PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, October 16: Following the recent ceasefire deal, Palestinian detainees and Israeli hostages share harrowing accounts of their experiences. Also, Seoul reports that around a thousand South Koreans are being forced to work in “inhumane conditions” in Cambodia. Finally, a new scientific theory suggests that aliens may have simply given up trying to contact humans.
After the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, more details are emerging about their treatment. The Guardian reports that Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti was assaulted by Israeli prison guards, according to his son, who said the family fears for his life. Barghouti was reportedly beaten unconscious by eight guards while being transferred between prisons.
Al Jazeera cites health officials in Gaza who say they found signs of torture on Palestinian bodies returned by Israel. According to the medics, many of the Palestinians were handcuffed and blindfolded, suggesting that so-called “field executions” may have taken place. Similar accounts have been published by the Palestine Chronicle, describing systematic torture and a “brutal system of repression inside Israeli prisons”.
An opinion piece in the Israeli left-wing daily Haaretz asks, “Will Israelis one day say of their country’s atrocities: ‘I was against it’?” It argues that cruelty in Israeli society is becoming “ever more sophisticated to protect [its] spoils,” and that perhaps one day some will grasp the full scale of the atrocities committed in the Gaza Strip.
Similar horror stories have also been recounted by Israeli hostages. The Jerusalem Post reports on Rom Braslavski, who says he was forced to convert to Islam and fast during Ramadan, held in solitary confinement for two years, and subjected to severe psychological abuse. The Times of Israel quotes the families of freed hostages as saying that “the road to recovery is going to be a very long one,” painting a picture of starvation, suffering, and both physical and psychological trauma.
Turning to South Korea, a scam scandal has shaken the country. Geo reports that around 1,000 South Koreans are being held captive and forced to work in online scam centres in Cambodia, according to Seoul. The news comes just weeks after the death of a South Korean student, linked to the criminal networks controlling these centres.
The Korea Herald says that Seoul has banned travel to scam-related areas of Cambodia amid a surge in reported “abductions”. Authorities also announced plans to repatriate around 60 South Koreans “detained in Cambodia”. The Cambodia Daily reports that the two governments have agreed to cooperate in dismantling the cybercrime networks. The paper adds that there are growing calls for “regional cooperation to dismantle human trafficking and cyber-scam networks” across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.
The Korea Times describes the ordeal of those rescued. One man said he was lured by false online job offers promising high salaries and a better life in Cambodia, but on arrival was taken directly to a voice-phishing operation. When he refused to cooperate, he was beaten with metal pipes. Another man said he was forced to work with his ankles chained and handcuffed to his bed at night. The captives were identified only by room numbers – such as 1323. After several failed escape attempts, they eventually made it out.
Amid growing tensions, Cambodia is seeking to ease the situation. The South China Morning Post reports that the country’s interior ministry released a social media video featuring a South Korean woman praising Cambodia as a “peaceful and warm country”, saying that what appears in the media “isn’t the full picture”.
Finally, from Earth to space: The Guardian reports on a new theory dubbed “bored aliens”. The idea suggests that if extraterrestrial civilisations exist, perhaps they’ve simply stopped trying to contact Earth. The researchers behind the theory propose that these aliens may have explored the cosmos before embracing what they call “radical mundanity”. In other words, they may be more advanced than humans – but have either lost interest or lack the technology to reach out. This contrasts sharply with other theories suggesting that aliens are so advanced it’s beyond our capacity to perceive them.
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