The group sitting among the burned houses and devastation consists of some 10 volunteers from the Jerusalem branch of Zaka, the ultra-Orthodox organization that retrieves human remains after attacks and disasters. The white body bag is marked with the organization's logo.

"It was just bizarre that there was a corpse right there next to them, and they were sitting around, eating, and smoking," said one of two volunteers from a different organization who were present. "It's unbelievable."

Its almost like IDF was looking for any excuse to kill Palestinians instead of actually defending itself. They were bombing Gaza while Palestinian resistance fighters were in Israel "proper".

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] mechwarrior2@hexbear.net 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

ZAKA isn't just "some random NGO"

CW co-founder SA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAKA#Controversies

After Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, ZAKA's co-founder and main figurehead for more than 30 years, was awarded the Israel Prize in March 2021,[23][24] multiple accusations surfaced of his having committed sexual assaults against women, girls and boys over several decades, with the knowledge of others in the community.[25][26][27] Channel 13 reported that ZAKA officials had known about the abuse allegations and worked to silence the claims.[28] Meshi-Zahav subsequently resigned ZAKA leadership and relinquished the Israel Prize.[29] In response to the accusations, a senior ZAKA official said the organization had now "washed its hands" of Meshi-Zahav and that "given the accusations against him, it's very hard to remember the good that he's done. We always saw him with women and suspected that he was a deviant, but we never suspected he was a pedophile or a rapist. In retrospect, this [the allegations] explains a lot of things we saw over the years.[30] Following a suicide attempt in April 2021, Meshi-Zahav entered a coma and died in June 2022.[29] Gideon Aran, a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Hebrew University, said in his book about ZAKA that most ZAKA volunteers, while familiar with Meshi-Zahav and the colorful image of himself that he had cultivated, probably had no inkling of his misconduct; only a very few senior members were partially aware of his inclinations, without suspecting there was criminal and pathological behavior involved.[23] Following the scandal, Aran found that aside from a few changes in personnel, the organization's principles, sentiments and activities remained the same, and the damage to its public reputation was minimal.[23]

academic discussion of ZAKA volunteer culture, attitudes towards Jewish vs non-Jewish dead

https://academic.oup.com/book/46730/chapter/413250726

The Cult of Dismembered Limbs: Jewish Rites of Death at the Scene of Palestinian Suicide Terrorism by Gideon Aran, Chapter 3 Culture and Personality of the Specialists in Horrific Death

Abstract

Chapter 3 relates to the distinctive ethos of ZAKA and to the characteristic personality, biography, and habitus of its members. This chapter acquaints the readers with the peculiar rites and folklore of ZAKA’s volunteers along with their typical informal norms of behavior, including a reference to some aspects of which that are often regarded bizarre or deplorable.