Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Israel May Face Charges for War Crime
RAMALLAH - Israel has committed war crimes and should be prosecuted in an international court, says Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza.
Swiss Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, gestures as he talks about the humanitarian problems in Gaza after Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, during a press conference at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi) "The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law," Sourani told IPS.
Palestinian Authority (PA) delegate to Britain Professor Manuel Hassassian has said the PA will launch legal proceedings against Israeli leaders it says are responsible for war crimes in Gaza, according to a Palestinian news report.
Another 22 Palestinians were killed Wednesday morning in bombing and shelling as Israel's Operation Cast Lead entered day 11. The dead included four people killed in the shelling of a children's playground near a mosque in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza city.
Six Israelis were treated for shock as several rockets from Gaza hit Israel.
Hassassian's comment came in the wake of Israeli shelling of a UN school in Jabaliya refugee camp Tuesday afternoon which killed over 40 Palestinians. Several other UN schools in the Gaza Strip were also hit in the last few days, resulting in a number of casualties.
The UN called for an investigation, stating that prior to the current operation the Israelis were given the precise coordinates of all UN institutions in Gaza.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has already condemned an Israeli attack on two members of the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) last week. The ICRC said the medics were wearing fluorescent jackets, their ambulances were clearly marked, and their flashing lights were on.
Nihal Al-Akras, chairman of the Palestinian Health Care Committees, asked the international community to pressure Israel to stop firing on medical facilities and workers in the Gaza Strip.
Akhras's comments followed Tuesday's bombing of the Ad-Dura hospital in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza city. Three mobile clinics provided by a Danish NGO, DanChurchAid, were also destroyed.
"We've been able to help the wounded and suffering so far because our vehicles have been present and ready inside Gaza. This possibility of emergency aid is now in ruins," said Henrik Stubkjær, secretary general of DanChurchAid.
"We are deeply shocked that the Israeli air strikes directly prevent the humanitarian aid effort," he added.
According to DanChurchAid the clinics were clearly marked with red crosses and were parked in the Union of Healthcare headquarters.
"One Palestinian doctor and three medics have been killed during Israel's bombing campaign which began on December 27," Sammy Hassan, spokesman for Gaza's Shifa Hospital told IPS.
While Israel has denied that it deliberately targets civilians, reading between the lines of reports in the Israeli media and admissions by military leaders would suggest that the lives of Palestinian civilians are secondary to saving Israeli soldiers.
Several senior Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) officers have admitted that the IDF strategy is to use tremendous firepower on the ground to protect Israeli soldiers during fighting in civilian areas, a senior officer explained to journalists on Tuesday.
"For us, being cautious means being aggressive," said one officer. "From the minute we entered, we've acted like we're at war. That creates enormous damage on the ground.
"When we suspect that a Palestinian fighter is hiding in a house, we shoot it with a missile and then with two tank shells, and then a bulldozer hits the wall. It causes damage but it prevents the loss of life among soldiers."
The IDF suffered significant military casualties during the 2006 Lebanon war, and the top brass realised that a repeat of this would erode public morale and the country's political will. The Israeli cabinet took all this into account prior to the ground operation into Gaza.
Additionally, limited global reaction -- due to the lack of international media on the ground in Gaza following an Israeli ban -- to several of the more serious incidents of civilian casualties has emboldened Israel to a certain degree.
Even during the Lebanon War following similarly serious attacks by Israel on Lebanese civilians, a ceasefire took weeks to be enforced.
However, Israel has not been completely immune from the world's outrage. Following international pressure on the escalating humanitarian crisis, Israel has agreed to establish a humanitarian corridor near Gaza city.
Israeli military operations will be halted for threehours every day to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza's besieged population through this corridor.
"The idea is for the Israeli military to lay down its weapons every day from 1 pm to 4 pm starting today (Wednesday) in the area of the city of Gaza," an Israeli source was quoted as saying.
Israeli leaders met in Tel Aviv Wednesday morning to discuss expanding the ground offensive during a period when most of the aims of the operation have been reached, according to a number of Israeli analysts.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defence Minister Ehud Olmert -- the war cabinet's troika - reportedly discussed an even more intensive campaign in Gaza's towns and cities. Israel is hoping to inflict as much damage as possible to Hamas's personnel and infrastructure.
- Posted in
168 Comments so far
Show All"Israel has committed war crimes and should be prosecuted in an international court . . . ."
