[Study Finds That Most Video Games Don't Follow The Geneva Convention]
Two Swiss human rights organizations got together and tested a set of 19 war games, with the goal of looking for ‘virtual’ rights violations and the breaking of the Geneva Convention. Not surprisingly, they found that most war games don’t follow the Geneva Convention.
Released on the heals [sic] of ‘Modern Warfare 2′ (which featured a segment where players could kill several hundred civilians in a Russian airport), the report from the Swiss claims that games are sending the wrong message to the world’s youth. They claim that games today promote the idea that wars today are waged without limits and that counter-terrorist operations have no legal or moral limitations.
The Swiss found that the following things were currently allowed in popular war video games, killing civilians, torture, unnecessary destruction of buildings, killing of combatants who surrendered, the use of heavy anti-vehicle weapons on on-foot combatants, and finally, the destruction of churches and mosques.
(click on the link for more)[Study Finds That Most Video Games Don't Follow The Geneva Convention]
Two Swiss... more
The Israeli author warns that his country has made a tragic mistake: "This war is a crime against ourselves .. a crime against the State of Israel."
Editor's note: In this powerful essay, Uri Avnery writes that Israel's latest assault on Gaza has backfired spectacularly for the country's long-term interests. He writes, "Seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a bloodstained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for [Israel's] long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet."
Avnery also writes that the true purpose of Israel's invasion, "(apart from gaining seats in the coming elections) is to terminate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the imagination of the planners, Hamas is an invader which has gained control of a foreign country. The reality is, of course, entirely different." Yet, he argues, "Even if the Israeli army were to succeed in killing every Hamas fighter to the last man, even then Hamas would win. The Hamas fighters would be seen as the paragons of the Arab nation, the heroes of the Palestinian people, models for emulation by every youngster in the Arab world. The West Bank would fall into the hands of Hamas like a ripe fruit, Fatah would drown in a sea of contempt, the Arab regimes would be threatened with collapse."
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The entire essay is at the link, with both sides chiming in on the main page for and against this. But as you'll see, the Israeli side of the story is not only week, but full of holes compared to the Gaza side that comes from many reliable sources...i.e.; humanitarian orgs, Governments outside of Gaza/Israel, the UNited Nations as well as a plthora of reliable news sources.
Israel has destroyed itself from within, basically an implosion due to politics and greed.The Israeli author warns that his country has made a tragic mistake: "This war is a... more
More countries are accusing Israel of participating in "state terrorism" against "the most weak and innocent human beings: children, women and the aged and called for Israeli leaders be tried before an international court for crimes against humanity. They furthermore urged that Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be declared war criminals. This is in addition to the recent calls from European, Arab and Asian nations as well as Australia and New Zealand calling for a war crimes investigation into Israels activities.
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Venezuela announced Wednesday it is breaking diplomatic relations with Israel over the conflict in Gaza, joining Bolivia, which did the same thing earlier in the day.
Bolivian President Evo Morales announces Wednesday that he is severing diplomatic ties with Israel.
Bolivian President Evo Morales announces Wednesday that he is severing diplomatic ties with Israel.
In the announcement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, the government cited "the gravity of the atrocities against the Palestinian people."
The statement accused the Israelis of having "ignored, systematically, calls from the United Nations, violating in a repeated and shameless manner the resolutions approved by the overwhelming majority of their members and placing themselves ever more on the margin of international law."
---------------more at the link with more countries coming soon
I'd like to point out that my reporting what i find in the news about Israel is only to keep it fresh in the minds of people as well as to inform the US public, since the US media is pretty well one sided in their views of Israel. Millions of people, probably hundreds of million--are very upset with what Israel has done and collectively as a peaceful people, we do not want Israel to get away with it.
For the most part, including myself, we are NOT antisemitic and we are NOT for ANY violence. You can say all you want, and myself and many others will not even entertain your name calling, or your propaganda. We know of the Israel government and Israel Lobby propaganda machine and just reading how they manipulate facts literally gets me sick.
Some of the name calling by some is indicative of us being involved with the terrorists. If that is so, maybe a visit by your local government is in store for you since you have of some evidence of "criminal" activity on these blogs. We can arrange for the visit if you insist. It'd make our day!
