A case to answer (Guardian editorial)

[Violet_Crumble]

Evidence that Israel committed war crimes in its 23-day operation in Gaza mounts by the week. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have both appealed for a United Nations inquiry, after conducting their own investigations. Last week Ha'aretz published the testimonies of Israeli soldiers who alleged that a sniper shot a Palestinian mother and her two children, and that a company commander ordered an elderly woman to be killed. Yesterday Physicians for Human Rights accused soldiers of ignoring the special protection that Palestinian medical teams are entitled to receive. Today the Guardian releases three films in which our reporter Clancy Chassay reveals evidence that Israel used drones to fire at civilian targets, killing at least 48; he interviews three Palestinian youths used by Israeli soldiers as human shields and alleges that soldiers targeted paramedics and hospitals.

None of this is to deny that a case also exists against Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. Firing unaimable rockets at civilians in southern Israel is also a war crime. But there is no symmetry of guilt. Israel has weapons it can place to within a metre of its intended targets. Its drones have high-quality optics that can see the colour of the target's sweater. And they film everything both before and after each attack. The army has the means to refute these allegations, but feels no obligation to do so. An international inquiry should be launched for no other reason than to hold it accountable.

<snip>

There are five reasons why we should have an international inquiry into the Israeli assault on Gaza. First, the conflict has not gone away. It could reignite at any moment under a prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who is determined to finish the job. Second, the weight of evidence points not to isolated incidents, but to a new and deadly relaxation of the rules of engagement. This emerges from the soldiers' own testimony in Ha'aretz. "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza," one soldier said. "You see a person on a road ... He doesn't have to be with a weapon. You don't have to identify him with anything. You can just shoot him." Gaza was fought to a certain mood music. It suggested that the lives of Palestinian civilians did not matter when weighed against those of Israeli soldiers. Third, Israel is not immune to international opinion. A narrow rightwing coalition under Mr Netanyahu will be sensitive to criticism from Barack Obama, who has yet to reveal his cards. Fourth, what Israel does or is allowed to get away with doing affects attempts to establish the rule of international law in other conflicts. Fifth, we know what doing nothing leads to: another war, and ultimately a third intifada.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/24/israel-gaza-war-crimes-palestine

[Djinn]

1. off topic

Hey there VC - I thought you'd given up on the I/P oubliette for good and gone out for fresh air - good to see I was wrong. Have just rediscovered DU and remembered why I spent so much time here up until a few years back.

Back ON topic - the recent assault on Gaza was particularly disturbing in the number of health worker/buildings directly attacked by Israel. A friend of mine who's been working in the Al Wafa Hospital with an Australian charity for a long time has said she's not seen anything like the wholesale deliberate destruction of health infrastructure she saw earlier this year.

If they aren't war crimes then nothing is.

[Scurrilous]

2. Welcome back.

:thumbsup:

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Djinn! Great to see you!

I've been busy moving house and going without much internet access since early January, and work's been taking up heaps of time. But I came back here and nothing much has changed and it's still highly entertaining reading in some threads...

Yeah, the attacks on hospitals and rescuers really left a bad taste in my mouth. I saw some reports from Gaza from health workers and it was appalling...