Yes, and so should Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and every goddamned neocon in the US government.
Good luck with that.
Until we have serious media reform in the US and Europe, the popluace will remain ignorant of the truth in this forsaken region. Their ignorance is the base of Israel's power.
q
Very good.
We won't have media reform until the media is not corporate owned. The media will be corporate owned until the media spotlights who owns it. A real catch-22!
I think what's needed now is for progressive organizations to pool resources to train and equip progressive citizens to do our own news reporting. The problem is how to get that reporting out to the general ingnorati.
Where is V when we need him?
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
"Where is V when we need him?"
He is us.
"When we suspect that a Palestinian fighter is hiding in a house, we shoot it with a missile and then with two tank shells, and then a bulldozer hits the wall. It causes damage but it prevents the loss of life among soldiers."
What??? So if the suspicions are incorrect, a house, potentially with children inside, has been hit with a missile, two tank shells and been bulldozed for no reason. This is just wrong.
Very good.
It looks like people are starting to wake up to he fact that the Israelis government orders blatant war crimes against innocent civilians. The question is what can we DO as Americans who fund Israel's crimes to stop this? Protests iMO are just ignored and I doubt very much our calls mean much when Israel's lobbyists fund campaigns for both parties. Any other ideas?
Publicly declare your opposition to funding terrorism (and all war is terrorism) and stop paying taxes.
Not paying taxes doesn't do any good unless MANY millions join you, it just means the state has an excuse to seize your goods and put you in jail, screw that, the first rule of striking blows against the state is "don't get caught." Do you think the French resistance gave themselves away with futile gestures like tax resistance?
hootowl,
If you are waiting for a grand solution, you'll wait 'til hell freezes over.
You MUST do what YOU can do. Withholding your taxes (if that's what you choose to do) is what YOU can do, and it DOES mean something. The paralysis that is caused by waiting for the one perfect solution is the real enemy.
Do it, just... Well, you get the point.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
hootowl:fair question. Howard Zinn's speech of Nov.8,2008 was played on DemocracyNow on Jan. 2,2009 and the transcript is online. It was so good (and well organized), I automatically started taking notes, in case I wanted to quote. (Yes, I know I could have gone to the website later: www.democracynow.org.) And, if you can, read his "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" 2003 Edition, Boston:Beacon Press, his autobio, even if just the intro. The book, when you read his life story is like a "how to" work for social change, justice... It's my favorite book.
For sources, there's many listed under many articles. There's a march in DC on Saturday by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition http://answer.pephost.org/
Scan the comments still up on other "threads"/articles on the topic for this past week. There's a lot of links/groups. Howard Zinn's speech ends with "join a cause. You'll feel better. You'll sleep better at night.". He suggested joining a group. I have done art in protest, last weekend (took me awhile to figure it out), made copies and have been sending out a few at a time as I am physically able. I can't do much, but as Chomsky once said, "every bit helps". Zinn also notes in his "You Can't Be Neutral..." intro., that you never know what small thing you do will inspire someone else.
I have gone to more protests than I can count in the last 20 years, listen to democracynow, and read here and counterpunch and antiwar.com, post on many forums and the war machine slogs on. I suspect the key is money, in this case AIPAC buying off our politicians and the 3 + billion/year supplied to Israel by the U.S. Stop that money and the whole thing grinds to a halt.
H O W ?
Do you think the Civil Rights Act would have been passed without the sit-in at the southern diner or without Rosa Parks sitting in the front of a bus or without the many protests and marches? There are as many ways as there are people willing to take a stand.
If you believe (as do I) that the key is money, then boycott Israel and make it known http://www.monabaker.com/boycottisraeliproducts.htm. Or, withhold your taxes. There are websites dedicated to just that action.
That is HOW.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
"Do you think the Civil Rights Act would have been passed without the sit-in at the southern diner or without Rosa Parks sitting in the front of a bus or without the many protests and marches? There are as many ways as there are people willing to take a stand."
Very true, but the problems we are discussing these days are a bird's of a very different feather and those tactics that worked for that won't fly now. (in my opinion)
Its about as realistic as the thought that we would ever have a revolution in our country by the poor.
Then what is your solution now, Thomas? If you poo-poo solutions by individuals, what do you suggest in its place?
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
To restore our government to the system it should be and hass been.
Such an absurd title.
It may also rain money.
Very good.
'such an absurd title'...................
such an absurd scenario...............
