Gaza war crimes report

Gaza war crimes report and what's been in the news the past two months...


So a run down on news in Palestine. There's always too much to digest, but when the world notices and makes a report of Israel's war crimes I feel it's always a positive.


👉First, a new film. 1949: Creation and Catastrophe
https://mondoweiss.net/2019/02/last-eyewitnesses-nakba/


👉February 2019 - any time war crimes are officially pointed out, I am here for it. There will be no adverse effects for the criminals, but at least it is being recorded - this time.
UN Investigators Call For Arrests Over Gaza War Crimes

UN says Israel's killings at Gaza protests may amount to war crimes


👉Two ads in the Israel elections that seem to say the quiet part loud and incite violence:

First ad -- 
 https://t.co/s8Y4Oziw75

And the shooting one -- with video 😥😤
Jewish Lawmaker Shoots Dead Arab Colleague in Campaign Video; Complaint Filed
👉March 2019 - continued terrorizing of peaceful protesters
Palestinian shot, injured as Israeli army attacks peaceful Kufr Qaddoum protests


👉Israel's need for self-defense just doesn't hold up.
'Endless Trip to Hell': Israel Jails Hundreds of Palestinian Boys a Year. These Are Their Testimonies
"A report a year earlier from British legal experts concluded that the conditions the Palestinian children are subjected to amount to torture, and just five months ago the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deplored Israel’s policy of arresting underage children, declaring, “An end must be put to all forms of physical or psychological abuse of children during arrest, transit and waiting periods, and during interrogations.”"


👉Susan Abulhawa's social media feed brought this one to my attention. Maybe it's as a result of the Ilhan Omar issue where she called out the US bias and AIPAC lobby group's stranglehold on American politics and was wrongly derided as being anti-Semitic.

Israel’s Stranglehold on American Politics
"The Israel lobby’s buying off of nearly every senior politician in the United States, facilitated by our system of legalized bribery, is not an anti-Semitic trope."


👉Saying the quiet parts loud. Israel isn't a state for all its citizens - only for Jews. We all knew that. Now we can fight apartheid and get rights for all equally?  Right?

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is ‘not a state of all its citizens’


👉Somewhat related to the previous link, the US Trump administration recognized Israeli soverignty over the land they stole in Syria although they have no authority to do so.
Trump says US will recognize Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights

And of course some in the apartheid state would like to make the apartheid official and have the US declare the West Bank the property of Israel, also contravening international law.
Israel MK calls for Trump to recognise Israel’s annexation of West Bank


👉Daily acts of violence and injustice against Palestinians
Two Palestinian Families Forced by Israeli Authority to Demolish Their Homes

Israel getting away with murder- literally- Gaza freedom flotilla

So the answer to this question I posed in my last post is a yes:

"Will this be yet another non-violent tactic met with Israeli gunfire?"

I really didn't expect it to come to that; just detentions. Just detentions. Can't believe I just thought that.

"Israel cannot clean the blood off its hands through any excuse," said
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "It is no longer possible to cover up or ignore Israel's
lawlessness. This bloody massacre by Israel on ships that were taking
humanitarian aid to Gaza deserves every kind of curse."

I wholeheartedly agree with Erdogan! It is awesome that someone is doing something- Turkey took its ambassador out of Israel.

I'm sure this will be a good account. There were supposed to be some good guests on. I hope to listen to it soon myself:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/1/global_condemnation_of_israeli_armed_attack

Obama’s response to the massacre of 20 people on board whose goal was to deliver supplies to help rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure and help them get clean water on Memorial Day was the same old feeble one- “we regret the loss of life.” Nearly the same line as Israel, minus the outright blame placed solely on the aid workers. When Palestinians used to suicide bomb, they were killers, murderers, homicide bombers, etc. We had no qualms about conferring these monikers meant for the perps on the entire population. When Israel kills people, we cleanse it and remove the blame- “stuff happens” or “what can you do” or “both sides need to adopt peaceful means”, etc.

Not that the weak response was surprising. Look what we "did" with the Goldstone report on war crimes in the Gaza offensive, when Noam Chomsky was denied entry to Israel because they don't like what he writes, and then when at the UN Monday, we abstained from calling for an immediate end to the blockade, unlike the rest of the Security Council, who did its job. What did we "do"? Nothing. Which means Israel keeps committing crimes with our money, which violates our US laws, by the way. Why should that matter to us, though. We don't care when they kill our citizens, so why on earth would we care about them breaking the law?

