Alan M. Dershowitz - Jan 27, 2009
The Jerusalem Post
The cease fire on the ground has not ended the war of words against Israel. Indeed, efforts to charge Israel with war crimes and other violations of international law are escalating. The time has come, therefore, for a common sense legal and moral analysis of the events in Gaza and southern Israel.
Let us begin with an argument that is frequently made against Israel. It is pointed out by supporters of Hamas that the official governing authority of Gaza is Hamas, because Hamas won the election. To the extent this is true, however, it is an argument in justification of Israel's actions. If Hamas is the official government of Gaza and if Hamas ordered the firing of more of than 6,000 deadly rockets at Israeli civilians, then it follows that the government of Gaza has engaged in an armed attack against Israel under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In other words, the government of Gaza has declared war against the government and people of Israel. This should not be surprising, since the Hamas Charter calls for the military destruction of Israel.
Under international law, and under the UN Charter, Israel has the right to respond to these thousands of armed attacks. Indeed every rocket fired into Israel is an armed attack and Israel is entitled to take whatever military actions is deemed reasonably necessary to stop these armed attacks from occurring. If Hamas were merely a small terrorist gang operating from Gaza but without the approval of the government, it would be more difficult to justify a military response that destroyed government buildings and targeted police. Israeli military actions resulted in civilians dying. Precisely how many is hotly disputed: a study conducted by the Italian Newspaper Corriere Del Sera disputed Hamas figures and put the total number of Palestinians killed, including Hamas terrorists, at less than 600. The sad reality is that people who voted for and actively support a terrorist government bear more responsibility for the actions of their government than they would for a gang operating against the wishes of the government. Surely the voters in Germany who elected Hitler bore more responsibility for Nazi atrocities than the people of Iraq did for the atrocities of the dictator Saddam Hussein, who was never fairly elected.
Israel clearly had to right to take whatever military action was necessary to stop the Hamas government from playing Russian roulette with the lives of its children. So far, no problem under international law. But here's the rub. International law also requires that Israel's actions must not be disproportional to its military aims and it also prohibits the willful targeting of Palestinian civilians.
To make things even more complicated, international law prohibits the use of human shields to protect combatants from lawful military actions taken by those against whom it has waged an armed attack. And there can be absolutely no doubt that it is the official policy of Hamas to use children, women, schools, mosques, hospitals and other civilian institutions and areas as shields to protect its combatants from legitimate Israeli military actions. In addition to the video evidence showing Hamas fighters deliberately placing their rockets adjacent to UN schools, mosques and to residential areas, there are the express statements of officially-elected Hamas leaders both before and during the fighting. Consider the following public statement delivered by a Hamas legislator, transmitted on Hamas television and widely circulated by video. The legislator's name is Fathi Hammad and here is what he said:
[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death like you desire life.'"
There are videos available for all to watch in which Al-Aqsa TV news broadcasts a report showing a crowd of civilians gathered on the roof of a home that was a military target. Indeed those who arranged for these human shields to protect that military target do not shy away from actually using the term "human shield." On another occasion, Hamas leader, appearing on television demands that "the people of Palestine should gather as one to protect the Jihad warriors' house," calling for these civilians to "die as warriors."
So here is the legal dilemma faced by democracies such as Israel. They have every right under international law to take whatever military actions are necessary to stop the rockets randomly fired at their civilians. Their enemy uses human shields to prevent Israel from destroying the rockets without also killing Palestinian civilians. All the law requires under these circumstances is that Israel take reasonable precaution to minimize enemy civilian deaths in order to prevent the murder of its own civilians. Has Israel taken such precautions? Let retired British colonel Richard Kemp answer that question as he did in a recent BBC interview. He said that there has been "no time in the history of warfare when an army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and the deaths of innocent people than the [Israel Defense forces did in Gaza.]" To accuse Israel of "war crimes" under these circumstances is to distort international law and expose the bias of the accuser.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Is Israel Doomed? -FrontPageMagazine.com
By Kenneth Levin
Friday, January 23, 2009
Israel's enemies assert that its destruction is inevitable, and those who would destroy her are cheered on by many in the West. At the same time, Western mainstream media, particularly in Europe but also major media outlets in America, do puff pieces on Israel's genocidal adversaries, slant the news to conform to her enemies' propaganda, and support the delegimitization of the Jewish state.