"The idea is for the Israeli military to lay down its weapons every day from 1 pm to 4 pm starting today (Wednesday) in the area of the city of Gaza," an Israeli source was quoted as saying.
How generous.
Very good.
You are going to be very busy writing "Very good" after every post.
World opinion (sans US leaders under AIPAC's thumb) is against Israel. You had better get to work telling the world that their opinion is "Very good" as well.
very good, wtf........................
There is absolutely no excuse for the murder of children. Haven't the Jews learned anything from the Holocaust?
If Isreal took all the money it's spending on war, death and destruction and put it into researching and building a practical missle defense system, they could stop or at least minimize the Hamas rocket attacks. The US could help with this technology. Has anybody thought about this?
Markymark
Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper if Hamas just quit shooting rockets into Israel? The Israeli would have had no excuse/cause for this ground incursion without that.
Thomas More:Hi. I was surprised at what Phyllis Bennis said about this. www.democracynow.org on Jan.5,2009. I am unable to quote, but it's short. I heard her discuss it on Hugh Hamilton's WBAI show later in the day www.wbai.org archived for 90 days free. It's Pacifica's NYC station, where Amy Goodman was and started DemocracyNow. She was also WBAI 99.5FM news director.
I was surprised listening to this morning's DemocracyNow (on WBAI), to hear Allan Nairn speak about his and Amy Goodman's being in the attack on civilians in Dily, East Timor in 1991. That it was that long ago! I remember it, having been listening in "real time" way back then, to tape of the attack, how Nairn had gotten a concussion from Indonesian soldiers attacking Dily Catholics at a funeral outside a cemetery. A journalist hid video in the ground in the cemetery and went back for it later;smuggled it out. I heard Amy G. call in to WBAI later that night, live. She was trying to get support for the civilians,to get Congress to stop supporting the Indonesian military, which finally happened. Today Nairn, who has a great blog online, longtime journalist, at one time with the New Yorker (which has Seymour Hersh,etc now)is a longtime reporter on Indonesia.)
He was talking today, also,about Admiral Blair going to get the job of NSA chief, and would be boss to the new CIA chief,Leon Panetta. I remember when Blair disobeyed orders at the time of Indonesia's exit from E. Timor. He was told to tell the Indonesia military to stop the militias killing,etc. on their way out. Read about it on today's show transcript. His main point is that Obama will have to chose if he wants to go back to "how it was" pre-Bush or make the decision to stop allowing support of the US, CIA in torturing and killing of civilians. I suggest you read it. Not a long piece.
I will read it.
"His main point is that Obama will have to chose if he wants to go back to "how it was" pre-Bush or make the decision to stop allowing support of the US, CIA in torturing and killing of civilians."
I believe that decision is absolutely made. Obama, nor any decent person wouldn't buy Bush's tactics. Obama has already decided this I believe.
Thomas,
Up until a short while ago, I may have let this pass. However, I have had my attitude adjusted simply by reading a few quotes from various Israeli leaders through the years. Put simply, Israel has always been, from its inception, about taking land from the Palestinians. If that meant doing away with Palestinians to get the land that the founding Zionists felt God willed to them, then so be it.
In view of that - fuck a few rockets! The Israeli experiment is built on genocide. We have had ours in the US, and now it is happening in Israel. Question is, do we stand by and let dark history repeat itself - or do we open our eyes and our consciences?
"We must expel Arabs and take their places."
-- David Ben Gurion, 1937, Ben Gurion and the Palestine Arabs, Oxford University Press, 1985.
"If we thought that instead of 200 Palestinian fatalities, 2,000 dead would put an end to the fighting at a stroke, we would use much more force...."
-- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, quoted in Associated Press, November 16, 2000.
"I would have joined a terrorist organization."
-- Ehud Barak's response to Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Ha'aretz newspaper, when Barak was asked what he would have done if he had been born a Palestinian.
"Everybody has to move, run and grab as many (Palestinian) hilltops as they can to enlarge the (Jewish) settlements because everything we take now will stay ours...Everything we don't grab will go to them."
-- Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of the Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, Nov. 15, 1998.
http://monabaker.com/quotes.htm
Ted....don't let anything pass. How the heck can we get at the real truth if nobody throws a snowball and says..........
