Annie's New Letters (& notes)

Thursday, July 16, 2026

‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention... Anna Liedtke files criminal complaint in Israel over alleged attack by female guards and says abuse was intended to silence campaigners

Anna Liedtke pictured in Cologne, Germany. ‘There is no reason for me to be ashamed.’ Photograph: Judith Jockel/The Guardian

Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem

Wed 15 Jul 2026 09.00 EDT

The third time Anna Liedtke was subjected to an illegal strip-search in Israeli detention, female prison guards forced her on to her knees, covered her mouth to stop her screaming and raped her, according to interviews and a criminal complaint filed in Israel.

She described hearing male guards laughing during the attack, which she believes they watched and may have filmed. It took place in an area separated from the prison hallway by a partially drawn curtain that her attackers had left open.

Liedtke, 25, joined a flotilla sailing from Europe to Gaza with humanitarian aid last autumn. Israeli forces intercepted her boat in international waters on 8 October and took her to Israel, where she was detained for five days.

The abuse and violence directed at flotilla participants in Israeli prisons, including rape, was intended to intimidate, Liedtke said. “It’s clear they want to break our will and silence us, making this so traumatic that we will never talk about Palestine again,” she told the Guardian.

Instead, she told friends and doctors within days. In December she became the first flotilla activist to talk publicly about rape in Israeli detention. More than a dozen others have reported sexual assault, most anonymously.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/gaza-flotilla-activist-rape-complaint-israel-anna-liedtke

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Small boats in the flotilla leaving a port in southern Italy, setting sail for Gaza. Photograph: Orietta Scardino/EPA

Why does the US want to ‘dismantle’ the international criminal court? Marco Rubio has offered nonsensical rationale in attacking the court. The Trump administration’s real goal is impunity

‘What worries Trump officials most is the prospect that territorial jurisdiction could be used to prosecute them.’ Photograph: Graeme Sloan/Pool/Graeme Sloan - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

Kenneth Roth in The Guardian

Opinion International criminal court

Thu 16 Jul 2026 05.00 EDT

With the pointless war of choice in Iran going poorly, the Trump administration has declared a virtual war on the international criminal court (ICC). Secretary of state, Marco Rubio, vowed on Monday to “dismantle” the court as a supposed threat to US sovereignty. His rationale is laced with sophistry. The administration’s real goal is to secure impunity for war crimes, even those committed on the territory of ICC member states.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed and a video posted on X, Rubio conjures up a dystopia in which local American officials such as police officers or border patrol agents “could be dragged before an international court, tried by judges from random countries across the globe, found guilty under international laws we neither consent to nor control, and then imprisoned thousands of miles from America”.

This is utter fiction. The ICC has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in the United States. Unless Donald Trump were to start deploying police officers or border patrol agents abroad, the ICC would have no capacity to charge or prosecute them.

Nor can the US government claim not to have consented to the laws applied by the court. They are drawn from treaties such as the genocide convention and the Geneva conventions and protocols that the US government has either ratified or incorporated into its military manuals. Is it really un-American to outlaw genocide? ... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/16/international-criminal-court-marco-rubio

Near daily Israeli attacks have continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire announced in October, killing 1,127 Palestinians and injuring 3,643 since then, according to the Gaza health ministry. In its daily report, the ministry said four people were killed in the past 24 hours, and 28 were wounded.

Palestinians save their belongings from destroyed buildings following an Israeli airstrike last night, at al-Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Images on the newswires show the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike last night at al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza [PALESTINE]. Near daily Israeli attacks have continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire announced in October, killing 1,127 Palestinians and injuring 3,643 since then, according to the Gaza health ministry. In its daily report, the ministry said four people were killed in the past 24 hours, and 28 were wounded.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/16/iran-us-donald-trump-war-strait-hormuz-oil-israel-lebanon-latest-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6a58a7b88f08d0763503f40d#block-6a58a7b88f08d0763503f40d

& a glimpse of Lebanon

An Israeli flag hangs from a building in Lebanon as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border. Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

MIFTAH: Targeting the Witness Not the Crime... The issue is no longer confined to Palestine. It becomes a question about the future of international law and accountability for EVERYONE. Protection of civil society, lawyers, and human rights defenders is NOT OPTIONAL, it is essential for truth, justice, and the demand for accountability

https://x.com/miftahpal/status/2076940941542236236/photo/1

Tent of Nations (ToN) is an educational and ecological family farm committed to nonviolent resistance, environmental stewardship, intercultural education, and connecting people with the land. It serves as a living model of nonviolent action and faith-based community building, within the context of Palestine and the world.

https://tentofnations.com/

The Tent of Nations is an educational and ecological family farm southwest of Bethlehem, Palestine. Our mission is to build bridges between people and between people and the land. Through creative resistance, organic farming, and educational programs, we seek to transform despair into hope and promote understanding, respect, and sustainability.

What we do

– Educational Programs: Children’s summer camps and women’s empowerment initiatives.

– Volunteer Opportunities: Join short-term or long-term projects caring for the land and community.

– Environmental Learning: Workshops in sustainability, organic farming, and renewable energy.

