When Israel re-arrested Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank town of Dura, the detainees faced familiar treatment.

They were blindfolded, handcuffed, insulted and kept in inhumane conditions. More unusual was that each man had a number written on his forehead.

Osama Shaheen, who was released in August after 10 months of administrative detention, told Middle East Eye that soldiers brutally stormed his house, smashing his furniture.

“The soldiers turned us from names into numbers, and every detainee had a number that they used to provoke him during his arrest and call him by number instead of name. To them, we are just numbers.”

  • teft@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Here is an article about numbering of prisoners in the California penitentiary system. It’s been a system to identify prisoners for more than 100 years. Numbers are used to dehumanize all prisoners. It isn’t an israeli/palestinian thing.

    I only have an issue with the use of “branding” in the headline. If you can’t link to a source that doesn’t use deceptive headlines then don’t post anything. You can’t really convert people in good faith to your cause if you’re lying to them with ambiguous language.

      • teft@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        They wore clothing with numbers on it. The prisoners were numbered and only referred to by that number while they were in the system. Just because they had a number written on their forehead instead of on their clothing doesn’t really change the fact that they were numbered.

        The only reason your article is getting upvotes is because people assume the palestinians are being branded with numbers (since that’s what the headline says). They aren’t being branded. Numbers written on someone are not the same as numbers branded on someone.

        Again I think the israelis are a bunch of cunts and are dehumanizing the palestinians but you shouldn’t lie in a headline. That is unless you’re trying to be deceptive…

        • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldOP
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          2 months ago

          This user made a great analogy https://lemmy.world/comment/13210775

          But besides that, there is a different level of dehumanization when writing directly on people. Especially when combined with beatings and torture.

          The parallels are eerily similar, which was likely what the author was trying to evoke as well.

          • teft@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            So once again you just ignore the “branding” issue. I’m blocking you since you obviously have some sort of agenda and don’t engage in good faith. Good day.

            • snooggums@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Once again you focus on irrelevant minutae to avoid acknowledging that it is a comparable dehumanization tactic.

                • snooggums@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Not all dehumanization is the same.

                  Numbers on an outfit are different than numbers written on foreheads.

                • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldOP
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                  2 months ago

                  They are not prisoners. They are Palestinian hostages who had been jailed and tortured without trial. Turns out they were innocent and then released.

                  Osama Shaheen, who was released in August after 10 months of administrative detention

                • irreticent@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  As an aside, I’ve never understood why people announce they’re blocking someone, unsubscribing, etc. Nobody cares except you. What’s even more weird is when someone claims “I’m blocking you” then keeps arguing with that person.

                  Example:

                  So once again you just ignore the “branding” issue. I’m blocking you since you obviously have some sort of agenda and don’t engage in good faith. Good day.

                  And here you are two hours later still responding to the person you “blocked.”

                  For someone being so pedantic about the definition and misuse of a word you seem to be doing the same thing you’re complianing about: using a word to be misleading.

                  Blocking means you don’t engage with that user in any way anymore. You mislead us into believing you were going to block someone (as weird as that is to announce it) and continue to debate that person.

                  I have no opinions on the debate you’re having, I just felt the need to point out your hypocrisy.

                  • teft@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    You have reading comprehension issues since the person I’m replying to here is not the same person I blocked.