"I have had my attitude adjusted simply by reading a few quotes from various Israeli leaders through the years. Put simply, Israel has always been, from its inception, about taking land from the Palestinians"
No doubt, but if you look back you will find quotes by Arab leaders to the same degree and more. Thats what makes this damn thing so hard. Both sides are FULLY to blame.
Lets say your state is declared a member of the US and a few hours later Mexico and Canada bomb your state capital killing many civilians and immediately send troops a nd tanks in to invade. Lets say you manage to beat them off, but a few years later they attack you again and over the years constantly threaten your people and kill them one or two at a time. Then about 20 years later these same Arab countries that deny your right to even exiist and declare that its holy to kill you, blockade your country, close the strits to you, mass armor and artillery along your border, mass troops, pracytically the whole of their armies on your border and instead of waithing for them to attack, you attack first as any nation would and you take the West Bank, from which they have been attacking your settlements every year, the Golan Heights from which your settlements have been shelled and has always threatened that part of your copuntry plus the Gaza strip which has always been a pain in your bottom.
And the folks that have attacked you complain when you won't give the land back so they can do the same thing again. Then the Palestinians in Gaza are kept in Gaza, Israel will no longer let them come there.
Guess what...not one Arab or Muslim country will allow one of those poor Palestinians to immigrate to their country or to even live inside their country.
Then terroists start firing rockets into your country from Gaza. You have various cease fires and finally you say, OK we will remove all our citizens, we will give Gaza top you to govern as an independent state. Guess what, the Israeli are condemned because they won't support thee Palesinians in Gaza. Then Hamas, a terroist group is elected as their government . They fire thousands of rockets into your country.....and finally you respond to protect youyrself. There's one vioew that is absolutely correct...a bit bare boned , but correct.
Now I can write one very much like it except from the Palestinian viewpoint thats not much different as far as they are concerned.
My point is that if you favor one side or the other its not hard to find supporting data. My view is that two wrongs won't make a right and they have both been wrong various times.
The genocide claim is a load of Bull Shit in my opinion. If that was there aim you would be looking at a smoking crater that used to be Gaza and the 1.5 that lived there would be dead.
Look at the incursion. This has been a controlled incursion, looks to have been as carefully done as they could....looking from the outside. My estimation of their tactics. The death toll would be in the tens of thousands otherwise.
As to the rockets....ask who started shooting first as soon as the three hours was up. I do not know, but I'm willing to bet it was Hamas that loosed rockets first. This is politics.
"We have had ours in the US, and now it is happening in Israel. Question is, do we stand by and let dark history repeat itself - or do we open our eyes and our consciences?"
I know of no genocide in our history. If you are referring to the Indians I can only repeast That was been debunked years ago. Ward Churchill and the ones like him brewed that story up for their own purposes.
The second part of your question is the one that matters to me. And my answer is no. But Bush is worthless to us. And though Gaza is not the top priority for our new President, I'm sure they will do their best to find some kind of solution. This fighting will end. But the probl;em will remain.
Israel is not going anyplace, nor are the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank. If we can get some kind of agreement with Iran, Syria and the Saudis, perhaps we could bring peace to the region. I'd bet the Israeli and the Palestinians would buy it.
Long winded I know, but its not that simple and its hard to encapsulate a lot of years in a few sentences.
This is a bit of my opinon, worth its weight in sand, but still its what I know and what I think.
P.S. Those quotes you had, you can bet your bippy there are folks in Israel that feel exactly that way. And the quotes from Arab leaders about wiping Jews and Israel from the face of the earth, you can bet there is another cadre of Arabs and Muslims that feel exactly that way.
"I know of no genocide in our history. If you are referring to the Indians I can only repeast That was been debunked years ago. Ward Churchill and the ones like him brewed that story up for their own purposes."
Thomas,
I think you are either historically naive, or are only willing to see what you want to see. Not an uncommon occurrence, but sad just the same.
The Trail of Tears was not made up, neither was what Columbus did to the people of Hispaniola. Genocide has happened throughout history, no matter what name we apply to it (or don't). And we, the good ol' US of Americans, have been part of it. That's our dark history and we need to learn from that. That we are a rapacious nation that seems not to want to stop at anything, is a direct byproduct of our history. We can't change history, but we sure as hell can see it for what it is so that we may change ourselves.
