The revelation that a former officer in Israeli military intelligence’s notorious Unit 8200 has been employed to work in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is of deep

Unit 8200 is a unit of the Israeli Intelligence Corps, part of the Israeli military. Part of its role includes surveilling Palestinians living under Israel’s belligerent and illegal occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The activities of the unit, which involve blackmail and harassment of Palestinian civilians in violation of international law, have been revealed in large part because of the testimony of brave whistleblowers,
including many who have become refuseniks and now resist the Israeli states’ oppression of the Palestinian people.

Their testimonies have been widely published in The Guardian and New York Times.
Shockingly, whistleblowers within the unit have confirmed that LGBT Palestinian’s sexuality is used to blackmail the unit’s intelligence targets into becoming informants.
A 2014 testimony from a former member of the unit recalled “All Palestinians are exposed to non-stop monitoring without any legal protection. Junior soldiers can decide when someone is a target for the collection of information.
Such intrusive surveillance is part of Israel’s matrix of control and domination of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory.
The system denies Palestinians their fundamental human rights, including the basic rights of due process, freedom from torture and freedom of assembly and expression.
The employment by the Labour Party of someone who was part of Israel’s military intelligence and served in Unit 8200 for nearly 5 years raises significant concerns as to how this history has been addressed in the recruitment process.
We would not expect a progressive political party to employ former members of the intelligence services of a state that systematically violates international law and commits rights abuses
without clarity that that individual understands and has fully addressed a history of complicity with or direct involvement in those abuses.
PSC will be writing to Keir Starmer to ask for his response to these concerns. Given that this issue is now in the public domain, we believe it is also necessary for Keir Starmer to make a public statement making clear his abhorrence of the activities of Unit 8200
in accordance with Labour’s stated commitment to an ethical foreign policy rooted in respect for international law and human rights. He should also outline the steps he has taken to ensure that these values are held by all of those working in his office.

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Watch the entire discussion if you have the time to do so. But if not, please make sure to watch Edhem Eldem summarizing ~150 years of democracy in Turkey in 6 minutes (starting on 57'). And if you can't watch it, fear not; I've transcribed it for you (as public service). Thread:


"Let me start by saying that I am a historian, I see dead people. But more seriously, I am constantly torn between the temptation to see patterns developing over time, and the fear of hasty generalizations and anachronistic comparisons. 1/n

"Nevertheless, the present situation forces me to explore the possible historical dimensions of the problem we're facing today. 2/n

"(...)I intend to go further back in time and widen the angle in order to focus on the confusion I  believe exists between the notions of 'state', 'government', and 'public institutions' in Turkey. 3/n

"In the summer of 1876, that's a historical quote, as Midhat Pasa was trying to draft a constitution, Edhem Pasa wrote to Saffet Pasa, and I quote in Turkish, 'Bize Konstitusyon degil enstitusyon lazim' ('It is not a constitution we need but institutions'). 4/n

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महर्षि कश्यप की तेरह पत्नियां थीं।लेकिन विनता व कद्रु नामक अपनी दो पत्नियों से उन्हे विशेष लगाव था।एक दिन महर्षि आनन्दभाव में बैठे थे कि तभी वे दोनों उनके समीप आकर उनके पैर दबाने लगी।


प्रसन्न होकर महर्षि कश्यप बोले,"मुझे तुम दोनों से विशेष लगाव है, इसलिए यदि तुम्हारी कोई विशेष इच्छा हो तो मुझे बताओ। मैं उसे अवश्य पूरा करूंगा ।"

कद्रू बोली,"स्वामी! मेरी इच्छा है कि मैं हज़ार पुत्रों की मां बनूंगी।"
विनता बोली,"स्वामी! मुझे केवल एक पुत्र की मां बनना है जो इतना बलवान हो की कद्रू के हज़ार पुत्रों पर भारी पड़े।"
महर्षि बोले,"शीघ्र ही मैं यज्ञ करूंगा और यज्ञ के उपरांत तुम दोनो की इच्छाएं अवश्य पूर्ण होंगी"।


महर्षि ने यज्ञ किया,विनता व कद्रू को आशीर्वाद देकर तपस्या करने चले गए। कुछ काल पश्चात कद्रू ने हज़ार अंडों से काले सर्पों को जन्म दिया व विनता ने एक अंडे से तेजस्वी बालक को जन्म दिया जिसका नाम गरूड़ रखा।जैसे जैसे समय बीता गरुड़ बलवान होता गया और कद्रू के पुत्रों पर भारी पड़ने लगा


परिणामस्वरूप दिन प्रतिदिन कद्रू व विनता के सम्बंधों में कटुता बढ़ती गयी।एकदिन जब दोनो भ्रमण कर रहीं थी तब कद्रू ने दूर खड़े सफेद घोड़े को देख कर कहा,"बता सकती हो विनता!दूर खड़ा वो घोड़ा किस रंग का है?"
विनता बोली,"सफेद रंग का"।
तो कद्रू बोली,"शर्त लगाती हो? इसकी पूँछ तो काली है"।