A couple of things struck me as ironic when I heard the news due to what day it was and what I was reading at the time.

I was finishing Roxana Saberi’s book about her imprisonment in Iran on Monday when I heard about it. Israel’s demands, assertions and denials resemble Iran’s quite a bit. You can't believe a word either of them say. Why not release the names of the dead? Why not release the names of the jailed? Why not let the jailed contact family, lawyers, embassies, etc? Why are they keeping the possessions of those released - money, film, tape, cameras, equipment, etc?

We all know about Iran, but think about how Israel called their nuclear reactor a textile factory and still won't acknowledge it, even though we all know the truth, how they never confirm that their Mossad was responsible when everyone knows they were. There are too many lies associated with the conflict to properly address here.

I heard about this on Memorial Day. I read so many well wishes to troops and thank yous to the military past and present on Facebook, teh news and various places. I don't hate America, teh flag, the troops or anything else, but certain things struck me as ironic in thinking about US policy on/with Israel and the Middle East on this day.

In the USS Liberty disaster, we chose to believe Israel over our own soldiers, we chose to support Israel and bury those soldiers’ accounts and statements rather than show them the same honor many enjoyed on Memorial Day. Why? And Rachel Corrie. She wasn’t military, but she was a US citizen who fought (and was murdered) for others’ right to have what we enjoy- she made the same sacrifice as many a US soldier. Given a record like this (protecting Israel over the lives and interests of our own citizens and international law), what hope, honestly, is there for justice and fairness in the Middle East as far as the US is concerned?

It’s apparently great to thank and respect soldiers- except when their story contradicts that of Israel’s. In that case, you need to shut your mouth and be ashamed of your service and contribution to this country. If you do choose ot talk about it, you need to fall in line and lie. There aren’t always two sides to every story. In the case of Israel and the US, there is only one side. Israel’s.

Well, Israel hasn't admitted to much of anything, but they do admit that they attacked a civilian ship with attack helicopters, speedboats and commandos.

Hopefully I will organize these later...
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/1/global_condemnation_of_israeli_armed_attack
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/10195838.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/may/31/israel-troops-gaza-ships
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/10196585.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/31/gaza.protest/index.html
http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.juancole.com/2010/05/mercy-flotilla-for-gaza-about-to-set-off-israelis-threaten-to-block-it-with-war-ships.html

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176998

Israel calls Gaza blockade-busting flotilla a provocation

Israel calls Gaza blockade-busting flotilla a provocation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictaidflotilla

Israel claimed on Wednesday that a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to bust the Gaza blockade is a provocation and that the aid it is carrying is "unnecessary".


"I don't see the need for any ship with these materials. We allow these materials into Gaza,"

"The sail is a provocative act that is unnecessary in light of the figures, which indicate that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is good and stable,"

Nonsense! Aid is unnecessary? A provocation? Garbage!


Gaza's markets of unaffordable goods conceal reality of people under siege
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/04/gaza-flotilla-humanitarian-crisis


They are detaining the civilians and will send the supplies (or some) through border crossings. Gazans are in need because of these very border crossings that have in the past banned toilet paper, toothpaste, and pasta, among other ordinary things. Many humanitarian organizations agree that Israel lets items in, but also agree that not nearly enough is let in for the need that exists.

Court documents reveal that Israel made estimates of calories Gazans need. They are getting far below what they need to thrive due to Israel’s blockade. They say the calorie count wasn’t used in policy making, but that looks mighty suspicious, don’t you think? When one party is constantly living in "fear" of a "demographic threat," that would be an awfully convenient way to ethnically cleanse a population, wouldn’t it? (that sentence makes me want to go nuts with air quotes, btw) Did this also not happen to many a Jew in Hitler’s time?? Why can’t we see this for what it is now?

"While they have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid," said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

This is humanitarian aid for an area that has many times over been declared to be in a desperate humanitarian situation. Propaganda?! Unbelievable!

They have also called this humanitarian aid a provocation. Do they mean one that will get a military response? Will this be yet another non-violent tactic met with Israeli gunfire?