The Gaza War, and the response to it across the world, have underscored the threats to the state's survival, Israel's often maladaptive and self-defeating reactions, and what is required of the state to counter those who challenge her existence.
(read full article)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Israel's enemies assert that its destruction is inevitable, and those who would destroy her are cheered on by many in the West. At the same time, Western mainstream media, particularly in Europe but also major media outlets in America, do puff pieces on Israel's genocidal adversaries, slant the news to conform to her enemies' propaganda, and support the delegimitization of the Jewish state.
The Gaza War, and the response to it across the world, have underscored the threats to the state's survival, Israel's often maladaptive and self-defeating reactions, and what is required of the state to counter those who challenge her existence.
(read full article)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
"Hamas is to Blame"
December 29, 2008
PLO and Fatah Officials: Hamas is Responsible for the
Deaths of Its People
Along with expressing solidarity with the Hamas casualties in Gaza, PA, PLO and Fatah officials criticize Hamas for its contribution to the escalation that led to the Israeli attack. They blamed Hamas for not listening to the call to prolong the tahdiah, for not preparing properly for the possibility that Israel would attack, and for combining its government functions with its resistance activity, which made it vulnerable to an attack on its institutions. Hamas, for its part, accused the PLO and Fatah of collaborating with Israel.
The following are excerpts from statements and articles in the Palestinian media:
(read full article)
PLO and Fatah Officials: Hamas is Responsible for the
Deaths of Its People
Along with expressing solidarity with the Hamas casualties in Gaza, PA, PLO and Fatah officials criticize Hamas for its contribution to the escalation that led to the Israeli attack. They blamed Hamas for not listening to the call to prolong the tahdiah, for not preparing properly for the possibility that Israel would attack, and for combining its government functions with its resistance activity, which made it vulnerable to an attack on its institutions. Hamas, for its part, accused the PLO and Fatah of collaborating with Israel.
The following are excerpts from statements and articles in the Palestinian media:
(read full article)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Final war report (for now) from Jerusalem
Dear Faithful friends of Israel,
Grace and shalom to you from Jerusalem. I have finished my second deployment to the Border Police unit near Gaza. On this last trip the Lord threw open some amazing doors to provide comfort to the children and people of Sderot and the surrounding communities. I was given the freedom to use the base commander's truck to visit over a dozen kindergartens as well as send off MBKI's first bus full of children and parents from Sderot to a holiday village in the Galilee.
SDEROT RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS TRIP TO THE GALILEE
In partnership with a Sderot based organization we sent 110 children and their parents on a much needed break from the chaos of war and never ending rocket attacks to the North of Israel. This group enjoyed a weekend of relaxation and fun. They went ice skating in Metulla, jeep tours of the Golan Heights, mass viewing of Madagascar 2 and karaoke at the hotel (See pictures below.)
TEENS FUN DAY IN JERUSALEM
On my tour of the kindergartens I ran across a teen club in one of the border communities Kibbutzes. I connected with the youth leader and we immediately put together a "fun day" in Jerusalem. This past Monday, 40 teens from two kibbutzes came to Jerusalem for bowling, pizza party and a movie at the Jerusalem mall. The smiles of the kids spoke volumes of their gratitude (Still waiting for the pictures.)
SDEROT ETHIOPIAN IMMIGRANTS ARE NEXT
We are in the process of planning an identical weekend trip to the Galilee for Sderot's Ethiopian children and their parents. We are expecting to complete the planning this week and send this group North next week.
YEMENITE KINDERGARDEN ON OUR RADAR
During my two deployments to the border of Gaza, I spent a great deal of time in the most economically depressed farming community on the cuff of Sderot city, securing areas where Hamas rockets fell and praying. Last week I made a connection with the manager of a kindergarden and feel impressed by the Lord to investigate building a relationship with this kindergarden and their 30 plus Yemenite children. Please pray for wisdom on how to proceed.
