Linke (The Left) party expelled with immediate effect Palestinian-German member and activist Ramsis Kilani for his vocal opposition to "Israel’s" ongoing genocide in Gaza. In doing so, it followed in the footsteps of the only other mainstream leftist party in the country, the Greens, in exhibiting the infamous Palestine exception to progressive politics.

Kilani, a self-described Marxist, called his expulsion "a sad commentary on a leftist, internationalist party", left-wing daily junge Welt (jw) reported. The decision made by the Landesschiedskommission, the party’s state-level arbitration body was damaging "to all of us who fight for universal human rights", the activist wrote on Instagram.

Katina Schubert, one of two members from the party’s right-wing who had brought forward the motion to expel Kilani denied that his Palestine solidarity activism had anything to do with the decision, saying that it was based on his "relativisation of Hamas terror, selective criticism of violence against women as a weapon of war and denial of "Israel’s" right to exist", the jw report went on to say.

Slovenia officially requested Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision 2025 song competition, according to Israeli media on Saturday.

Slovenia requested that Israel be excluded because of its ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/50074474

A coalition of prominent human rights organizations has called on the French authorities for a second time to investigate a French-Israeli soldier, who they name only as Yoel O., for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and torture while serving in the Israeli army in its war on Gaza.

The civil complaint was filed today by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Al-Haq, Al Mezan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and the Ligue des droits de l'Homme (LDH) with the War Crimes Unit of the Paris Tribunal.

The complaint is based on a video shared in March by Yoel O.’s family member, Samuel, a fellow Israeli soldier, showing Palestinian detainees blindfolded, bound, and dressed in white overalls.

The soldier in question, identified by Drop Site News as Yoel Ohnona, can be heard verbally abusing the detainees in French, and boasting about torturing him. He can be heard saying: “Look, he pissed himself. Look, I’ll show you his back, you’re going to laugh. Look, they tortured him to make him talk. Did you see his back? Son of a removed.”

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/49978298

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/49934843

Under the guise of increasing public order, Giorgia Meloni’s Draft Law 1660 is on the verge of criminalizing political dissent in Italy, stripping citizens of their rights and paving the way for unchecked state repression.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/49720047

The UK government has announced it is suspending all Syrian asylum claims - just a day after the Assad dynasty was toppled in Syria.

There are around 30,000 Syrian nationals living in the UK, a relatively small amount compared with many European countries.

The government's decision to pause asylum claims followed the same decisions by Germany, which has taken in nearly a million Syrians fleeing the country's war, and other European countries including Greece, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/49233244

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), a UK-based rights group, announced on Monday that it had answered Albanese's call for evidence ahead of a report to the UN Human Rights Council on "how the private sector has contributed to establishing and maintain Israel’s presence" in the occupied territories.

The ICJP said its submission explains the case studies of four charities, including Trinity College Cambridge and the UK arm of the Jewish National Fund.

Middle East Eye revealed in February that the prestigious Cambridge college, which is one of Britain's wealthiest landowners, had $78,089 invested in Israel's largest arms company, Elbit Systems.

MEE also reported that Cambridge College had millions of dollars invested in other companies arming, supporting and profiting from Israel's war on Gaza.

https://archive.is/GFspG