Your reasoning that Gaza would be a crater if genocide were taking place is simplistic, and not very helpful, especially to those in Gaza right now. There is no magic number of dead that determines what genocide is. Rather, it is a systematic attempt to wipe out a people, based on racial, ethnic, or national lines. In this case, Israel wants Palestinian land and is using nationality to wipe them out. That they haven't done it militarily in one fell swoop does not mean that they haven't tried other methods, such as encircling them, taking their land, not allowing them the freedom to work or get food or goods.
Agreed, this is not a simple situation. The Palestinian organizations have used violence against civilians. It seems an intractable problem, but the use of such overwhelming force, targeted AT civilians (yes, it is!), are not the tactics of a responsible state, but rather a terrorist organization. By the very descriptions of the laws of war, such overwhelmingly brutal asymmetry without regard for civilian casualties describes fourth generation warfare as carried out by terrorists.
Finally, you might take note that the Israelis have had a total media blackout. Why? Does this sound like something a country does when conducting a righteous and lawful military event? What is it they don't want the world to know? I would ask this of any country or organization, and do.
If we don't decry this and call it what it is - terrorism - then we are begging history to repeat itself. There is a point where we have a choice to keep looking and asking questions, or to look away and say that it's all just too complicated.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
Missle defense systems are too costly and never work. Besides, even if Dubya had one built, 9/11 wouldn't have been stopped. Israel could instead improve its education, build a middle class which it lacks, and quit its racist policies with all its money.
How strange. The Holocaust was perpetrated based upon false accusations that Jews murdered children. Now, sixty years later those accusations are being turned into dead bodies and blood by the IDF.
Israel, in the name of all jews, is murdering children. Ask Israeli citizens on the street and they are all for it.
Israel may have the "right" to exist but I say we remove the means and let them deal with their neighbors on their own steam.
Fighting the forces of rather dim lighting wherever they may be found!!
However, Israel has not been completely immune from the world's outrage. Following international pressure on the escalating humanitarian crisis, Israel has agreed to establish a humanitarian corridor near Gaza city.
**um
isnt Israel supposed to do that already-since it has Gaza under occupation?
Its great how it offers to do stuff that it is obligated to do, while demanding Palestinians give up stuff like, oh i dont know, trying to defend themselves against Israel?
The willful idiocy of jewish supremacy beliefs is irritating.
The opening of a "humanitarian corridor" is a shill. Gaza has ALWAYS been dependent upon the Israelis allowing supplies into the permanently besieged city of Gaza. The spin here is that the Israelis are doing something "new" and "peace-inducing". Sorry, it is not new.
Wow, and who is going to charge them? Not the US, who will veto any attempts in the UN. Not the UK, who will simply sit on their hands and abstain, because they haven't the courage to show their hand.
This World makes me sick.
Disband the UN, and rebuild a new organisation, where there is no power of veto for any "special" country. Make the new organisation truly independent - no, don't ask me how you can do that, because I haven't got a clue!
Is anyone out there working on a space ship, so that I can get as far away from this evil, corrupt self destructive planet as soon as possible?
i've got a nice bin liner if you want and some string....................
AndyUK
"Disband the UN, and rebuild a new organisation, where there is no power of veto for any "special" country. Make the new organisation truly independent - no, don't ask me how you can do that, because I haven't got a clue!"
It wouldn't be that hard to put it together, but it would still retain the problem of the current UN, it would have no ability to enforce its decisions. Without that, its just another debating society.
That cannot happen. The ICC does not have jurisdiction over Israel or Egypt therfore has no jurisdiction over Gaza. That means it may not try anyone in the conflict unless referred to the security council and the US has veto power there so that is not going to happen.
Sorry. :-)
Actually, you are very much mistaken. If a legal claim is filed with the legal system of any signatory, ANY individual charged with war crimes MUST be arrested and held for trial. This is why the terrorist US Congress passed a bill calling for the invasion of the Hague if any of its nationals comes under its sway. I'm sure the Terrorist Zionist state has done something similar.
Oh snap, keep coming back at these Ziofascists hard, it's exactly what they deserve.
Yes. I keep waiting for someone to spend time discussing the horrific idea of fighting on tightly packed cities. I live in a city that has high rises,apartments, just as Gaza has high rise buildings where people are inside. The very thought of "urban warfare" is horrendous. Period. Manhattan has about the same amount of people as Gaza. It's not like a movie, using digital special effects. Occupations, invasions, bombings of civilians are war crimes. Be sure to add the administration of the US also, for selling the equipment, military stuff raining down...in Gaza. And the US government war crimes in Iraq. And Afghanistan.