THIS BATTLE WITH HAMAS IS OVER BUT NOT THE WAR
After returning to my family in Jerusalem last Saturday night, I was required to report to my Jerusalem border police base the next day for an afternoon of weapons training at a firing range outside of the city. I had decided that I needed a break and so did my family. I had planned to direct my attention to the upcoming "comfort" operations that were unfolding from the divine contacts that were made in the South. However, Sunday night I received a call from my Jerusalem base commander and was asked if I could report to the base at 4:00 am to participate in a huge operation planned for that morning (Monday). When I arrived at the base I saw the largest array of police, border police, special units, IDF, internal security agents, intelligence and surveillance teams, horses, dogs and engineers that I have ever seen.
In a few hours we would all move to the home of the dead terrorist who murdered 8 yeshiva students this past Spring. It is known that this terrorist is associated with Hamas in East Jerusalem (5 minutes from our apartment). The mission was to completely seal two floors of this bad guy's house with concrete. I was the commander's driver/aide de camp. Our jeeps provided force security for the operation and closed off all the entrances and exits to the arab village while the special SWAT teams and engineers did their work to prepare the home for sealing. As has been the Lord's good pleasure since the first days of the war, I was placed near the center of all the activity to pray directly into the operation as each phase developed. The operation was a success.
I was released at 2:00 pm and ran home to change my clothes and greet the busload of teens from the Sderot region for their day of fun in Jerusalem.
I haven't had much time to digest all that I have experienced since the outbreak of war. However, I wish to convey to you and all of your friends that you forward this email to some closing observations for you to pray into. The word I keep hearing is "DILIGENCE AND ALERTNESS because this isn't anywhere near being over."
PRAYER TARGET: WOUNDED IDF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS
Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza Saturday night, but the struggle has not yet ended for dozens of injured soldiers and civilians hospitalized in Israel.
As of Sunday morning, 51 soldiers and 13 civilians were still on file as patients at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva and Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
Among the 13 wounded civilians is seven-year-old Orel Elazarov of Beersheba, who has been in serious condition since he was injured by shrapnel from a Grad rocket.
Two residents of Ashdod are also considered severely wounded, three weeks after they were hit by rocket shrapnel in an attack that killed Ashdod resident Irit Sheetrit.
Among the injured soldiers, one is described as being in critical condition. The soldier in question is Val Jenam of the Golani infantry brigade, who was wounded after an IDF tank accidentally fired on infantry troops. Jenam, who was hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center, has not regained consciousness since the event.
Six additional soldiers are considered severely injured, among them Second Lieutenant Aharon Karov, who left for the operation mere hours after his wedding. Thirteen additional soldiers have been declared in moderate condition, while 30 soldiers are now considered lightly injured. Two of them have started rehabilitation at the Sheba Medical Center.
During the weeks of the operation, some 800 soldiers and civilians arrived at the hospitals for treatment.
PRAYER TARGET: THE BODY OF MESSIAH AND ISRAEL
This next target is from my dear friend Avner Boskey who has also been reporting on the war with spot on accuracy. I couldn't agree more with what he recently wrote as a warning to the Body of Messiah in the nations. The storm has been rising for the past 60 years and is upon us. This is not the time to be sidetracked with other things or you may find yourselves on the sidelines. The stakes are high and Israel and the Jewish people are on the world's chopping block.
The Scriptures tell us that Israel is God's billboard to the nations (Isaiah 11:12; 49:22; 62:10). God uses the Jewish people to reveal His ways, to reveal His heart. to shout out His message to all countries. Senator Hillary Clinton once called Israel "the canary in the mineshaft". By that, she meant that Israel is an indicator – an air-raid siren, an advance warning alarm – to the world. What happens with Israel is a preview of coming attractions; these same challenges or trials or wars will soon be coming to the whole world.
The anti-Nazi Pastor Martin Niemöller put it this way, The Nazis "came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, for I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me".