We are merely red hot mad at Israel for the inhumane treatment and murders of many innocent people as well as how Israel trapped and set up the Palestinians almost two years before the slaughter and right after the original cease fire agreement (18 months ago) by closing all borders and not allowing any life sustaining supplies to be shipped in. According the the UN this is in itself an act of war to ANY country. Gaza was and is under siege all this time.
So, we respect your opinions and welcome debate...serious debate and you can call us anything you want. BUT....Call us terrorists or in cahoots with Hamas or any other so called "terrorists" organization and I guarantee you will have a 'special' government visit to write your report of your "evidence" you say you have. Then you can face the ramifications of your actions.
If Israel wants to start treating the innocent Palestinians like PEOPLE and give them a FAIR and BALANCED Peace deal, we're with Israel 100%. In our opinion, Israel is more of a terrorist then any other organization or country and has committed far more crimes, more horrible than any others against civilians and Israel will pay for these crimes thru the criminal courts throughout the world.More countries are accusing Israel of participating in "state terrorism" against "the... more
Afghan refugees who fled the war-torn south have claimed they are so neglected by government in Kabul that their children are dying from hypothermia for want of the most basic supplies.
Families that left Helmand, Kandahar and other southern provinces to escape the fighting between US-led forces and a resurgent Taliban say the cold is much more lethal.
Living in a make-shift camp on the edge of Kabul, residents told Al Jazeera's James Bays that no government official has ever come to see how they have been forced to live.
The claim comes as UN officials say Afghan children are suffering disastrous levels of abuse and deprivation.
Rights of the child
At a news conference marking the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child this week, officials said children’s rights were being neglected despite vast flows of Western aid into the country.
“Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world," said yCatherine Mbengue, country representative for the UN children’s fund Unicef.
“Seventy per cent of the population has no access to safe drinking water. Thirty percent of children are involved in child labour. Forty-three per cent of girls are married under-age,” she said.
More than one in four children born in Afghanistan die before the age of five, according to Unicef estimates.Afghan refugees who fled the war-torn south have claimed they are so neglected by... more
Lie #1) Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to protect innocent lives. Israel never targets civilians.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.
Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel. These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.
Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge. Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas official. To kill Rayan, Israel targeted a residential apartment building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an attack under international law. This was a war crime.
Other of Israel’s bombardment with protected status under international law have included a mosque, a prison, police stations, and a university, in addition to residential buildings.
Moreover, Israel has long held Gaza under siege, allowing only the most minimal amounts of humanitarian supplies to enter. Israel is bombing and killing Palestinian civilians. Countless more have been wounded, and cannot receive medical attention. Hospitals running on generators have little or no fuel. Doctors have no proper equipment or medical supplies to treat the injured. These people, too, are the victims of Israeli policies targeted not at Hamas or legitimate military targets, but directly designed to punish the civilian population.
continued below in comments--------
Jeremy R. Hammond is the editor of Foreign Policy Journal, a website dedicated to providing news, critical analysis, and opinion commentary on U.S. foreign policy from outside of the standard framework offered by government officials and the mainstream corporate media, particularly with regard to the "war on terrorism" and events in the Middle East. He has also written for numerous other online publications. You can contact him at jeremy@foreignpolicyjournal.com.Lie #1) Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to protect... more
Staring straight ahead and rocking steadily backwards and forwards in her hospital bed, Sabah Abu Halima lists the fate of each of her nine children.
"Abed, 14 years old, was decapitated," she says. "Shaheed, one year and three months, was in my arms when the fire took her…"
Sabah explains that her husband and four of her children died when their house in northern Gaza was shelled during the recent Israeli offensive.
Many of the rooms in that house now lay dark and empty - blackened by fire.
The light fittings and power sockets have melted down the walls.
These burns were very severe, very deep, and became deeper and wider over time
Dr Nafiz Abu Shabaan
Q&A: White phosphorus injuries
UN accuses Israel over phosphorus
Israel defends use of phosphorus
A shaft of light coming from the ceiling of the corridor, and mangled steel, marks the entry point of one of the missiles.
Scrawled, in Arabic, on the wall of a bedroom is the statement: "From the Israeli Defence Forces, we are sorry."
