Ep 137 - How We Got IDF Soldiers Detained in Europe | Haroon Raza Shares Legal Blueprint

In this episode of Boys in the Cave, we sit down with Haroon Raza, a Dutch criminal defence lawyer and human rights advocate based in Rotterdam.

We unpack the legal strategy behind pursuing accountability for Gaza, the rise of state overreach across Europe, and how activism shifts when the "rules" stop protecting people.

Haroon shares how investigators gathered open source evidence and compiled an indictment covering 1,000 IDF soldiers across multiple nationalities, based largely on what was posted publicly online, and how that work fed into efforts taken toward international accountability.

We also discuss a major "first" moment, the arrest and interrogation of two IDF soldiers in Belgium and what it reveals about the shifting legal landscape in Europe.

Plus, we get into the darker side of modern "rule of law", secret evidence, surveillance, infiltration, profiling Muslims in local municipalities, and why Haroon warns that if law fails to protect legitimate advocacy, societies head into dangerous territory.

Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Human Appeal Australia, supporting Palestinians with hot meals and vegetable baskets:

https://my.humanappeal.org.au/donate

Timestamps

0:00 Sponsor, Human Appeal Australia

1:04 Who is Haroon Raza, and what this episode is about

3:55 Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, activism roots (and the first wake up calls)

9:49 Netherlands Islamophobia, politics, and early racism

16:06 Protest crackdowns in Europe, policing, intimidation

20:31 Protest bans, "terror" labels, civil disobedience

30:34 Secret evidence, surveillance, and the limits of "rule of law"

38:24 Profiling Muslims, infiltration, municipality databases, legal pushback

43:20 Adversity, faith, and staying firm under pressure

47:48 Tomorrowland (Belgium), the detention story, what happened

54:26 Investigative unit, turning open source content into case files

55:30 The "1,000 soldiers" indictment, Instagram as evidence

56:17 ICC and embassies, long game, ripple effects beyond Europe

1:06:43 Why "Hind Rajab", impunity, impact, backlash

1:29:44 Closing reflections and duas