For decades Islamist and Arab terrorists have attacked the Jewish people and the State of Israel. These atrocities have for the most part been brushed under the carpet by the nations of the world. The United Nations even passed a resolution condemning Zionism (the Jewish people's national liberation movement) as racism (General Assembly Resolution 3379, passed in 1975, revoked in 1991). At this moment Iran is openly pursuing nuclear weaponry in its self-confessed drive to wipe Israel off the map.
Over 10,000 Hamas rockets and mortars have rained down on Israel for the past 8 years, and for the world this has been merely business as usual.
Through all of this God is communicating a message to the world: what comes first to Israel (Islamist attacks) surely comes to the rest of the nations (9/11 etc). Hamas' attempts to establish an Islamic state and to destroy Israel through rocket fire, indicates that unless the nations of the world get with the plan, they will see similar things happening in their neck of the woods.
Green tide rising
We are living in the days of the restoration of the Jewish people to Israel, their promised land. God's restoration movement has been opposed by Satan in many ways – through Communism, Fascism and now through Islamist hatred and murder of the Jewish people. The flags and colors of these movements are red, black and green. Today the anti-Semitic charge is currently being led and catalyzed by those carrying green banners – the banners of Islamic jihad.
As European and the Islamic world march in their tens of thousands against the Jewish state, it is time to "wake up and smell the coffee". We are living in the days of Satan's renewed and murderous onslaught against the Jewish people. These are the "days of the hunters" (Jeremiah 16:16-17).
Pray for believers worldwide to wake up and recognize that the Jewish people are being strategically targeted by the enemy. Pray that believers worldwide will target the Jewish people in prayer, for blessing, protection and salvation.
PRAYER TARGET: THE BELIEVERS IN THE LAND
A midst all the war in the natural there is immense activity in the spirit. I can personally attest to the heaviness here in Jerusalem (more than usual). With the hatred of the world focused on Israel can you imagine how many curses are being released from every corner of the globe. At this point, I would like to ask you to pray for the families, children and marriages of the believers in the land.
In conclusion, I want to thank all of you who have responded to our call to provide comfort for the children and families in the South who have been tragically affected by this war brought to their very doorstep. Your generosity and rapid response has been awesome and we are honored to be your representatives of the ONE NEW MAN here in Israel.
Dov ben Zion Gelman
Grace and shalom to you from Jerusalem. I have finished my second deployment to the Border Police unit near Gaza. On this last trip the Lord threw open some amazing doors to provide comfort to the children and people of Sderot and the surrounding communities. I was given the freedom to use the base commander's truck to visit over a dozen kindergartens as well as send off MBKI's first bus full of children and parents from Sderot to a holiday village in the Galilee.
SDEROT RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS TRIP TO THE GALILEE
In partnership with a Sderot based organization we sent 110 children and their parents on a much needed break from the chaos of war and never ending rocket attacks to the North of Israel. This group enjoyed a weekend of relaxation and fun. They went ice skating in Metulla, jeep tours of the Golan Heights, mass viewing of Madagascar 2 and karaoke at the hotel (See pictures below.)
TEENS FUN DAY IN JERUSALEM
On my tour of the kindergartens I ran across a teen club in one of the border communities Kibbutzes. I connected with the youth leader and we immediately put together a "fun day" in Jerusalem. This past Monday, 40 teens from two kibbutzes came to Jerusalem for bowling, pizza party and a movie at the Jerusalem mall. The smiles of the kids spoke volumes of their gratitude (Still waiting for the pictures.)
SDEROT ETHIOPIAN IMMIGRANTS ARE NEXT
We are in the process of planning an identical weekend trip to the Galilee for Sderot's Ethiopian children and their parents. We are expecting to complete the planning this week and send this group North next week.
YEMENITE KINDERGARDEN ON OUR RADAR
During my two deployments to the border of Gaza, I spent a great deal of time in the most economically depressed farming community on the cuff of Sderot city, securing areas where Hamas rockets fell and praying. Last week I made a connection with the manager of a kindergarden and feel impressed by the Lord to investigate building a relationship with this kindergarden and their 30 plus Yemenite children. Please pray for wisdom on how to proceed.