But on the next wall, there is a patch of white where, Sabah's 20-year-old son Mahmoud tells us, had also been the words "nice underwear". He says he scrubbed them off in anger.Staring straight ahead and rocking steadily backwards and forwards in her hospital... more
In a move that could inject a new international actor into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the International Criminal Court will examine requests to investigate alleged war crimes during the recent combat in the Gaza Strip, its chief prosecutor said Wednesday.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the Netherlands-based court, said he had decided to consider an investigation after the Palestinian Authority accepted the jurisdiction of the court last week.
Now his prosecutors must analyze three questions, he said: whether the Palestinian Authority has legal power to recognize the court's authority, whether war crimes occurred, and whether the governments involved conduct genuine investigations.
"Each legal area is complicated," Moreno-Ocampo said in a telephone interview from The Hague. "We move when we are completely sure. Our contribution is impartiality. We will consider this carefully and thoroughly."
The court has received 210 requests from organizations and individuals regarding the recent fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group. Many claims accuse Israel of offenses such as violence against civilians and illegal use of phosphorus shells. But groups such as Human Rights Watch have also called for an investigation of Hamas' rocket attacks on Israeli towns and its alleged use of Palestinian civilians as human shields.
------------more at the link
Israel used human shields too as we have noted recently in our posts..with many pictures to prove it...but thats neither here nor there right now, Israel needs to go down big time.
Go ICC! Lock em up and throw the key away and lets build a new Palestine-Israel without the Zionist criminals!In a move that could inject a new international actor into the Israeli-Palestinian... more
Anyone interested in the situation in Gaza should read this! Noam Chomsky's work brings to light much that gets filtered through biased media sources. The essay was taken directly from his website http://www.chomsky.info/. Get informed, spread the word.
Here is a small part of a brilliant piece.
"...Hence the invasion of Gaza.
The timing of the invasion was presumably influenced by the coming Israeli election. Ehud Barak, who was lagging badly in the polls, gained one parliamentary seat for every 40 Arabs killed in the early days of the slaughter, Israeli commentator Ran HaCohen calculated.
That may change, however. As the crimes passed beyond what the carefully honed Israeli propaganda campaign was able to suppress, even confirmed Israeli hawks became concerned that the carnage is "Destroying [Israel's] soul and its image. Destroying it on world television screens, in the living rooms of the international community and most importantly, in Obama's America" (Ari Shavit). Shavit was particularly concerned about Israel's "shelling a United Nations facility ... on the day when the UN secretary general is visiting Jerusalem," an act that is "beyond lunacy," he felt."Anyone interested in the situation in Gaza should read this! Noam Chomsky's work... more
An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes in Gaza escaped arrest at Heathrow airport because British police feared an armed stand-off back in September of 2005.
On 10th January 2002 Israeli bulldozers flattened 59 houses in the Rafah refugee camp on the Gaza Strip. Residents fled their homes in heavy rain, most losing all their possessions in the process. Among those made homeless were a number of children who were terrified and traumatised by what happened. It appears that the motive for the destruction was retaliation for an unrelated attack by militants which resulted in the death of four Israeli soldiers. The Commanding Officer who authorised the demolitions was Major General (Reserve) Doron Almog.
The extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The collective punishment of civilians is also forbidden under the Geneva Conventions. Over the years, many Palestinian civilians have tried to obtain redress, peacefully and lawfully, through the Israeli Courts for incidents of this nature. Sadly, the Courts have declared these matters to be non-justiciable (itself arguably a further Convention breach).
Offering people who suffer wrongs a route to redress without violence is fundamental to preserving the rule of law. All nations are required to take effective steps to prosecute war crimes irrespective of where they occur.
Major-General Doron Almog stayed on board the El Al plane for two hours after it landed in London in September 2005 after being tipped off that a warrant had been issued for his detention.
Leaked documents now show that officers refused to board the plane because they were worried about the possibility of a confrontation with the armed marshals who travel on flights operated by El Al, the Israeli national airline.
There were also concerns that General Almog, who has been accused of illegally ordering the destruction of 59 homes in the Gaza Strip in 2002, might have been travelling with armed personal security.
-------------------------more at the link
I revived this because the Israeli authorities have issued a statement to thier armed forces to think twice before boarding a plane to anywhere in Europe. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090125/ts_nm/us_palestinians_israel_warcrimes_sidebar_1
which is yet another story.
