A six-year-old's desperate phone call led to the foundation of the Hind Rajab Foundation, and since then this Brussels-based foundation has been turning photos and videos posted on social media by Israeli soldiers into legal cases
January 29, 2024: Six-year-old Hind Rajab's makes a desperate phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent. As the world heard her pleas for rescue in the viral recording, we were reminded of the war in Gaza and how Israel continues to bombard the strip and commit genocide against Palestinians.
Hind's phone call led to the formation of the Hind Rajab Foundation. Since September 2024, this Brussels-based foundation is turning photos and videos posted on social media by Israeli soldiers into legal cases.
Six-year-old Hind's story reminds us of what children in Gaza go through daily and how Israel must be held accountable for its ongoing war crimes in the Palestinian territory.
Israel has accused this Belgian organisation of "doxing" its soldiers. However, as per Dyab Abou Jahjah, the co-founder of the organisation, HRF does not dox but is trying its best to ensure soldiers bombarding Gaza and killing innocent civilians and then "bragging" about it on social media are held accountable for their actions.
"We are opposed to doxxing. We even condemn doxxing. We only communicate the names of the people we are suing, which is the right of any plaintiffs under any international or local law, the co-founder told Democracy Now!.
Though it is Often compared to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish rights organisation which hunted down Nazi war criminals, Jahjah said that the Hind Rajab Foundation has a harder time functioning compared to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
"Wiesenthal Center was chasing Nazi criminals, everybody was against Nazis. Nazi Germany had been defeated. There was no backlash. There was no pushback," he told Democracy Now, adding that HRF continues to face backlash for the work they are doing.
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed legal action against several Israeli soldiers involved in committing war crimes in Gaza. As of January 6, 2025, HRF has filed cases against Israeli soldiers in Ecuador, Belgium, UAE, Brazil, Argentina, Sri Lanka, France, Netherlands, Cyprus, Thailand, and the UK.
The case in Brazil is against Yuval Vagdani. A 500-page report holds Vagdani responsible for planting explosives across Gaza neighbourhoods, killing hundreds of civilians and documenting it on social media. The 21-year-old reservist was vacationing in Brazil at the time of the case and was evacuated by the Israeli embassy in Sao Paulo and sent back to Tel Aviv. As per Israeli media, Vagdani was first evacuated to Argentina, then to Miami in the US and then back home.
In Sweden, a case was filed against Israeli soldier Boaz Ben David with the Swedish authorities on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza. HRF states David played a direct role in the killing and targeting of civilians in the strip.
As the war rages on, Hind Rajab Foundation continues to work towards holding Israeli troops accountable for their crimes against humanity. Since October 2023, over 45,000 people have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli bombardment. A majority of this death toll has been attributed to women and children.
바카라's Anniversary Issue on War and Peace highlights the plight of such never-ending wars. For its January 11, 2025, issue, 바카라 reached out to Motasem Dalloul for a dispatch from Gaza, we are still waiting for his story.
Brahma Prakash writes on 'Palestine's Defiance In The Face Of Occupation', highlighting the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and how his last gesture of rebellion earned him a place in Palestine's anti-colonial struggle.
In the second part of 바카라's Anniversary issue - War And Demcoracy - we dive deep into the concept of War and its impact on democratic world order.
From the Importance of Defiance to How The Biblical Idea Of Greater Israel Fuels Conflict, we uncover the paradox of peace and how we remain far away from an ideal democratic world, one that is without war.