav Har-Even, who is leading the investigation, said the drone’s camera could not see them in the dark.

    “This was a key factor in the chain of events,” he said.

    The aid group has said its team was travelling in a “de-conflicted” area at the time of the strike. “Despite coordinating movements with the (Israeli army), the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse,” WCK said.

    The army said aid was moved at night to avoid deadly stampedes by hungry Gazans.

    The aid workers’ deaths “outraged” US President Joe Biden who demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu order steps toward an “immediate ceasefire”.

    Israel later said it would allow “temporary” aid deliveries into northern Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of imminent famine.

    Har-Even admitted that “the three air strikes were in violation of standard operating procedures”.

    But he argued that “the state of mind” of the Israeli drone commanders “was that they were striking cars that had been seized by Hamas” after they thought one passenger was carrying a gun rather than a bag.

    “One of the commanders mistakenly assumed the gunmen were inside the vehicles and were Hamas terrorists,” the army said in a statement.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was “very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident.”

    The aid workers were killed after they had overseen the unloading of a ship carrying 300 tonnes of food aid from Cyprus to a warehouse inland.

    But as they drove south at 11:09 pm on April 1 the drone “struck one car, and identified people running out of the car and entering the second car,” Har-Even said.

    “They decided to hit it, which was against standard operating procedures. Then they struck the third car.”

    Asked by AFP, the general was not able to explain what happened to the “Hamas gunman” on the truck but he conceded they had been mistaken to think armed Hamas suspects had joined the WCK aid workers in the three pickups.

    “It is a tragedy. It is a serious mistake that we are responsible for,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

    Har-Even said it was a breakdown in communication in the chain of military command which may have led to the strikes.

    He said that WCK had provided all the information necessary, but it was not passed down.

    “The biggest mistake was that (the drone team) didn’t have the coordination plan,” he said. “Their belief was the vehicles were Hamas, based on operational misjudgement and misclassification.”

  • UN chief ‘deeply troubled’ by reports Israel using AI to identify Gaza targets

    UN chief ‘deeply troubled’ by reports Israel using AI to identify Gaza targets

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday expressed serious concern over reports that Israel was using artificial intelligence to identify targets in Gaza, resulting in many civilian deaths.

    According to a report in independent Israeli-Palestinian magazine +972, Israel has used AI to identify targets in Gaza — in some cases with as little as 20 seconds of human oversight.

    Guterres said that he was “deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military’s bombing campaign includes Artificial Intelligence as a tool in the identification of targets, particularly in densely populated residential areas, resulting in a high level of civilian casualties.”

    “No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms,” he said.

    The +972 report claims that “the Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties.”

    The report said that, according to “six Israeli intelligence officers”, a system dubbed Lavender had “played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians, especially during the early stages of the war.”

    “According to the sources, its influence on the military’s operations was such that they essentially treated the outputs of the AI machine ‘as if it were a human decision’,” +972 reported.

    Two sources said “the army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians”.

    If “the target was a senior Hamas official… the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians,” it added.

    The Israeli army, known as the IDF, on Friday rejected the claims.

    “The IDF does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist,” it said.

    Instead it has a “database whose purpose is to cross-reference intelligence sources… on the military operatives of terrorist organizations” to be used as a tool for analysts, it added.

    “The IDF does not carry out strikes when the expected collateral damage from the strike is excessive,” it said, using a term that includes civilian casualties.

    Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 33,091 people since October 7, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

    The United Nations has warned of imminent famine in the besieged territory.

    Israel began hyping AI-powered targeting after an 11-day conflict in Gaza during May 2021, which commanders branded the world’s “first AI war”.

    The military chief during the 2021 war, Aviv Kochavi, told Israeli news website Ynet last year the force had used AI systems to identify “100 new targets every day”, instead of 50 a year previously.

    Weeks into the latest Gaza war, a blog entry on the Israeli military’s website said its AI-enhanced “targeting directorate” had identified more than 12,000 targets in just 27 days.