No humanitarian situation? Not like it hasn’t been in the news…

Amnesty International
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/gaza-blockade-amnesty-international-delivers-23000-signatures-to-clinton/

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/27/2739353/amnesty-international-report-israel-mistreats-palestinians

Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/emergencies/gaza_crisis.html

2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7191359.stm
2009
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6573496&page=1
2010
http://reneefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/update-on-the-gaza-humanitarian-situation/

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11272.shtml

Killing one bird with several stones...

I apologize for so many links, but on a story like this, you’re going to have to read from more than one angle to get any real details or anything that makes sense.

Edit: I apologize as well for not telling you what this post is about! There was a murder of a Hamas man in Dubai. About 4 actually did the deed. Apparently a cloud of 6-12 Israeli dual citizens have fake passport troubles (and may have helped in surveillance and other ways) in relation to this case.

Several birds, one stone
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/984/re63.htm
(Interesting and plausible idea that Israel is trying to provoke militants- Israel can claim they weren’t involved in this and so the attack would be “unprovoked” – little, tiny, innocent Israel remains the eternal victim)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1150126.html

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168902

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8518481.stm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35426268/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/


I wonder what the US response to this blow up will be? Hmm…

A) Not our problem. No comment. We’ve got an economic crisis to take care of.
(Look how little was done about the non-violent American protester, Rachel Corrie, the IDF killed, not to mention we can't really criticize the extra judicial killing of people we deem terror suspects given our current foreign entanglements)

B) Nothing publicly, but to Israel we tell them they’d better keep this stuff more secret because it has the potential to make us look really bad (like they care- we always assume they do)

C) A public statement that our position remains that both sides must take (keep taking) steps to achieve peace.


Mossad has to be responsible. They have targeted political leaders and those working on a peace deal for murder in the past. Look at who the victim is. Not exactly spotless. There's no question Mossad is involved.

Evidence is also said to point to a "European hit squad." I guess it could be a weapons deal gone wrong, but a Palestinian in weapons has an Israeli target on the back of his head from day 1. Israel will know where he is and want him dead, so I have no doubt that Mossad offed him. Intervening or aiding a weapons deal gone wrong would have provided the perfect cover, but the ID theft thing appears to be the cover. The independent European hit squad is highly questionable. I think either Mossad is the European hit squad, they formed the hit squad or they teamed up with them to do this hit. The Mossad has a hand (or at least a listening device) in everything.

Some will think I've lost it for saying Mossad is everywhere and sayanim help them stay (or appear) inside the law. It sounds unreal and conspiratorial, I know. If you’ve read anything about past Mossad operations, though, Ostrovsky’s book or accounts of Mossad encounters from US government officials, you’ll know I’m not delusional!


Here are a few ideas for possible explanations I had when I read about the faked passports:

“Stolen” identities

• The ID theft victims are sayanim and actually volunteered their old passports
• Members of the stolen identity victims’ families are sayanim and gave passports without the knowledge of the ID theft victims
• Mossad stole dual citizens’ (old?) passports
• If the identity theft victims are actually involved (Mossad ends up being not as amateur as they are looking) with Mossad in more than just a sayanim or helper capacity.

Here are my ideas on …

Why Mossad got caught:

• They aren’t as good as they used to be in the pre-1980s era
• They wanted to be caught on camera for some reason (i.e. to help with an ID theft conviction )
• They don’t care if they’re caught because, honestly, no one can or will really do anything about it
• It’s harder to fake passports than it used to be
• The ID theft victims are actually involved somehow, but that’s how the Mossad plans to get out of trouble- let some (possibly disgruntled or less than perfect) agents take the fall for ID theft rather than admit to being caught assassinating another Palestinian political or military “target” without charge or trial and committing illegal acts on foreign soil.
  

Several of the ID theft victims have spoken to the media. Laying the groundwork for the ID theft story. I wonder if what they say will shed any light on the situation. Probably not. They'll get whacked if they say anything useful. Or suffer the fate of Mordecai Vanunu.


Melvyn Adam Mildiner is widely mentioned and quoted:

"I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon,"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100216/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_uae_hamas_israel


There are apparently at least 3 other dual citizens in Mildiner’s position: Michael Lawrence Barney and Stephen Hodes.