Please note that we are not an NGO. We are a small educational and environmental family farm that welcomes individuals and groups to visit, to volunteer and to be encouraged to hear our story of hope in the middle of this darkness. We are not affiliated with any organization and we are supported by church groups and other international private friends of ToN.

Our Philosophy

In the face of injustice, we refuse to be enemies. We transform pain into positive action and work for justice and peace from the ground up. We believe every person can help shape a better future by caring for one another and for the earth.

We want to help the oppressed and marginalized realize that they are powerful and can do something positive, even if they live under challenging conditions. We all have the task of creating the future with our own hands and not waiting for others to do it for us. At the ToN, we aim to collaborate with others and lay the groundwork for a better future, believing that justice and peace should emerge from the grassroots. At ToN, we connect people with the land and to our shared environment. We need them to appreciate this wonderful gift that GOD gave to humanity, and to help protect it for the generations to come.

Vision for the land

We continue to strive for self-sufficiency in food, water, and energy, building an Environmental Education Center where young people can learn about sustainability, tolerance, and community responsibility.

https://tentofnations.com/about-us/

About Us: Rooted in the Land Since 1916

The Tent of Nations stands on a 100-acre (about 400 dunams) family farm named Daher’s Vineyard, located about six miles (about 10 km) southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The land was purchased more than 100 years ago by the Nassar family, and the family holds original registrations and deed documents dating from the British Mandate (registration in 1924-25), and Jordanian administration.

In 1991, the Israeli authorities declared the Nassar family farm (and surrounding lands) as “state land”. Since then, the family has engaged in protracted legal proceedings in the Israeli Military courts, the Appeals Committee, and the Israeli Supreme Court to re-register and protect their land.

The farm is surrounded on all sides by Israeli settlements, including those in the Gush Etzion settlement block. the farm has faced repeated road encroachments, bulldozing and burning of orchards, and access restrictions.... READ MORE https://tentofnations.com/about-us/

Who We Are

Tent of Nations (ToN) is an educational and ecological family farm committed to nonviolent resistance, environmental stewardship, intercultural education, and connecting people with the land. It serves as a living model of nonviolent action and faith-based community building, within the context of Palestine and the world.

We host international visitors, volunteers, and local partners who come to learn, share, and participate in our work. Together, we transform despair into hope through environmental education, organic farming, empowerment programs for women and children, and global solidarity.

Our Mission

Our mission is to build bridges between people and between people and the land through creative resistance, education, and environmental stewardship. We strive to cultivate understanding, respect, and sustainability by working in harmony with the land and with one another.

We live by four guiding principles:

We refuse to be victims
We refuse to hate
We act on our faith
We believe in justice

These principles shape every act of cultivation, teaching, and welcome that happens on the farm encompassed by the slogan We Refuse to Be the Enemy.

Our Vision

We envision the Tent of Nations as a beacon of hope and sustainability – a place where individuals and communities learn to live in harmony with the environment and each other.... READ MORE https://tentofnations.com/about-us/

https://www.facebook.com/tentofnations

"The Nasser family are a Palestinian Christian family who have owned this farm for over 100 years. But 35 years ago, the Israeli authorities declared his farm and the surrounding area to be State land. Ever since then, the family have been engaged in a struggle to register and protect their farm. And with each passing year, settlements encroach on more and more of their land. But the Nassars continue their Tent of Nations work with steadfast nonviolence and faith, living their message every day: “We refuse to be enemies.” They are an example of creative, hopeful, Christian resistance to injustice and they need the support of Christians around the world. During my visit today I had the honour of planting an olive tree on the Nasser farm. At a time when many Palestinian Christians are leaving, olive trees are a symbol of their deep roots in this land..." Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop Sarah visits the Tent of Nations in Bethlehem. Photo credit Andrea Krogmann/Lambeth Palace

Rock commemorating the olive tree planted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Photo credit Andrea Krogmann/Lambeth Palace

Archbishop of Canterbury

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Today on our pilgrimage we met with the Nasser family on their farm, now commonly known as the Tent of Nations - located south of Bethlehem in occupied Palestine.

The Nasser family are a Palestinian Christian family who have owned this farm for over 100 years. But 35 years ago, the Israeli authorities declared his farm and the surrounding area to be State land.

Ever since then, the family have been engaged in a struggle to register and protect their farm. And with each passing year, settlements encroach on more and more of their land.

But the Nassars continue their Tent of Nations work with steadfast nonviolence and faith, living their message every day: “We refuse to be enemies.”

They are an example of creative, hopeful, Christian resistance to injustice and they need the support of Christians around the world.

During my visit today I had the honour of planting an olive tree on the Nasser farm. At a time when many Palestinian Christians are leaving, olive trees are a symbol of their deep roots in this land.

As this tree grows, I pray that peace grows too in Palestine and Israel. Please pray for the Nasser family, Palestinian Christians and all those working for a just peace in the Holy Land.

Archbishop Sarah with the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, the Most Revd Hosam Naoum, at St George’s Anglican Cathedral in East Jerusalem. Photo credit Lambeth Palace https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/node/32/pastoral-letter-archbishop-sarah-mullally-and-archbishop-hosam-naoum

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1614819453347626&set=pcb.1614820073347564

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