"Israel Ain't No Saints"

 Gazans who lost loved ones during Israel's winter offensive against Hamas militants said Wednesday they're taking some solace from a U.N. report that accuses both sides of committing war crimes, but they're skeptical anyone will be brought to justice.

In Israel, the findings of the U.N. team sparked outrage and deepened a sense that the Jewish state is being treated unfairly by the international community.

While the U.N. investigation labeled Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns as war crimes, the bulk of the findings focused on Israeli actions during the three-week war.

The report echoed findings in a string of human rights reports released in recent months, but it could carry more weight, both because it was authored by a widely respected former war crimes prosecutor, Richard Goldstone, and because at least in theory it opens the way to charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Wednesday that Goldstone's mandate from the U.N. Human Rights Council was "one-sided," adding that "at an initial reading we have concerns about some of the report's recommendations."

Some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed in the December-January offensive, which sought to stop rocket fire by Gaza militants on southern Israeli towns. Thirteen Israelis also died, including four civilians.

Goldstone's 575-page report said Israel used disproportionate firepower and failed to avoid civilian deaths.

The report also condemned the firing of thousands of rockets by Gaza militants at southern Israel, killing some two dozen Israelis since 2001. These cause psychological trauma, and firing them at civilians "would constitute war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity," the report said.

The report provoked furor in Israel, whose Foreign Ministry said it was "appalled and disappointed." Radio stations devoted heavy chunks of air time to interviews with outraged officials and critical legal experts. "Classic Anti-Semitism," blared the headline of an opinion piece in the Israel Hayom daily. (Read Full Article)

In the fighting in Gaza, all sides flouted that fundamental principle. Many civilians unnecessarily died and even more were seriously hurt. In Israel, three civilians were killed and hundreds wounded by rockets from Gaza fired by Hamas and other groups. Two Palestinian girls also lost their lives when these rockets misfired.

In Gaza, hundreds of civilians died. They died from disproportionate attacks on legitimate military targets and from attacks on hospitals and other civilian structures. They died from precision weapons like missiles from aerial drones as well as from heavy artillery. Repeatedly, the Israel Defense Forces failed to adequately distinguish between combatants and civilians, as the laws of war strictly require.

Israel is correct that identifying combatants in a heavily populated area is difficult, and that Hamas fighters at times mixed and mingled with civilians. But that reality did not lift Israel’s obligation to take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians.

Our fact-finding team found that in many cases Israel could have done much more to spare civilians without sacrificing its stated and legitimate military aims. It should have refrained from attacking clearly civilian buildings, and from actions that might have resulted in a military advantage but at the cost of too many civilian lives. In these cases, Israel must investigate, and Hamas is obliged to do the same. They must examine what happened and appropriately punish any soldier or commander found to have violated the law.

Unfortunately, both Israel and Hamas have dismal records of investigating their own forces. I am unaware of any case where a Hamas fighter was punished for deliberately shooting a rocket into a civilian area in Israel — on the contrary, Hamas leaders repeatedly praise such acts. While Israel has begun investigations into alleged violations by its forces in the Gaza conflict, they are unlikely to be serious and objective.

Pursuing justice in this case is essential because no state or armed group should be above the law. Western governments in particular face a challenge because they have pushed for accountability in places like Darfur, but now must do the same with Israel, an ally and a democratic state.  (Read Full Article)

The United States and Israel ended another round of talks on Wednesday with no sign yet of a deal on a West Bank settlement freeze, but a U.S. envoy planned to meet again with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

The decision to extend discussions kept open the possibility of a meeting next week involving Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who all plan to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Failure to arrange at least an informal encounter between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders would be a setback for Obama, who has been trying to wring a settlement housing construction freeze from Netanyahu and restart peace talks.

Netanyahu has said he would be prepared to limit temporarily the scope of building but projects under way would continue.

Obama also wants Arab nations to take steps toward recognizing Israel. They have so far expressed reluctance.

Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem, territory captured in a 1967 war, alongside some three million Palestinians. The World Court calls the settlements illegal and Palestinians say the enclaves could deny them a viable state. (Read Full Article)

   Thank God for the courage of Richard Goldstone, the UN representative with the courage to stand up  and hold Israel accountable for the recent war crimes and terrorism against the innocent civilians in Gaza. As I see it, Israel, like Hamas and Hezbollah, has a long history of war crimes and terrorism in the Middle East. Israel ain't no saints! Under the pretense of security concerns, Israel has taken large portions of the West Bank and East Jerusalem from the Palestinian people and through inhumane blockades cause much suffering for Palestinian people. Gaza is literally a prison. Make no mistake, Hamas is a terrorist organization that uses civilians for shields but Israel is capable of fighting urban warfare with far fewer civilian casualties. America does so in Iraq and Afghanistan. When will there ever be an American President and Congress to stand against Israel's wrongdoings? Is the Jewish vote and financial power in America so great that no American politician can ever call for sanctions against Israel? Though many Christians consider Israel to be "God's Chosen People", no nation is above the "rule of law", not even Israel. The ancient Hebrew prophets made that plain enough. Israel will pay for her crimes against humanity, because God is just, as I see it.

tags: israel  gaza  hamas  richard goldstone  war  warpeace  politics  middleeast  war crimes  

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