My blog posts about Israel spying and assassinating and such:


http://notanotherpoliticalblog-j.blogspot.com/2009/10/israel-doesnt-spy-on-us.html

http://notanotherpoliticalblog-j.blogspot.com/2009/10/another-israeli-spy.html

http://notanotherpoliticalblog-j.blogspot.com/2008/04/american-accused-of-giving-nuclear.html


A Mossad hit from two years ago- not sure I wrote about this one:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-514130/Did-Mossad-blow-Hezbollah-Master-Terrorist-kidnapped-Terry-Waite.html



You may remember other Mossad antics:

Lillehammer- oops we extra-judicially assassinated the wrong guy

The New Zealand passport debacle. NZ took it harder than the US does.

Israeli "art students" who got caught on Capitol Hill snooping in classified material. Oops.

UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza

UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza - I saw this or a similar one Sept 14 or 15, so this is old news, but I meant to comment, preferably before I heard other commentary.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8257301.stm

Goldstone's (he's the head of the fact-finding mission) Op Ed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/opinion/17goldstone.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

***
After this, there are 2 Analysis/Interviews I listened to this week.

“Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC the report had been "born in sin" and had no mandate for its investigation.”

Pretty funny description, but at least you can see how Israel feels about this.

It’s good to see this in print and to have something official, but I seriously doubt it will go anywhere. It has 3 and 6 month deadlines. I just don’t see either side launching credible investigations in that time, nor do I see Israel’s case being sent to the ICJ. They’ve got friends in high places, or so I’ve heard. More likely is that Hamas will get charged. Or Iran. Never mind that they aren’t in the report. Israel will find a way. I’m sure they helped develop the “threat of Iraq” and its bogus 9/11 link, so I have more confidence they can turn this around on Iran than they will get charged or have to deal with any unpleasant consequences (reparations, sanctions, etc).

This article details Hamas’ violations more than the others and shows the disdain of Israel for the whole thing (and Hamas).

I think it was the PBS link below where Goldstone tells about the investigation of Israel’s excuses for bombing UN shelters, schools, ambulances, etc and how there was no evidence. It seemed flimsy, but it’s good that it was investigated some.


Analysis/Interview 1:
Finkelstein on Democracy Now discussing the UN report:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/16/un_inquiry_finds_israel_punished_and

He says:

“Goldstone reports Israel guilty of massive war crimes and also faults Hamas.” That’s what a true headline would have read.”

I think he’s getting at what Goldstone will explain in the PBS link up next.

He makes the point that the report is based on laws of war, but it was a massacre; no battles, just bombing. This is an especially good point to think about if you read Goldstone's Op Ed in the NYT.

He mentions this support for the massacre claim - “Breaking the Silence.” Do a search on “insane” to see soldiers complain that they weren’t fighting anyone, it was boring, etc.

Breaking silence on Gaza abuses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8151336.stm
“You see a house, a window, shoot at the window. You don't see a terrorist there? Fire at the window. In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy. No innocents.”
The quote and link are from my past post- http://notanotherpoliticalblog-j.blogspot.com/2009/07/could-israel-be-getting-conscience.html


He also brings to light that the mandate was for Israeli crimes, but Goldstone wouldn’t do it unless it looked at all sides, plus he’s a supporter of Israel. The bias argument is unfounded in this way in addition to the facts on the ground.

Palmor, Israel’s FM spokesperson, says Israel will look at it carefully/ Oren (below) and others say Israel discounts it. More double-speak. Which is it, people?

How can we constantly hold Israel up as a model democracy and valuable ally when the facts continually and consistently contradict Israel’s official statements? The report is a step in the right direction. The settlement discussion that Obama started in the US is another. There’s a long way to go to get justice and hence peace.


Analysis/Interview 2:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec09/gaza_09-15.html

In the first part, Goldstone himself explains what I started talking about in the last post. Most of the report deals with Israel, not because Hamas didn’t also commit crimes against humanity or it was biased, but because Israel committed a massive number of crimes and they are more so (whether or not they occurred or constituted crimes) in dispute in the current political atmosphere than are Hamas’.

In the second part, Ambassador Oren from Israel tells Israel’s side.

Joe Wilson should meet this guy. He’d (Wilson) actually have a valid point.

