I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
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It’s hard to capture the disposition of the judge but “dismissive, belittling, and demonstrating a complete disregard for any semblance of a fair trial” start to come close.
The kind of person who would laugh at the hardship she has just caused, then roll her eyes and complain that she doesn’t get what all the fuss is about.
Repeatedly.
@BenRiceM This whole thing is terrible, Ben. I'm so sorry for your friend. Here, no-one is allowed to mention in court the reasons these acts occurred, in case the jury acquit (as is their right). And recently the group who attacked Elbit were tried for (I think) criminal damage (fair enough) but then sentenced as terrorists, for which they were not charged or tried. It's appalling!
(Also, the huge majority of "terrorists" now are folk who sat on a ground with placards!)
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They request access to phone calls while in prison, and are denied.
They ask for handcuffs to be removed while in transit in police vehicles (and their ankles remain cuffed), for some of them up to three hours from their respective prisons to the court, and are denied.
They ask for an independent stenographer and a courtroom sketch artist, and are denied.
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If at this point, you still believe that Israel is justified in killing civilians and children, denying aid and medicine, demolishing hospitals, murdering journalists, and raping activists, I really don’t know what to say. But if you find yourself on that side of history, I hope that you can still see that Daniel and the others acted purely in defence of vulnerable people in a situation beyond desperate.
If that’s not heroism, I don’t know what is.
@BenRiceM
If you’ve ever wondered “what would I do in this situation?”
I hope you have even a fraction of the courage of the Ulm 5.@mastoreaderio unroll please
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@BenRiceM
If you’ve ever wondered “what would I do in this situation?”
I hope you have even a fraction of the courage of the Ulm 5.@mastoreaderio unroll please
@cdarwin here's the unrolled thread: https://mastoreader.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.im%2F%40cdarwin%2F116981081685231288
Next time, kindly set the visibility to 'Mentioned people only' and mention only me (@mastoreaderio). This ensures we avoid spamming others' timelines and threads unless you intend for others to see the unrolled thread link as well.
Thank you!
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As a small addendum, there’s a fundraiser to help Daniel’s family with all the costs associated and I’m sure they’d be incredibly grateful for any donations
Not the point of the thread, I just wanted to share my experience, but if you’re feeling fired up and ready to help, here’s an easy way to do so
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-daniels-family-attend-the-ulm-5-trial-in-germany
@BenRiceM what the fuck, that was a wild thread.
Not even nazis have been treated this harshly.
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@connynasch @BenRiceM No question money is part of the equation but in the case of Israel it's not just that imo.
For Germany specifically part is the perpetuating sense of guilt of WWII and for just about everybody it's some weird, almost cultist, belief that Israel has a divine right not equal but above all others. It is so bizarre and disturbing.@thisislieven @connynasch @BenRiceM wildly disturbing. The Staatsraison is basically a formalisation of "we don't want to ever feel this shitty about ourselves and our country again". It's like a self-esteem protection that will, I hope, soon show itself to be erroneous.
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@BenRiceM Is there a reason given for the solitary?
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@keir @BenRiceM Because they fucked with the weapon industry. The Israeli weapon industry at that. We've had similar "interesting" happenings here in Sweden surrounding (I think) Elbit and that was only people being unwilling to help them load their cargo on ships.
Call me paranoid but very influential forces seem to be on the side of the country selling the most advanced cyber weapons and hacking tools in the world. Who are they blackmailing?
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM
why is he being held? and who's "they"? -
I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM Now imagine your friend Daniel had violated the law in a country that doesn’t care much about human rights - like almost any country in Asia. And I mean that completely independently of his motives.
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@BenRiceM
why is he being held? and who's "they"?@dockwalk Daniel uses they/them pronouns.
And if you read the whole thread you should get all the context you need
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM
How can we write to them? -
I’ve spent these past few days dancing between seething rage at the justice system, profound admiration for my friend their co-defendants, and intense gratitude for the community of activists and volunteers who are fight for justice.
More than anything else though, I just fucking miss my friend.
@BenRiceM It is so awful that they are being treated that way. Thanks for posting this and I hope things improve for your friend.
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Daniel and the other defendants (the Ulm 5) broke into a building of Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer to destroy equipment there in the hopes of preventing some small amount of the genocide taking place in Palestine. Only property damage occurred, no people were harmed or threatened and the 5 voluntarily waited to be peacefully arrested.
I believe on Wednesday, Zo, one of the 5, said something to the effect of “this would all be worthwhile if we manage to save one child’s life”
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Daniel and their co-defendants (the Ulm 5) are separated from their legal teams by a wall of bulletproof glass and they cannot communicate effectively. They have to use microphones, which seem to cut out frequently, or speak through a grill in the wall. And they must juggle listening to the lawyers, the judge, and translators simultaneously.
Every day in court, the 5 request that they be allowed sit with their lawyers and every day, the judge denies their requests.
what is the justice system so afraid of that they must subvert the justice system that they apparently believe in so much?
what are they afraid of?
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Just this week I happened to read the preamble text of the United Nations' "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
What's happening to The Ulm 5 seems blatant injustice, right here in the western world, in the United Nations, in the European Union, in Germany.
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@keir @BenRiceM Because they fucked with the weapon industry. The Israeli weapon industry at that. We've had similar "interesting" happenings here in Sweden surrounding (I think) Elbit and that was only people being unwilling to help them load their cargo on ships.
Call me paranoid but very influential forces seem to be on the side of the country selling the most advanced cyber weapons and hacking tools in the world. Who are they blackmailing?
@aanee Indeed, in CRUNCH time, murder is a far more profitable industry, when you are principals in the armament industry. On top of that is that it's heavily fossil fuels laden, so being deeply rooted in these most wealthy industries in history...
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A delegation of Irish politicians also attended on Wednesday and were outraged by the lack of records and themselves were not allowed to bring in pen and paper. I truly hope they can put pressure on the German government or the EU to do *something* about how this entire case is being handled.
I’m no lawyer but it seems blatantly obvious that multiple human rights have been violated here.
@BenRiceM We have the right to live a peaceful and safe life. For three years we have lived in fear and terror, under constant bombardment, displacement, forced to evacuate our homes only to have them bombed before our eyes. The genocide continues to this day, and the shelling has not stopped. We long for one day to live in peace.
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM Solitary confinement for 10 months??!
Isn't that outright illegal, doesn't that equal torture..? -
@BenRiceM Now imagine your friend Daniel had violated the law in a country that doesn’t care much about human rights - like almost any country in Asia. And I mean that completely independently of his motives.
@danvanmoll @BenRiceM what