THIS BATTLE WITH HAMAS IS OVER BUT NOT THE WAR
After returning to my family in Jerusalem last Saturday night, I was required to report to my Jerusalem border police base the next day for an afternoon of weapons training at a firing range outside of the city. I had decided that I needed a break and so did my family. I had planned to direct my attention to the upcoming "comfort" operations that were unfolding from the divine contacts that were made in the South. However, Sunday night I received a call from my Jerusalem base commander and was asked if I could report to the base at 4:00 am to participate in a huge operation planned for that morning (Monday). When I arrived at the base I saw the largest array of police, border police, special units, IDF, internal security agents, intelligence and surveillance teams, horses, dogs and engineers that I have ever seen.
In a few hours we would all move to the home of the dead terrorist who murdered 8 yeshiva students this past Spring. It is known that this terrorist is associated with Hamas in East Jerusalem (5 minutes from our apartment). The mission was to completely seal two floors of this bad guy's house with concrete. I was the commander's driver/aide de camp. Our jeeps provided force security for the operation and closed off all the entrances and exits to the arab village while the special SWAT teams and engineers did their work to prepare the home for sealing. As has been the Lord's good pleasure since the first days of the war, I was placed near the center of all the activity to pray directly into the operation as each phase developed. The operation was a success.
I was released at 2:00 pm and ran home to change my clothes and greet the busload of teens from the Sderot region for their day of fun in Jerusalem.
I haven't had much time to digest all that I have experienced since the outbreak of war. However, I wish to convey to you and all of your friends that you forward this email to some closing observations for you to pray into. The word I keep hearing is "DILIGENCE AND ALERTNESS because this isn't anywhere near being over."
PRAYER TARGET: WOUNDED IDF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS
Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza Saturday night, but the struggle has not yet ended for dozens of injured soldiers and civilians hospitalized in Israel.
As of Sunday morning, 51 soldiers and 13 civilians were still on file as patients at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva and Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
Among the 13 wounded civilians is seven-year-old Orel Elazarov of Beersheba, who has been in serious condition since he was injured by shrapnel from a Grad rocket.
Two residents of Ashdod are also considered severely wounded, three weeks after they were hit by rocket shrapnel in an attack that killed Ashdod resident Irit Sheetrit.
Among the injured soldiers, one is described as being in critical condition. The soldier in question is Val Jenam of the Golani infantry brigade, who was wounded after an IDF tank accidentally fired on infantry troops. Jenam, who was hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center, has not regained consciousness since the event.
Six additional soldiers are considered severely injured, among them Second Lieutenant Aharon Karov, who left for the operation mere hours after his wedding. Thirteen additional soldiers have been declared in moderate condition, while 30 soldiers are now considered lightly injured. Two of them have started rehabilitation at the Sheba Medical Center.
During the weeks of the operation, some 800 soldiers and civilians arrived at the hospitals for treatment.
PRAYER TARGET: THE BODY OF MESSIAH AND ISRAEL
This next target is from my dear friend Avner Boskey who has also been reporting on the war with spot on accuracy. I couldn't agree more with what he recently wrote as a warning to the Body of Messiah in the nations. The storm has been rising for the past 60 years and is upon us. This is not the time to be sidetracked with other things or you may find yourselves on the sidelines. The stakes are high and Israel and the Jewish people are on the world's chopping block.
The Scriptures tell us that Israel is God's billboard to the nations (Isaiah 11:12; 49:22; 62:10). God uses the Jewish people to reveal His ways, to reveal His heart. to shout out His message to all countries. Senator Hillary Clinton once called Israel "the canary in the mineshaft". By that, she meant that Israel is an indicator – an air-raid siren, an advance warning alarm – to the world. What happens with Israel is a preview of coming attractions; these same challenges or trials or wars will soon be coming to the whole world.
The anti-Nazi Pastor Martin Niemöller put it this way, The Nazis "came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, for I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me".
For decades Islamist and Arab terrorists have attacked the Jewish people and the State of Israel. These atrocities have for the most part been brushed under the carpet by the nations of the world. The United Nations even passed a resolution condemning Zionism (the Jewish people's national liberation movement) as racism (General Assembly Resolution 3379, passed in 1975, revoked in 1991). At this moment Iran is openly pursuing nuclear weaponry in its self-confessed drive to wipe Israel off the map.