His first response to the question, what is right and what is wrong in the UN report, are that Israel’s sorry about the deaths; Hamas isn’t. How is that relevant (we won’t even assess the truthfulness)?

And get this:

“And then, finally, the commission itself, the report, the investigation took place under the auspices of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. Hamas actually picked the witnesses for this commission. So Israel basically was the equivalent of being summoned to a court in which its guilt was already presumed, in which one of the jurors had already declared Israel guilty, and which the witnesses for the prosecution were, in fact, the murderers.

I can't think of any country in the world which would participate in such a farce of justice.”

I can think of one…Israel. This sounds like the “trials” of Palestinians if they are indeed charged with anything while in Israeli jails! But the report isn’t quite as he portrayed it, unfortunately for his analogy.

And when the – ‘the report was conducted under Hamas auspices’ – thing didn’t shut Ifill down, we move to the – ‘if our own investigations (in which Israel is found innocent on every count) don’t satisfy the international community, then it is a victory for terror and concern of free democracies everywhere’ argument. Will this finally close the discussion of these irrelevant unpleasantries?

Next was Ifill’s question:

“Is there any way that you feel that the two of you might at least agree on this point, that maybe this report is not worth the paper it's printed on? Or do you believe that this is a starting point for a deeper conversation and investigation about the conflict?”

He doesn’t appear to want to agree with Hamas there, but also doesn’t think this report has anything to do with getting peace talks back on track. On what planet wouldn’t a report such as this that talks about so many Israeli breaches of law, along with the settlement problem and the refusal to implement the UN approved right of return for refugees and status of Jerusalem be relevant???

The guy criticized the report and was so confident in Israel’s decision to not participate in it, I had assumed he had read it. I was wrong. It’s 570 pages after all. And critical of Israel. Best thing is to discredit it. When can we talk about Iran? He was eager to tell why Israel was not participating- Hamas was running the show (supposedly). When confronted with the other sources of war crimes, witnesses, etc- he says, oh, hmm, I haven’t actually read it. Unbelievable!

So why should we listen to this guy or the government he represents that told him to say such nonsense?

He said the results of the report were prejudged. I guess Israel know something about this concept. Palestinians that are able to make it into the “justice” system are prejudged to be guilty and Israeli soldiers (or military in general) accused of crimes are innocent.

***
Update:
Why The Goldstone Report Matters
http://intifada-palestine.com/2009/09/21/why-the-goldstone-report-matters/

“So why did the Israeli government boycott the commission? The real answer is quite simple: they knew full well that the commission, any commission, would have to reach the conclusions it did reach.”Uri Avnery (Israeli peace activist, and former Knesset member), “On the Goldstone Report” 19 Sept 2009

Other reactions:

"We are going to deploy great diplomatic and political efforts on the
international stage to block and contain the perverse and noxious effects of the Goldstone Commission report," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

The mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said the instinctive reaction to the report is "a polite invitation to kiss our rear end."

J Post- Israel called the Goldstone Commission Report "nauseating"…

Netanyahu – kangaroo court

Danny Ayalon – circus

Regev - report was conceived in sin

Lieberman – The Goldstone report is seeking to bring the UN back to the dark days in which it decided, under the guidance of states with interests, that Zionism is racism, ”

Could Israel be getting a conscience??

Is Israel getting a conscience or is this just more "Palestinian propaganda"? Don't you just hate it when people whine and complain about war crimes and human rights? How petty can we be? Who do they think they are, right? 1,300 dead Palestinians including a ton of children. 10 dead Israelis. That's war, right? Nothing sketchy, there.

"You don't see a terrorist there? Fire at the window. In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy. No innocents."

Does this sound like Israel did everything possible to ensure the safety of civilians to you??

That is the official Israeli line, though. These reports from Breaking the Silence (and other sources I have read and posted through the years) seem to call that into question. For some reason, the media sat up and paid attention to this particular report.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8151336.stm

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/07/2009714231352873494.html

http://www.france24.com/en/20090715-gaza-veterans-idf-moral-deterioration-war-crimes-palestine-breaking-the-silence-soldiers-israel

Israel's war crimes and Obama on nukes- 3 items

Interesting article about Israeli war crimes in the winter attack on Gaza. I wonder if they are any closer this time to bringing charges or consequences. The level of outrage seems higher and the proof seems to be mounting. I guess it remains to be seen if justice will be done...

