Amnesty International calls for prosecution of Israeli war crimes in Gaza

13 comments on “Amnesty International calls for prosecution of Israeli war crimes in Gaza ”

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1. Clean_power 1

   31 July 2015 at 12:51 pm

   Where was AI during the rocket campaign launched by Palestinians against Israel?
   Did AI deounce the use of schools as arm depots by terrorist HamaS?
   • Morrissey 1.1

     31 July 2015 at 4:56 pm

     Could I suggest you actually do some serious research into this topic?

     This would be a good start for you. It’s the testimony of Israeli soldiers involved in the massacre…..

     https://www.byline.com/project/13/article/205
   • Draco T Bastard 1.2

     31 July 2015 at 6:20 pm

     Israel is an invasion of Palestine and nations to have a right to defend themselves.
2. swordfish 2

   31 July 2015 at 1:16 pm

   False Equivalence.

   See Norman Finkelstein’s damning critique of Amnesty’s regression to Israeli apologetics.

   As Finkelstein argues: “In both absolute and relative terms, the scales of guilt appear to tilt heavily to the Israeli side”.

   For example:

   Fatalities (number) : Israel 73 (1 child), Gaza 2,200 (550 children)
   Fatalities (% Civilians) : Israel 8%, Gaza 70%

   Homes Destroyed : Israel 1, Gaza 18,000

   Damage to Civilian Infrastructure in $ : Israel $55 million, Gaza $4 Billion

   Despite this one-sided massacre, Amnesty actually devoted more pages to indicting Hamas than Israel, issuing 2 reports critiquing Israeli War Crimes and 2 somewhat more detailed ones condemning Hamas War Crimes. Astonishingly (and this is unprecedented for Amnesty in recent decades), the reports are largely grounded in official Israeli sources (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website etc) while the findings of respected Gaza-based Human Rights Organisations went unmentioned. In other words, Amnesty used official Israeli propaganda outlets as authoritative sources.

   “The intriguing question”, Finkelstein concludes, “is how does Amnesty manage to turn this wildly imbalanced balance sheet into a “balanced” indictment of both parties to the conflict ?”
   • Stephanie Rodgers 2.1

     31 July 2015 at 1:33 pm

     I agree. It feels very diplomatic and inoffensive to say “neither side is blameless”, but one side has one of the most advanced militaries in the world and the endorsement/protection of the United States. The other side has a few rockets, and is kept in a state of terror, economic dependency and constant surveillance.

     The power imbalance is so severe that it can’t go unstated if we really want to address the situation.
     • swordfish 2.1.1

       31 July 2015 at 2:57 pm

       Up until the late 80s, Human Rights groups had a strong tendency to either whitewash or, at the very least, maintain a discreet silence on Israel’s war crimes and human rights violations.

       Israel’s systematic torture of Palestinian detainees***, for instance, only came to light when the London Sunday Times published an investigative report. Nothing from Amnesty or Human Rights Watch etc.

       In the mid-late 80s, things started to change. Partly due to the obvious and very public nature of Israel’s brutal repression of the Palestinians’ largely non-violent First Intifada, partly a consequence of vigorous new independent Israeli, Palestinian and international Human Rights Organisations emerging and partly because the older, established ones were beginning to stiffen their resistance to external pressures (both from the US Government and Wealthy Zionist benefactors who threatened to withhold funding).

       For the last two-and-a-half decades, Amnesty have issued some pretty rigorous, honest, meticulously-documented reports on Israel-Palestine, so this latest effort is a severe disappointment. The fact that Israel made the strategic decision to bar Amnesty and all other human rights groups from entering Gaza after the massacre may well have played a role in this. Amnesty was thus prevented from checking the veracity of official Israeli exculpations. But that doesn’t even remotely justify Amnesty’s subsequent reports.

       As Finkelstein says: “Amnesty’s neutrality ends up incentivising Israeli non-cooperation: if granting human rights organisations entry into Gaza will enable them to document Israeli crimes, isn’t it prudent state policy to bar these organisations altogether and settle for an agnostic verdict from them ?”

       *** Israel was the only Country in the World where torture was deemed legal.
   • swordfish 2.2

     31 July 2015 at 1:35 pm

     Finkelstein is serialising his forensic analysis of the 4 Amnesty Reports on Operation Protective Edge on his website…http://normanfinkelstein.com/

     Here’s Part One… https://www.byline.com/project/13/article/149
     Part Two… https://www.byline.com/project/13/article/163
     Part Three… https://www.byline.com/project/13/article/170

     6 Parts currently posted.

     For a quick overview: see these interviews here… http://normanfinkelstein.com/2015/07/10/amnesty-international-lambasted-by-finkelstein/
     and here… http://normanfinkelstein.com/2015/07/07/interview-with-norman-finkelstein-on-amnestys-gaza-reports/
3. Chooky 3

   31 July 2015 at 1:30 pm

   ‘Disproportionate & indiscriminate attacks’: Amnesty accuses Israel of Gaza war crimes’

   http://www.rt.com/news/311164-amnesty-gaza-war-crimes/

   “Israeli forces committed “disproportionate” and “indiscriminate” attacks that killed “scores of civilians” in the city of Rafah, Gaza, Amnesty International said in a report which was immediately slammed as “fundamentally flawed” by Israel….
4. johnm 4

   31 July 2015 at 4:40 pm

   War Crimes? You and whose army will enforce this???
   • Morrissey 4.1

     31 July 2015 at 5:00 pm

     Israel is a rogue state and must eventually be forced to observe international law.

     Some day its sponsor, the United States, will refuse to keep supporting its crimes, as it eventually stopped supporting the crimes of apartheid South Africa and fascist Indonesia.
   • mickysavage 4.2

     31 July 2015 at 6:59 pm

     The US needs to be persuaded of this and understand that they are resourcing murderers.
5. Ad 5

   31 July 2015 at 5:28 pm

   Misleading heading.
   Amnesty were clear that they were calling on both Israelis and Palestinians.
   Amnesty were deliberately balanced.
   Author was not.
   • Morrissey 5.1

     1 August 2015 at 8:08 am

     Something called “Ad” unwisely took it into its head yesterday to attempt to be clever, when it posted the following absurdity: “Amnesty were deliberately balanced.”

     Clearly, whoever it is who calls itself “Ad” has no knowledge or understanding of the ongoing crime against the besieged enclave of Gaza, and therefore does not appreciate when an organization like Amnesty is co-opted by political interests that want to minimise and obscure the crimes of the powerful.

     I doubt that “Ad” would be interest in learning anything about this issue, but anyone who does want to learn about this should watch the following…..

     http://normanfinkelstein.com/2015/07/10/amnesty-international-lambasted-by-finkelstein/

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