    An unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying the AI system, called Gospel, produced targets “for precise attacks on infrastructure associated with Hamas, inflicting great damage on the enemy and minimal harm to those not involved”.

    But an anonymous former Israeli intelligence officer, quoted in November by +972, described Gospel’s work as creating a “mass assassination factory”.

    In a rare confession of wrongdoing, Israel on Friday admitted a series of errors and violations of its rules in the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, saying it had mistakenly believed it was “targeting armed Hamas operatives”.

    Alessandro Accorsi, a senior analyst at Crisis Group, said the +972 report was “very concerning”.

    “It feels very apocalyptic. It’s clear… the degree of human control is very low,” he told AFP.

    “There are a thousand questions around this obviously — how moral it is to use it — but it is hardly surprising it is used,” he said.

    Johann Soufi, a human rights lawyer and former director of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA’s legal office in Gaza, said the +972 article described methods that were “undeniably war crimes”.

    They were “likely crimes against humanity” in view of the high civilian casualties, he added on X, formerly Twitter.

  • McDonald’s to acquire franchised stores in Israel

    McDonald’s to acquire franchised stores in Israel

    McDonald’s Corporation said Thursday it will acquire Alonyal, which owns 225 McDonald’s restaurants in Israel which have been hit by calls for a boycott over Israeli genocide in Gaza.

    Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. McDonald’s said in a statement the deal was subject to conditions which it did not identify.

    Alonyal has operated McDonald’s restaurants in Israel for more than 30 years, today owning 225 franchised properties with more than 5,000 employees, who will be retained after the sale.

    In presenting its 2023 earnings report in February, McDonald’s said the war in Gaza that began in October with the Hamas attacks on Israel was weighing on its results.

    McDonald’s was targeted with boycott calls after the franchised restaurants in Israel offered thousands of free meals to Israeli soldiers.

    “We recognize that families in their communities in the region continue to be tragically impacted by the war and our thoughts are with them at this time,” Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski said in an analyst call.

    He said the impact of the boycott was “meaningful,” without elaborating.

    McDonald’s fourth quarter sales disappointed analysts. In franchised restaurants outside the United States, comparable sales fell 0.7 percent.

    “Obviously the place that we’re seeing the most pronounced impact is in the Middle East. We are seeing some impact in other Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia,” said Kempczinski.

    This also happened in countries with large Muslim populations such as France, especially for restaurants in heavily Muslim neighborhoods, he said.

    McDonald’s shares were down nearly 2 percent in after-market trading Thursday.

  • Turning tide? UAE reportedly suspends diplomatic ties with Israel as White House finally shows action

    In the aftermath of Israel’s assassination of seven WCK aid workers, including westerners, the tide finally seems to be turning against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    Hours after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Mohamed Al Khaja broke fast with Israeli President Isaac Herzog – a move that garnered heavy criticism- the Gulf nation reportedly suddenly suspended diplomatic ties with the country.

    The move comes in the immediate aftermath of the White House finally showing real anger at Israel. First, in a press briefing, National Security Advisor John Kirby, who one day earlier had defended Israel on the killing of the WCK aid workers, ominously said, “If we don’t see changes from their side there will have to be changes on our side.”

    A White House readout on a call between American President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the former told the latter that US policy on Gaza will depend on an assessment of Israel taking immediate action on implementing “a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.” The read out further elaborated that Biden told Netanyahu that US policy on Gaza will hinge on Israel taking steps to protect aid workers: “He made clear that US policy…will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

    This turning of the tide also took place after Muslims refused to attend and walked out of the White House Iftar that is an annual affair at the American Presidency. The backlash was so intense that the Biden administration had to cancel the iftar altogether after meeting Muslim leaders.

    Israel wantonly targeted WCK workers earlier in the week, striking their vehicles thrice to ensure that each one was killed. The workers were from Australia, Poland, UK, and US/Canada.

