Male and female Palestinians describe brutal sexual abuse at the hands of Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.

Opinion - Nicholas Kristof May 11, 2026

There is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes. But in recent years they have built a security apparatus where sexual violence has become, as a United Nations report put it last year, one of Israel’s “standard operating procedures” and “a major element in the ill treatment of Palestinians.” A report out last month, from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based advocacy group often critical of Israel, concludes that Israel employs “systematic sexual violence” that is “widely practiced as part of an organized state policy.”

Male and female Palestinians describe brutal sexual abuse at the hands of Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.

Opinion - Nicholas Kristof May 11, 2026

There is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes. But in recent years they have built a security apparatus where sexual violence has become, as a United Nations report put it last year, one of Israel’s “standard operating procedures” and “a major element in the ill treatment of Palestinians.” A report out last month, from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based advocacy group often critical of Israel, concludes that Israel employs “systematic sexual violence” that is “widely practiced as part of an organized state policy.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47195895

Israel’s efforts to influence Eurovision’s vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. May 11, 2026
[shareable 30-day gift article]

Last fall and winter, senior Israeli diplomats urgently contacted officials and television broadcasters across Europe to address a delicate, if unexpected topic: the high camp Eurovision Song Contest.

Broadcasters wanted to ban Israel from Eurovision and threatened to boycott the contest over the war in Gaza. Some even accused the Israeli government of unfairly influencing the results through a mass voting campaign.

Israel arguably had bigger diplomatic concerns than a pop music competition, even one that reaches 166 million viewers around the world. A United Nations commission had recently accused Israel of committing genocide, which it vigorously denied. And world leaders were recognizing Palestinian statehood, which it had long opposed.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47195895

Israel’s efforts to influence Eurovision’s vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. May 11, 2026
[shareable 30-day gift article]

Last fall and winter, senior Israeli diplomats urgently contacted officials and television broadcasters across Europe to address a delicate, if unexpected topic: the high camp Eurovision Song Contest.

Broadcasters wanted to ban Israel from Eurovision and threatened to boycott the contest over the war in Gaza. Some even accused the Israeli government of unfairly influencing the results through a mass voting campaign.

Israel arguably had bigger diplomatic concerns than a pop music competition, even one that reaches 166 million viewers around the world. A United Nations commission had recently accused Israel of committing genocide, which it vigorously denied. And world leaders were recognizing Palestinian statehood, which it had long opposed.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47195895

Israel’s efforts to influence Eurovision’s vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. May 11, 2026

Last fall and winter, senior Israeli diplomats urgently contacted officials and television broadcasters across Europe to address a delicate, if unexpected topic: the high camp Eurovision Song Contest.

Broadcasters wanted to ban Israel from Eurovision and threatened to boycott the contest over the war in Gaza. Some even accused the Israeli government of unfairly influencing the results through a mass voting campaign.

Israel arguably had bigger diplomatic concerns than a pop music competition, even one that reaches 166 million viewers around the world. A United Nations commission had recently accused Israel of committing genocide, which it vigorously denied. And world leaders were recognizing Palestinian statehood, which it had long opposed.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47195895

Israel’s efforts to influence Eurovision’s vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. May 11, 2026

Last fall and winter, senior Israeli diplomats urgently contacted officials and television broadcasters across Europe to address a delicate, if unexpected topic: the high camp Eurovision Song Contest.

Broadcasters wanted to ban Israel from Eurovision and threatened to boycott the contest over the war in Gaza. Some even accused the Israeli government of unfairly influencing the results through a mass voting campaign.

Israel arguably had bigger diplomatic concerns than a pop music competition, even one that reaches 166 million viewers around the world. A United Nations commission had recently accused Israel of committing genocide, which it vigorously denied. And world leaders were recognizing Palestinian statehood, which it had long opposed.

Israel’s efforts to influence Eurovision’s vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. May 11, 2026

Last fall and winter, senior Israeli diplomats urgently contacted officials and television broadcasters across Europe to address a delicate, if unexpected topic: the high camp Eurovision Song Contest.

Broadcasters wanted to ban Israel from Eurovision and threatened to boycott the contest over the war in Gaza. Some even accused the Israeli government of unfairly influencing the results through a mass voting campaign.

Israel arguably had bigger diplomatic concerns than a pop music competition, even one that reaches 166 million viewers around the world. A United Nations commission had recently accused Israel of committing genocide, which it vigorously denied. And world leaders were recognizing Palestinian statehood, which it had long opposed.