International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution.
"The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza should know they are safe from various tribunals and Israel will assist them on this front and defend them, just as they protected us with their bodies during the Gaza operation," Olmert said.
Last week, the military censor ordered local and foreign media in Israel to blur the faces of army commanders in photos and video footage of the Gaza war for fear they could be identified and arrested while traveling abroad.
Israeli media reports said the military had been advising its top brass to think twice about visiting Europe. more at that link within, but the story about this other war crimes Israeli criminal can be found at the top link...An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes in Gaza escaped arrest at Heathrow... more
Virtual Gaza is an independent, civic media initiative established by a collective of scholars, media activists and Palestinian residents of Gaza in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008-January 2009.
For years, Israel has been gradually tightening its strangehold on the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, sealing its borders and cutting off adequate food, fuel, and medical supplies, bringing the economy and infrastructure to the point of collapse.
Israel has also sought to control how Gaza's story is told to the outside -- from its sophisticated 'public relations' campaigns to blocking the entry of foreign journalists.
Virtual Gaza is a space where ordinary Palestinians under siege can describe their experiences in their own words, and where the destruction of the Gaza strip can be documented by those experiencing it directly. The diary entries, photographs, and video material gathered here have been contributed by residents of Gaza. For safety reasons, authors are located in neighborhoods, but their precise location has been randomized.
Virtual Gaza invites you to help break the information blockade.
A collaboration between the Alliance for Justice in the Middle East at Harvard University and the MIT Center for Future Civic Media
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At the link, you will be able to see some of the destruction as well as hear from people in the area about their stories, accounts of what happened.
A great effort/work in progress by a group of graduate students, teachers, activists and others from Harvard the MIT Media Lab. Virtual Gaza is a 2D website that employs Wikimapia and Google earth images to create an online space where visitors can break the siege, albeit virtually.
Says one of the creators: "We plan to map all the attacks and create simple digital representations of what is going on using flash animation. However, the more important component of the project will be to locate individuals on the map itself, and be uploading testimonials, video podcasts
(from cell phones etc), text messages, photos, emails and so on."Virtual Gaza is an independent, civic media initiative established by a collective of... more
The world's "great powers" orchestrated the Bosnian war for their own geopolitical ends, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, awaiting trial for war crimes, told AFP on Wednesday.
"The world can see from what was done in Bosnia the pattern of how some countries used and abused a small nation for their own ends, such as to enforce their own military alliances and to achieve imperial goals," said Karadzic in a written reply to questions submitted to him in detention in The Hague.
"The breakup of Yugoslavia and the war in Bosnia was envisaged by the great powers well before I came into political life," he added.
"They then set those events in motion through the use of their intelligence services and military."
...
Karadzic said he hoped his trial, which a judge has said should start in September, would expose the "truth" of what happened in Bosnia at the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia.
His innocence would be proven if prosecution witnesses told the truth, he added.
"The world deserves to know the truth and what was done by the international community on its behalf," he said.
Karadzic did not name the countries he claimed were behind the Bosnia war. But he has applied through the tribunal for documents from several nations including France, Germany and the United States, which he says would help prove his innocence.
"I express my sympathy to the victims of the war in Bosnia -- Serbs, Croats and Muslims -- for their suffering," he wrote to AFP. "I hope that my trial will show who is truly responsible for that.
"Some of those people will find out that those responsible were that part of their own leadership who rejected all of the opportunities that existed to avoid the war, and some of their foreign friends who used them for their own purposes."
...
In his answers, he repeated his claim that he had made an agreement in July 1995 with US diplomat Richard Holbrooke that granted him indemnity from prosecution in exchange for his withdrawal from public life.
"I am terribly disappointed that the tribunal has refused to even hold a hearing so that I may prove the existence of that agreement and its binding effect on the tribunal."
...
"The truth is out there," he said.The world's "great powers" orchestrated the Bosnian war for their own geopolitical... more
A CNN transcript of an interview with Wolf Blitzer and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a surgeon in Gaza, who is also the co-founder of Hamas. Unfortunately, this part of his interview was never broadcast and made public, so unfortunate that it may have cleared up some misconceptions of who Hamas really is and what their purpose is.
