Nicholas Kristof in NYT: ‘And yet in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.’

And: ‘“They were all hitting me, and one stepped on my head and neck,” he [Sami al-Sai] said. “Someone pulled my pants down. They pulled down my boxers.” And then one of the guards pulled out a rubber baton used to beat prisoners.
‘“They were trying to force it into my rectum, and I was bracing myself to prevent it, but I couldn’t,” he said, speaking with increasing anxiety.’

As well: ‘Decades of covering conflict has taught me that a combination of dehumanization and impunity can propel people into a Hobbesian state of nature.’

Impunity, in other words: the rest of the world shares some responsibility.

(a sf 2130)