NYCartist
Unfortunately if your opponent is mixed in with a civilian population, using them for cover or just moving through the area this is what you get. Forget the "horrific idea of fighting on tightly packed cities", its horrific in any urban situation, even a sparsely populated small town. Even worse when you can't tell the fighters from the civilians.
Don't forget to add the Iranians, Saudi's and Syrians to the list for providing the weapons to Hamas. This is not a one sided conflict don't forget where only one side bears fault.
What was the art you did for protest? Could you please describe it?
Thomas More:I am losing patience (an older woman). Read what the UNRA spokesperson in the school said today on DemocracyNow. "I am 99.99% there were no militants... as we screen carefully" in the school compound. He spoke live from Gaza and asked for an independent investigation. He said not just 3 hours for a corridor to deliver humanitarian:food,but stopping all bombing is required. He would not take sides. Thomas:I live in a crowded city with highrise apartment houses. You can't do what Israel is doing and not kill a lot of civilians. Please read the short segment: www.democracynow.org He also pointed out that the Israeli's were given the coordinates about three times to make sure the school was not hit. Maybe I misunderstood you.
Thomas:you just redeeemed yourself with that charming question:what does the art look like. I took a photo of someone walking in the snow in Dec. in NYC, with an umbrella. Can't tell if it's a man or woman in trousers. There were tire tracks from one city garage to another making arcs behind the person. I "saw" in my head, as I lay abed between sleep and wake state, listening to my favorite radio station, a mellow voice, woman reading something:in my head, I could see blood on the snow and the words "Fallujah" and "Gaza" in the white between some of the tire treads arcs. I worked it out a few days later, paint for blood. I did that on one side of a regular size piece of paper, so I could fold it like a card. On the other side, which would be the back, I put a collage using flowers and butterfly that I saw in NYC (butterflies on the street are rare, as am I!), photos of collaged, with other bits I've created over the years. Also a peace symbol, dove. I listed cities (it can't be complete):Guernica, Warsaw, Fallujah, Gaza). It's my opinion. More? Thanks. I love working on verbalizing art for people who can't see it. My skills are not yet able to put my art online, but its detail would be lost anyway, I think. Thanks so much for asking.
Thank God I'm redeemed! That was a wonderful description!
"Read what the UNRA spokesperson in the school said today on DemocracyNow. "I am 99.99% there were no militants... as we screen carefully" in the school compound"
Lets just say I'm a bit less trusting, plus by experience I know the guy hasn't got a clue if there were militants in the compound or not, or around it. He can't. Screen carefully my fopot. Aside from that no investigation would tell you if they were around there or not.
I remember well reports just like this about things I was involved in or witnessed and I wouldn't have recognized it friom the reports they put out.
I'm just an old dog that doesn't trust early reports or unsupported stories out of combat zones. Can't help it. Don't believe the Israeli either. They probably don't know what really happened yet either.
Thomas More:thanks for comment on art description. The man from the UN (UNRA)asked for an investigation. He says they screened the civilians coming into the UN compound. Did you read what he said? This place you call a "combat zone" is a tightly packed urban area of 1 1/2 million people. Picture Manhattan, Thomas. Lastly, I shall sadly say My Lai. The result of assuming civilians are not civilians.
Listen here Quinty--very good indeed!--very good has become the new very bad. There's more to life than very good. Please, add a few more words to your comments--but not too many!-or methinks you are a robot!
Dr Wu, the last of the big-time thinkers
THe BBC says casualty figures in gaza cannot be independently verified, and then it says Israel wont let reporters in.
Sooo, why dont they say--some officials say death figures in Gaza may actually be much higher?
If they said that-it would put pressure on israel to let them in.
Instead, they just let Israel get away with it.
"The scene at the church was unbelievable. It was horrendous. On the floor were dead bodies of mostly women and children cut in pieces"
report from the congo, end of December 2008. several hundred refugees hiding in a church, are chopped to death, 120 homes burned.
Every day, world wide, there are war crimes.
Nothing special, or different here.
What a petty attempt to deflect the discussion away from Israel's sins.
What's "special" about the assault on Gazans is the fact that it's being executed with explicit US approval.
The atrocities in the Congo - or anywhere else - do not in any way diminish the outrageousness of Israel's war on the Palestinians.
q
i think the point trying to be made is that there is no outrage for the people of the congo.........................