Over 10,000 Hamas rockets and mortars have rained down on Israel for the past 8 years, and for the world this has been merely business as usual.
Through all of this God is communicating a message to the world: what comes first to Israel (Islamist attacks) surely comes to the rest of the nations (9/11 etc). Hamas' attempts to establish an Islamic state and to destroy Israel through rocket fire, indicates that unless the nations of the world get with the plan, they will see similar things happening in their neck of the woods.
Green tide rising
We are living in the days of the restoration of the Jewish people to Israel, their promised land. God's restoration movement has been opposed by Satan in many ways – through Communism, Fascism and now through Islamist hatred and murder of the Jewish people. The flags and colors of these movements are red, black and green. Today the anti-Semitic charge is currently being led and catalyzed by those carrying green banners – the banners of Islamic jihad.
As European and the Islamic world march in their tens of thousands against the Jewish state, it is time to "wake up and smell the coffee". We are living in the days of Satan's renewed and murderous onslaught against the Jewish people. These are the "days of the hunters" (Jeremiah 16:16-17).
Pray for believers worldwide to wake up and recognize that the Jewish people are being strategically targeted by the enemy. Pray that believers worldwide will target the Jewish people in prayer, for blessing, protection and salvation.
PRAYER TARGET: THE BELIEVERS IN THE LAND
A midst all the war in the natural there is immense activity in the spirit. I can personally attest to the heaviness here in Jerusalem (more than usual). With the hatred of the world focused on Israel can you imagine how many curses are being released from every corner of the globe. At this point, I would like to ask you to pray for the families, children and marriages of the believers in the land.
In conclusion, I want to thank all of you who have responded to our call to provide comfort for the children and families in the South who have been tragically affected by this war brought to their very doorstep. Your generosity and rapid response has been awesome and we are honored to be your representatives of the ONE NEW MAN here in Israel.
Dov ben Zion Gelman
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Non-violence cannot tackle terrorism: Dalai Lama
Press Trust of India
Saturday, January 17, 2009 (New Delhi)
New Delhi The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed.
"It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here. (read full article)
Saturday, January 17, 2009 (New Delhi)
New Delhi The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed.
"It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here. (read full article)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Hamas War Crime Strategy
January 8, 2009 | Alan M. Dershowitz
As Israel persists in its military efforts—by ground, air and sea—to protect its citizens from deadly Hamas rockets, and as protests against Israel increase around the world, the success of the abominable Hamas double war crime strategy becomes evident. The strategy is as simple as it is cynical: provoke Israel by playing Russian roulette with its children, firing rockets at kindergartens, playgrounds and hospitals; hide behind its own civilians when firing at Israeli civilians; refuse to build bunkers for its own civilians; have the TV cameras ready to transmit every image of dead Palestinians, especially children; exaggerate the number of civilians killed by including as "children" Hamas fighters who are 16 or 17 years old and as "women," female terrorists.(read full article)
As Israel persists in its military efforts—by ground, air and sea—to protect its citizens from deadly Hamas rockets, and as protests against Israel increase around the world, the success of the abominable Hamas double war crime strategy becomes evident. The strategy is as simple as it is cynical: provoke Israel by playing Russian roulette with its children, firing rockets at kindergartens, playgrounds and hospitals; hide behind its own civilians when firing at Israeli civilians; refuse to build bunkers for its own civilians; have the TV cameras ready to transmit every image of dead Palestinians, especially children; exaggerate the number of civilians killed by including as "children" Hamas fighters who are 16 or 17 years old and as "women," female terrorists.(read full article)
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Real Cease-Fire Needed in Gaza - Real Clear Politics
By Charles Krauthammer
Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons.
-- Associated Press, Dec. 27
WASHINGTON -- Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.
Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis -- 6,464 launched from Gaza in the last three years -- deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people. (read full article)
Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons.
-- Associated Press, Dec. 27
WASHINGTON -- Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.
Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis -- 6,464 launched from Gaza in the last three years -- deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people. (read full article)
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