I found this transcript quite by accident while visiting a site set up by President Obama and his team. Only a few of us were notified of this site and we were able to submit our ideas further. We had already submitted thru his change.gov (NOT change.org-thats a private site, not government) and that dot gov site had been open to most Americans. Anyway, it led me to this transcript sent in by one of the few of us sending in our ideas to President Obama.
Here is some of the transcript, you can find the entire show transcript on the CNN site linked above. I'll put in the beginning of that part..... The part when Wolf interviews him is about a bit passed halfway down the page.....here is the beginning:
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BLITZER: Mahmoud al-Zahar, thanks very much for joining us. I want to get right to a key question right now, recognizing Israel's right to exist.
The U.S., the Europeans, the Israelis say there won't be any dealings with Hamas until you do so. Are you prepared to accept a two-state solution, Palestine living alongside Israel?
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, CO-FOUNDER, HAMAS: First of all, I would like to address that. PLO, in 1988, addressed that they are able -- they are accepting existence of two states.
Since that time, Israelis expanded the borders, occupied '67, confiscated our right in Jerusalem, put a separating wall between the people and their own homeland. And since that time nobody is able to live as a human being.
They accepted that and they signed an agreement already. But, tell me, what is the border of Israel right now? What is the official border to accept this state? Now, the Israelis are putting on their flag two blue lines. That means the river Nile and the Euphrates (ph).
If we are going to say we are accepting the two states, on what border? Border of '67? It is already taken by the big settlement around Jerusalem. Mr. Olmert, just yesterday, said Jerusalem is an eternal capital for Israel. Jerusalem is a united city for Israel. So, about what are we going to accept these argument?
If Israel is ready to tell the people, the international community, what is the official border, after that we are going to answer the question.
BLITZER: So you reject -- you continue to reject Israel's right to exist -- is that what you're saying?
AL-ZAHAR: It's not a matter of rejection. Israel is here, present by power. And it's present by implementation of their interests.
The international community are not able to push them outside the area occupied. Even after the United Nations resolution, whether in the Security Council or the others, Israel is here; it's implementing their policy on the expense of our land.
So, Israel is rejecting our existence. Israel has refused to allow our people to come for the right of return. Israel is expanding their settlement. Israel is still putting more than 10,000 of our Palestinian people in arrest. And still they are threatening our lives as human beings.
So, the question should be answered first by Israel because they are not accepting us, except us minority, not the owner of the land.
----------more below and at the linkA CNN transcript of an interview with Wolf Blitzer and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a surgeon in... more
Israel illegal use of weaponry that has murdered many innocent children and people, Israels illegal inhumane blockade of Gaza, a blockade that ended the cease fire and peace talks, Israels out of proportion response to rockets that were defending itself from such blockade.All this has opened a Pandora's Box, creating much hate on both sides. On one side, hate that can turn into more terrorists attacks on innocent people, hate that can turn the world against each other in a more violent way and hate coming from the jewish communities that Palestine should be 'wiped out'. All this is coming from an insane government bent on eliminating a people wanting peace and wanting freedom. Israel does not offer this and all Israel offers is the blood of Palestinian children.
in this article:
"...hatred was plentiful at the rally Paterson addressed. Right in front of the stage, a man held a banner reading, “Islam Is A Death Cult.” Rally attendees described the people of Gaza to me as a “cancer,” called for Israel to “wipe them all out,” insisting, “They are forcing us to kill their children in order to defend our own children.” A young woman told me, “Those who die are suffering God’s wrath.” “They are not distinguishing between civilians and military, so why should we?” said a member of the group of messianic Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch group that flocked to the rally.
No one I spoke to could seem to find any circumstance in which they would begin to question Israel’s war. No number of civilian deaths, no displays of extreme suffering -- nothing could deter their enthusiasm for attacking one of the most vulnerable populations in the world with the world’s most advanced weaponry. There are no limits, no matter what Israel does, no matter how it does it.
The rally made me think of a passage in “The Holocaust Is Over, We Must Rise From Its Ashes,” a powerful new book by former Israeli Knesset speaker and Jewish National Fund chairman Avraham Burg:
“If you are a bad person, a whining enemy or a strong-arm occupier, you are not my brother, even if you are circumcised, observe the Sabbath, and do mitzvahs. If your scarf covers every hair on your head for modest, you give alms and do charity, but what is under your scarf is dedicated to the sanctity of Jewish land, taking precedence over the sanctity of human life, whosever life that is, then your are not my sister. You might be my enemy. A good Arab or a righteous gentile will be a brother or sister to me. A wicked man, even of Jewish descent, is my adversary, and I would stand on the other side of the barricade and fight him to the end.”
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The whole story at the link
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"We must allow all people to live in peace, those that say they are for peace and encourages hostilities against them are no more for peace than one that turns its back on humanity and ignores the law."Israel illegal use of weaponry that has murdered many innocent children and people,... more
Israels inhumane bombing of civilians, human rights workers, the United Nations itself is only the tip of the iceberg filing charges against Israel. The recent evidence of using Phosphorous bombs indiscriminately on a population of innocent civilians has drawn International outrage on Israel. The United Nations as well as many other human rights organizations have launched an investigation into these activities and the information below is what I have gathered that justifies not only the investigation, but Israels disregard to human innocent life. At the link, you will find statements from the EU, UN as well as many other countries supporting this investigation and they furthermore state they are (some of the comments from countries) barbaric acts, Israeli slaughters and acts of terror, catastrophic humanitarian situation, condemned the massacre being perpetrated by the Israeli military, put an end to this holocaust, war crimes and their perpetrators had to be brought to justice, The military operation suggested a deliberate wish to systematically attack civilians, There should be full accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
I could go on and on pasting from the above link. When or if you do visit, you will see the magnitude of charges against Israel. Here is my analysis of it all:
Human Rights and International Law
Human rights are recognized under international law as universal rights to which each and every person is entitled. The significance of this recognition is that human rights lie above and beyond any particular nation's laws or control. A demand that a country refrain from violating human rights, therefore, cannot be considered intervention in the internal affairs of that country.
The Geneva Conventions and other international tractates recognize that land a) conquered in the course of a war; and b) the disposition of which is unresolved through subsequent peace treaties is "occupied" and subject to international laws of war and international humanitarian law. This includes special protection of individuals in those territories, limitations on the use of land in those territories, and access by international relief agencies.
The international consensus, excepting the U.S. in some cases, is that
* The annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem are illegal and not recognized by international law [12] [13]
* The West Bank and Gaza are "occupied," because:
o They were captured by force of arms and against the will of their populations.
o The residents in these areas were stateless.
o Israel has put the territories under military rather than civilian administration, creating a de facto state of occupation. [14]
* Non-Jewish residents who reject Israeli citizenship and/or hegemony have the right to self-determination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law_and_the_Arab-Israeli_conflict
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states in paragraph 1, [4] http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/geneva07.htm
Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
and states in paragraph 6,
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Supporting this is: Intenational Committee of the Red Cross, The INternational Court of Justice, INternational Criminal Court Rome Statute (see above cite in wiki)
further cites: http://www.diakonia.se/ihl
-----------continued belowIsraels inhumane bombing of civilians, human rights workers, the United Nations itself... more
The UN's top relief official has accused Hamas of violating international law by its "reckless and cynical" use of civilian shields, but called for Israelis to be held accountable for violating the principle of proportionality in its bombing of UN facilities in Gaza.
John Holmes, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, delivered his assessment during a briefing to the Security Council late Tuesday evening in New York on the work of the UN's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.The UN's top relief official has accused Hamas of violating international law by its... more
As we woke up to the news of the latest Israeli assault on Gaza, we in the Arab-American community immediately thought that this would be another Israeli massacre of innocent civilians spun by Israeli propaganda and accepted by some in the U.S. media. Our thoughts were indeed proven correct as once again Israel's attack was justified as an act of self-defense against a serious "terrorist" threat. The story line presented to the public was that Israel had been attacked by Hamas "terrorists" with rockets, and thus it had no choice but to defend its civilians against these unprovoked, deadly assaults. This of course was a distortion of the truth and a misstatement of the facts, but the public was bombarded with these renditions in an attempt to engrain them in their minds.
The reality is that the Palestinians of Gaza were living under illegal occupation since 1967 and have been living under siege since Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal in 2005. They have no control over just about all aspects of their lives. Israel surrounds the Gaza Strip by sea, air and land, and controls all its border crossings, such that they can completely seal Gaza from the outside world, turning it into an open-air prison. Through this practice, Israel effectively prevented most goods from entering Gaza, creating what U.N. officials termed a "humanitarian crisis" even before this latest assault began. Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, and is an area where more than 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. As such, the siege Israel has been imposing on the Gaza Strip has created disastrous conditions.
Hamas began responding to Israel's siege, as well as its continuous killing of Palestinians in Gaza, by firing rockets into Israeli towns. However, what is almost never mentioned to the American public is that these are in fact home-made rockets that have very limited destructive capacities.
It is the firing of these rockets that Israel used as a justification to launch its latest assault, which led to widespread death and destruction. The U.S. government immediately jumped to the defense of Israel, and the mainstream media began constructing arguments to help justify Israel's actions. As images began coming in of the carnage and the massive civilian casualties, the information was spun in such a way to make the victim into the aggressor. Accusations began to disseminate that Palestinian civilians were hiding weapons for Hamas in their schools, homes and medical facilities, thereby justifying the targeting of these sites. And that Hamas was using its own people as human shields, thus placing the ultimate responsibility of the civilian dead and wounded on Hamas, rather than on the perpetrators of the attack. This would be enough to excuse the use of white phosphorous on civilian targets, in violation of international law. Of course these media outlets had no way of verifying such information as journalists were absolutely prohibited by Israel from entering the Gaza Strip. And the very idea that Palestinians would allow their children to be used as human shields implies that the "inferior" Palestinians do not value life as the "superior" Israelis do.
continued belowAs we woke up to the news of the latest Israeli assault on Gaza, we in the... more
This is an outrage but will Israel ever finally be brought infront of an international court for its war crimes and now this???
Video showing injuries consistent with the use of white phosporous shells has been filmed inside hospitals treating Palestinian wounded in Gaza City.
Contact with the shell remnants causes severe burns, sometimes burning the skin to the bone, consistent with descriptions by Ahmed Almi, an Egyptian doctor at the al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Almi said the entire body of one victim was burned within an hour. It was the first time he had seen the effects of what he called a "chemical weapon".
The Israeli military has denied using white phosphorus during the assault on Gaza, but aid agencies say they have no doubt it has been used. "It is an absolute certainty," said Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch. He had seen Israeli artillery fire white phosphorous shells at Gaza City, Garlasco said.
The shells burst in the air, billowing white smoke before dropping the phosphorous shell. Garlasco said each shell contains more than 100 incendiary rounds, which ignite and pump out smoke for about 10 minutes. Severe respiratory problems can result in anyone exposed to the smoke and burning chemical particles that rain down over an area the size of a football pitch.
Human Rights Watch compares the use of white phosphorous shells over Gaza to the impact of cluster munitions, which scatter "bomblets" over a wide area. Children may kick and play with a lump of phosphorus, stirring up the embers and producing more fire and smoke.
The use of white phosphorus as a weapon – as opposed to its use as an obscurant and infrared blocking smoke screen – is banned by the UN's third convention on conventional weapons, which covers the use of incendiary devices. Though Israel is not a signatory to the convention, its military manuals reflect the convention's restrictions on using white phosphorus.
Israel initially claimed that it was not using white phosphorus. It later explained that shells being loaded for a howitzer, identified from photographs as phosphorous rounds, were empty "quiet" shells used for target marking. However, images of exploding shells and showering burning fragments are now acknowledged by independent observers as having been phosphorus.
At the centre of the controversy is the way white phosphorous air burst shells have been used in heavily built-up urban areas, with an overwhelmingly civilian population. The M825A1 rounds, which are the kind identified as being fired by Israeli forces, are made primarily for use as a smokescreen in a way that limits their effect as an incendiary weapon, experts say. Neil Gibson, a technical adviser to Jane's Missiles and Rockets magazine, said the shells did not produce high-velocity burning fragments like conventional white phosphorous weapons once did.
Instead, he said, they produced a "series of large slower burning wedges which fall from the sky". The wedges would then ignite spontaneously in the air and fall to the ground, burning for five or 10 minutes, he said.This is an outrage but will Israel ever finally be brought infront of an international... more
Berlin, Jan 24, IRNA - Dozens of arrests warrants have already been issued for Israeli war criminals, said the head of the Gaza Human Rights Center Raji Sourani in an exclusive interview with IRNA in Berlin on Saturday.
"We have been targeting 87 people in six countries for whom arrest warrants
have already been sent out," the Palestinian lawyer added.
"One of the strategic issues at the Center of Human Rights (in Gaza) is to hold
Israeli war criminals and military leaders accountable," Sourani stressed.
The Palestinian human rights activist said his organization was collecting
evidence, documenting Israeli war crimes.
"We are now working day and night to document these war crimes and hopefully
we will hold them accountable. We hope they (Israelis) cannot get away
with crimes like these," Sourani said.
"We will use universal jurisdiction to deal with these war criminals," the attorney
added.
Another News site, Judeo Pundit has a short list of the top "Most Wanted":
1- Ehud Olmert, prime minister
2- Ehud Barak, 'defense' minister
3- Tzipi Livni, foreign minister
4- Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of staff
5- Yoav Galant, southern command chief
6- Avi Benayahu, army spokesman
7- Avi Peled, commander of golani brigade
8- Amos Gilad, commander of security-diplomatic board
9- Dan Halutz, former army chief of staff
10- Aluf Eliezer Shkedi, former commander of air force
11- Ido Nehushtan, commander of air force
12- Natan Valnaie, deputy 'defense' minister
13- Yuval Diskin, Shabak chief
14- Meir Dagan, director of Mossad
15- Shimon Peres, president
Man, it must suck being on a war crimes arrest warrant list.....wanted for crimes against humanity. in my opinion, these slime bags deserve it. More countries are stepping up to the plate to serve warrants as is the United Nations.Berlin, Jan 24, IRNA - Dozens of arrests warrants have already been issued for Israeli... more
Looking worse for Israel each hour of the day----------------
International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution.
"The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza should know they are safe from various tribunals and Israel will assist them on this front and defend them, just as they protected us with their bodies during the Gaza operation," Olmert said.
Last week, the military censor ordered local and foreign media in Israel to blur the faces of army commanders in photos and video footage of the Gaza war for fear they could be identified and arrested while traveling abroad.
Israeli media reports said the military had been advising its top brass to think twice about visiting Europe.
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert said Israel's justice minister would consult with the country's top legal experts and find "answers to possible questions relating to the Israeli military's activities" during the 22-day war.
Some 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 700 civilians, were killed, medical officials said, in the offensive Israel launched in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket attacks.
The civilian deaths sparked public outcry abroad and prompted senior U.N. officials to demand independent investigations into whether Israel committed war crimes.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians, hit by rocket salvoes, were killed in the conflict.
Israel said hundreds of militants were among the Palestinian dead and that it tried its best to avoid civilian casualties in densely populated areas where gunmen operated.
WHITE PHOSPHOROUS
Rights group Amnesty International has said that Israel's use of white phosphorus munitions -- which can cause extreme burns -- in built-up areas of the Gaza Strip was indiscriminate and therefore constituted a war crime.
Israel has said it used all weapons in Gaza within the limits of international law. Its military, however, has opened an investigation into white phosphorous use during the conflict.
Palestinians have long demanded international prosecution of Israel's military crackdowns. Yet legal frameworks are problematic.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has no jurisdiction to investigate in the Gaza Strip, as it is not a state. Though the Palestinian Authority has been functioning as an interim sovereign polity since 1993, it was forced out of Gaza last year by Hamas after the Islamists won an election.
And while Israel has not signed the Rome Statute that enshrined the ICC, it can still be investigated, but that would require a U.N. Security Council mandate. Any such proposal would probably be vetoed by Israel's ally, the United States.
Some European nations allow for war crimes lawsuits to be filed privately against members of Israel's security services.
In 2005, reserve Major-General Doron Almog, the former head of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, was warned by Israeli diplomats not to leave an El Al aircraft that landed in London after a tip-off British police were about to arrest him on war crimes charges.
A British Muslim group had won an arrest warrant alleging he breached the Fourth Geneva Convention in the demolition of Palestinian homes in 2002 in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel said the dwellings provided gave cover to gunmen.
Almog stayed on the plane and flew back to Israel.Looking worse for Israel each hour of the day----------------
International calls to... more
