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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."

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[-] migo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 hour ago

This is no longer a boring dystopia

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 2 points 45 minutes ago

Literally 1940

[-] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago

The right-wing religious nutters in Israel read plenty of NKVD and SS manuals.

[-] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

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?

[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

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.

[-] Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 1 points 9 minutes ago

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?

[-] joel1974@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago
[-] Entropywins@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

I just call that the correct way to write a seven

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 5 hours ago

As someone living in "Israel" im not shocked, I wouldn't be suprised if they put it on their forearms next time

[-] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 8 hours ago

For fuck sake, how blatant does it need to get before people recognize this for what it is?

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

You mean admit to it? They can just continue refusing.

[-] masquenox@lemmy.world 9 points 6 hours ago

The people who are willing to recognize it for what it is have already done so.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 21 points 9 hours ago

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

[-] TheFonz@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

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.

  • No other news source has confirmed this act.

  • Everyone in the comments are assuming the literal and first dictionary definition of branding by physical mutilation.

  • 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.

  • 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.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago

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

[-] sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

No other news source has confirmed this act.

  1. the domiannace of the big news outlets by zionists is well documented.

  2. 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?

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 32 points 14 hours ago

... branding detainees with numbers, check... now, what's next on Hitler's to do list?

—Bibi, apparently

[-] Jumpingspiderman@reddthat.com 2 points 7 hours ago

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.

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 30 minutes ago)

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.

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 58 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

This seems vaguely familiar but I can't quite put my forearm on it.

Isn't this the mark of the beast that Christians are so scared of?

[-] shasta@lemm.ee 7 points 8 hours ago

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.

[-] anachronist@midwest.social 1 points 7 hours ago

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.

[-] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 20 points 18 hours ago

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?

[-] Hamartia@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

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.

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this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2024
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