New York, December 30, 2008) – Israel and Hamas both must respect the prohibition under the laws of war against deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed grave concern about Israeli bombings in Gaza that caused civilian deaths and Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilian areas in violation of international law.As much as HRW speaks soundly, its experience of this conflict should be enough to inform it that Hamas, or at least much of its membership, do not discriminate between military or civilian, for the simple reason that Israel has a policy of compulsorary conscription; children that will be soldiers, men and women that once were or can be called up for service, are all fair game. Whether one finds this military code morally repulsive, or whether one finds it fairly rational as Israel is a militarised society, is irrelevent. Trying to enforce a 'universal' moral code onto a region that, after sixty years of conflict, has developed it's own, is futile.
Rocket attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets violate the laws of war, while a rising number of the hundreds of Israeli bombings in Gaza since December 27, 2008, appear to be unlawful attacks causing civilian casualties. Additionally, Israel’s severe limitations on the movement of non-military goods and people into and out of Gaza, including fuel and medical supplies, constitutes collective punishment, also in violation of the laws of war.
“Firing rockets into civilian areas with the intent to harm and terrorize Israelis has no justification whatsoever, regardless of Israel’s actions in Gaza,” said Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. “At the same time, Israel should not target individuals and institutions in Gaza solely because they are part of the Hamas-run political authority, including ordinary police. Only attacks on military targets are permissible, and only in a manner that minimizes civilian casualties.”
Lazy Eye
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Civilians must not be targets
A recent press release from HRW states that 'Civilians must not be targets':
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
So what is the final solution in your opinion? Exterminating Israelis? How about collecting all Israelis and sending them to concentration camps to be gassed to death? Men, women, and children, since according to you, all of them will serve in the Israeli army one day.
There is compulsory army service in many of the countries surrounding Israel. Perhaps one of the main differences is that it in Israel it applies to both men and women. Israel has no choice but to have a required service for most of its citizens, because of its low population and because it is surrounded by countries and people who would like to exterminate it. No children serve in the Israeli army, and for that matter the majority of the population does not serve in the Israeli army at any given time. In addition, not all Israelis serve in the army during their lifetime.
Please excuse me if I said that the logic in this article is ridiculous, because it can also apply to the Palestinians. Since they send they are willing to send their men, women, and children to blow up themselves amongst Israeli civilians, and be martyrs for their Allah, and since they are willing to sacrifice a thousand of their own to kill one Israeli. And also because terrorists hide among civilian men, women, and children so that Israeli response would cause more damage.
But that would be wrong, of course, wouldn't it? Because we have to have double standards and show the Palestinians as victims. If we don't, Israel won't appear as the aggressive party all the time. It has to be ok to call for the destruction of Israel all the time and attack it with rockets or suicide bombers, and have the terrorists hide among civilians, but wrong when Israel responds. It has to be wrong 100% of the time to kill a Palestinian, and ok 100% of the time to kill an Israeli.
...
Thanks very much for your comment Just a Guy, but you are obviously highly emotionally involved in this issue which may be why you have missed the entire point of the post.
I am not speaking pejoratively about either the Palestinians or the Israelis, nor for an instant did I say that children serve in the Israeli army, but that anyone who will serve....is [in Hamas' eyes] fair game.
I am simply saying that HRW is naive if it thinks that, according to Hamas, the lines of distinction between military and civilian are are so clearly cut.
Post a Comment