UN rights official slams 'cowardly Israeli war crime' in Gaza

[bemildred]

GENEVA (AFP) — Israel's targeting of a Hamas government office which caused serious casualties at a nearby wedding party was a "war crime" and those responsible should be punished, a United Nations official said Saturday.

John Dugard, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, also slammed the killing of Palestinians in other attacks and the closing of border crossings.

"The killing of some 40 Palestinians in Gaza in the past week, the targeting of a Government office near a wedding party venue with what must have been foreseen loss of life and injury to many civilians, and the closure of all crossings into Gaza raise very serious questions about Israel's respect for international law and its commitment to the peace process," Dugard said in a statement.

"Recent action violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention," Dugard charged in the statement put out by the UN human rights commission.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpF3nsdYENet4HfBT46sols3JQpA

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rainy]

2. They are the terrorists!

[madeline_con]

3. People like you are the reason the killing of innocents continues.

You support this racist genocide.

edited for misspelled "racist".

[rainy]

4. So true. If you listen to the actual words of the zionists when they

were planning the state of Israel, they fully intended to get rid of the Palestinian. They never intended to share the land with those already there.

[madeline_con]

6. The post is gone. SWEEEET!

:bounce:

Yes, I tried to explain Herzl to one of my sons, but I just can't get it through to him.

I have one who's Jewish, and one who's Muslim.

Our family "discussions" can get rather heated.

We have to go through the difference between anti semitism and anti Israeli government before each round. :eyes:

[msmcghee]

8. Well, the fact that some Zionists might have said something . .

. . along those lines 60 or more years ago doesn't really mean much when compared with Israel's actual leaders' statements and the official GOI statements on that - which, from day one, were all about sharing the land with the Arabs of Palestine.

But aside from all that, if "They never intended to share the land with those already there" - then why are there 1.2 million Arabs living in Israel with full rights as Israeli citizens?

[rainy]

9. Arabs living as second class citizens and some in refugee homes

plus, don't forget the homes the israel army has bulldozed.

[Kittycat]

5. Haven't they banned you yet? Freeper?

[Jim Sagle]

7. The UN sin't nuthin' but a rhetorical Hamas bomber squad.

The UN official is a blatant, hate-filled liar. Kiling Hamss thugs isn't a war crime, no matter how often he repeats the lie.

[rainy]

10. They were elected by the people, and, although extreme, because of

the huge lack of order, still elected and still trying to end the occupation of Palestinian land.

[henank]

11. "Huge lack of order"??? LOL! Understatement of the century!

Chaos, anarchy, terrorism, despotism, religious extremism. Those words more closely describe the situation in Gaza.

Please note that Hamas were elected after Israel ended its occupation of Gaza. The population desired a terrorist government. They got what they wanted and they got Israel's reaction in exchange.

[breakaleg]

12. Not true. It was a vote against the corruption of Fatah. nt

[Vegasaurus]

13. The goals of Hamas, their charter, their "platform"

was well known by the citizens. After all, they chant those "death to Israel" words (including children, wearing green Hamas headbands, as they burn the Israeli or US flags). The corruption of Fatah may have been bad, but this situation is so much worse.

[rainy]

14. Israel still occupies Gaza in many ways and has control over

it's waterways, airspace etc....

[rainy]

16. Face it Israel is the bully here. They have killed Palestinians 10 to 1

for years now. When the people have no recourse to injustice they get mad and scared and turn to extremists since no one else can solve their problems. No one else cares. So the void lets Hamas in because they are the only ones who will fight to get the land back, especially the land near water etc... The void is created by the intentional chaos. The constant killing and taking of land from the Palestinians with no remedy in sight.

[Tom Joad]

15. