What happened on October 7th….
JVL Introduction
From forensic investigation, Al Jazeera has made this hour long documentary about what happened on October 7th. It clearly identifies some of Hamas’ actions as war crimes and raises questions about the failure by Israel to act on intelligence that something was being planned; the video includes footage from Hamas training videos. It also looks at the things that did not happen, or for which there is no evidence, which were highlighted again and again by Israeli spokespeople and others to demonise Hamas – and Palestinians – and justify the horrendous destruction that followed that attack.
It is very important that such serious investigation is widely shared and as much effort as possible applied to reduce the impact of the false narrative that is still being used. The repeated claims of beheaded babies and mass systemic rape are repeated as part of the dehumanisation of Palestinians which makes the destruction of Gaza, its people, infrastructure, culture and environment seem possible.
LL
This article was originally published by Al Jazeera Investigations on Wed 20 Mar 2024. Read the original here.
October 7th
Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7 transformed the politics of the Middle East. Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has carried out a forensic analysis of the events of that day – examining seven hours of footage from CCTV, dashcams, personal phones and headcams of dead Hamas fighters, and drawing up a comprehensive list of those killed. On October 7, the I-Unit reveals widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the fence from Gaza into Israel. But the investigation also found that many of the worst stories that came out in the days following the attack were false. This was especially true of atrocities that were used repeatedly by politicians in Israel and the West to justify the ferocity of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip, such as the mass killing of babies and allegations of widespread and systematic rape. In particular the I-Unit reveals that claims by the Israel Defence Force that it found 8 burned babies at a house in Kibbutz Be’eri were entirely untrue. There were no babies in the house and the 12 civilians inside were killed by Israeli forces when they stormed the house. This was one of a number of incidents where the police and army appear to have killed Israeli citizens. October 7 is a deep dive into the events that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the significance of which will reverberate for decades.
An answer to te question of
“the failure by Israel to act on intelligence that something was being planned; ”
might be the arrogance of Netanyahu in thinking of Hamas as a partner in his and their opposition to Abbas and the advancement towards a Palestinian State..
“For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces..”
[Tal Schneider (Political Correspondent), Times of Israel,
8th October 2023]
The claims of the Rochdale by election Labour candidate that Netanyahu allowed/enabled/provoked the Hamas attack as a pretext to destroy Gaza are getting eerily close to what actually seems to have happened. And he was disowned for clumsily saying it.
The idea that uber Hannibal only killed 27 of their own is utterly delusional
Look up how many burnt out vehicles were buried by Israel
The definition of civilians is also clearly problematic, considering most served in the IDF and are armed to the teeth
Now back to the Hannibal Directive, for the love of God what civilised society could possibly see this as a viable response
It is so, so, so important that journalists write with precision! Richard Sanders here refers to “atrocities [such as the mass killing of babies] that were used repeatedly by politicians in Israel and the West to justify the ferocity of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip,” when what he means is “claims of atrocities”. He knows that those stories were fabrications, and wants us to understand that — but his careless writing means that we subconsciously hear that there *were* such atrocities.
Its a false narrative to believe this started on October 7th. Human rights watch reported unprecedented killimgs by israel in the months leading up to this. As usual. As always.
LAST NIGHT
I watched the Al Jazeera documentary that investigates what actually happened on October 7th.
It’s a hard watch but it matters because we’re never going to get the truth from the MSM, and the main political Parties, who have been complicit from Day One.
It’s worth saying that the documentary makes no attempt to justify Hamas and accepts that they killed hundreds of civilians.
Having watched the programme – it lasts an hour – you can either sit in your armchair stunned, or try and pass on the documented information the investigation provides. There’s so much and it’s so substantial it’s difficult to pick out the key moments.
The most obvious I suppose are the lies. The lie after lie after lie that Israel used and continue to use to justify their genocide in Gaza.
Everything from Israeli commanders, politicians, and even aid workers declaring to camera they have just seen something they couldn’t have, because it didn’t happen; to representatives and supporters of Israel, repeating these statements as fact, when they know them to be false.
I can understand them not being challenged in the moment, but the blanket silence in the aftermath beggars understanding.
Watch it. Join the marches and the movement.
CEASEFIRE NOW.
I cannot watch this as Youtube insists that I have an account to verify my age. As I won’t pander to google’s way of doing things and its use of my data I would like to know if it is available elsewhere. I can’t find it on Aljazeera.
Ian Thomson
We also need (including by referring to this documentary) to challenge conspiracy narratives, for example from Chris Williamson saying (as I heard it), following the Rochdale by-election on national radio, something like everyone knows Israeli citizens were predominately killed by Israeli forces on October 7th.
The Israeli state is terrible enough without propagating conspiracy narratives. Palestine Solidarity does not need this at all.