  • Palestinian-US doctor walks out of Biden meeting in Gaza protest

    Palestinian-US doctor walks out of Biden meeting in Gaza protest

    Washington (AFP) – A Palestinian-American doctor said he walked out of a Ramadan event with President Joe Biden at the White House to show solidarity with the people of Gaza against Israel’s offensive.

    Thaer Ahmad, who traveled to Gaza earlier this year, told CNN he left the meeting between Biden and members of the Muslim community on Tuesday in protest at US “rhetoric” supporting Israel.

    “I let him know that I am from a community that’s reeling. We are grieving. Our heart is broken for what’s been taking place over the last six months,” Ahmad, an emergency doctor from Chicago, said he told the president.

    He said he then “let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered, who have been killed in the process, I need to walk out of the meeting.”

    Biden “actually said that he understood,” he added.

    The White House said on Wednesday that Biden respected the doctor’s stance.

    “The president respects any American’s right to peacefully protest,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing. “He understands that this is a painful moment for many Americans.”

    Biden had downsized the traditional event to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid growing domestic anger over his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza following October 7 attacks.

    Muslim leaders met the president but asked for there to be no fast-breaking dinner, with Biden holding only a small meal separately with Muslim White House staff.

    Tensions over Gaza soared further this week after an Israeli air strike killed seven employees of a US-based charity, World Central Kitchen, on Monday.

    Biden said on Tuesday he was “outraged” and accused Israel of not doing enough to protect aid workers or civilians, in one of his strongest statements since the war started.

    “I think you can sense the frustration in that statement yesterday,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

    But the White House said that Biden continued to support Israel’s “right to defend itself” and there were no plans to curb arms deliveries to the key US ally.

  • Israeli President apologises for deaths of Gaza aid workers

    Israeli President apologises for deaths of Gaza aid workers

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog apologised Tuesday for the air strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

    Herzog said he spoke to Jose Andres, the US-based celebrity chef who heads the aid group World Central Kitchen, to express his “deep sorrow and sincere apologies over the tragic loss of life”.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier stopped short of apologising for the deaths, which he described as a “tragic case” that would be investigated “right to the end”.

    “It happens in war… we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again,” he added.

    AFPTV footage showed the roof of a white vehicle emblazoned with the group’s logo punctured with a blackened hole, alongside the mangled wreckage of other vehicles.

    World Central Kitchen had earlier said a “targeted attack” by Israeli forces on Monday had killed its staff, which included Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish and US-Canadian citizens.

    The charity, which has been delivering food aid to Gaza’s starving population, said its convoy was clearly marked and it had coordinated with the Israeli military to avoid any danger.

    Since October 7 attack, Gaza has been under a near-complete siege, with the United Nations accusing Israel of preventing deliveries of humanitarian assistance to the 2.4 million Palestinians in the devastated territory.

    UN agencies have repeatedly warned that northern Gaza is on the verge of famine, calling the situation a man-made crisis.

    But Herzog said Israel was committed to “delivering and upgrading humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza”.

    The Israeli military also said Tuesday they were looking at ways to coordinate safe aid deliveries.

    The bloodiest-ever Gaza war erupted with the October 7 attack, which resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

    Israeli genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has killed at least 32,916 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

  • Indian BTS fans donate over three lacs rupees for Palestinians

    Indian BTS fans donate over three lacs rupees for Palestinians

    An Indian fan of the renowned pop band BTS has shown support for Palestinians enduring Israeli aggression.
    In honor of Jay Hope’s birthday, a member of the South Korean pop sensation, Indian fans defied norms by contributing over three lakh Indian rupees for medical assistance to Palestinians.
    Keep in mind that ‘BTS’ fans have actively pushed the band’s label HYBE since last month’s to fire American talent scout, Scooter Braun, who supports Israel. To achieve this goal, fans have also launched an online petition.