Anyway, it's pretty concise if you missed the coverage of the attacks, so do read.

Israel on Trial
By GEORGE BISHARAT
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/opinion/04bisharat.html

"While Israel disputes some of the soldiers’ accounts, the evidence suggests that Israel committed the following six offenses..."

***
Someone on a forum I like to frequent- when things don’t get too, too conservative, that is- had mentioned that Israel isn’t a signatory to the white phosphorus convention (so that means white phosphorus isn’t dangerous, they are allowed to use it in civilian areas, etc???) when I brought that up.

It’s true that the US and Israel are not signatories to the 3rd protocol on conventional weapons, but the fact that both countries deny it’s use at first, then admit to using it (but of course it was used according to international law if at all... :roll: ) upon being confronted with damaging evidence suggests they know they shouldn't be using it or know they abused it (or they have no problems with it whatever (???), but don't want to admit to using it because all other countries think otherwise).

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1231663993052&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Israel’s military manuals have restrictions on its use and the fact that both countries deny using it (at first) tells us that not being a signatory means they don’t want to be in violation of international law for using something that very obviously needs restrictions and oversight and they "feel guilty" (if a state can- you get my meaning, though- they lied, then admitted to using it).

(Here are alternate sources with the same info if you have a problem with Arab sources:)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/20/gaza-white-phosphorus
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15375119/
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/777549.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7831424.stm

***

Here is one of France 24's headlines in my inbox:

Obama: 'Yes we can' have a world without nuclear weapons
"The United States will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons," US President Barack Obama said in a speech delivered in Prague before a crowd of tens of thousands.

Interesting. A worthy goal. I'm all for non-proliferation. However, if the US (and Israel) won't disarm, this is unrealistic. I understand us wanting to keep some around in case of emergency, for threatening rogue states, etc, but be honest and stop the non-prolifertaion garbage. The US won’t get rid of it’s stockpile. We know that. Israel won’t either- in fact, they won’t even acknowledge they have them. I don't remember if they are still holding on to the Dimona is a textile factory lie or if Vanunu caused them to abandon that nonsense. The US won’t pressure Israel to do anything it doesn’t want to- after all they have a democracy and need to do what’s best for them. Who cares if they disregard international laws that we force other nations to comply with and have a horrible human rights record. Who cares if they have a card carrying terrorist openly advocating ethnic cleansing in government? We don't. Who cares if we share intel with them, but they withhold vital lifesaving intel from US? Who cares if they bomb us (USS Liberty) and get us to cover it up? They are a democracy. Sort of. If you like South Africa-style apartheid democracies. And I guess we love them!

Israel and War Crimes

Israel Vows to Back Soldiers Accused of War Crimes
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6725230


If no one in Israel faces consequences and/or the US doesn't drastically change its policies toward Israel (boycott, divest, etc) , then Hamas should be allowed to do whatever it wants.

The violence, as bad as it gets, is just a symptom. The cure lies in addressing the larger disease.

As has been said before: it's the occupation, stupid!!

Israeli "taking care" of Gazans...the way they know best...

Israelis 'shot at fleeing Gazans'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7828536.stm

"An initial inquiry into the allegation raised by B'tselem has concluded that the claims are without foundation.

"The IDF goes to great lengths to avoid harming Palestinians uninvolved in combat and reiterates that it is Hamas that chooses to launch its attacks against Israeli towns from within civilian areas."

Of course the initial “inquiry” concluded the claims are without foundation! “Inquiries” probably involve asking the soldiers involved what happened, if it is that in-depth at all!

The IDF/IOF obviously DOES NOT go to any lengths to avoid harming Palestinians. One could probably make a much better case that it tries to harm them, but in a way that won’t raise too much suspicion. Well, even if Israel ordered all Palestinians to gas chambers, I’m sure our government and Israel’s supporters would find a way to justify that as well. The rockets... How would you like it if...

Even if Hamas is firing from civilian areas, Israel still has a responsibility to respect innocent human life. It uses the “Hamas is using civilians as human shields” or "Hamas is 'hiding' in civilian areas” to justify its own targeting of civilians. And the fact that Hamas is in civilian areas isn’t odd- they are civilians, a militia, a product of Israel.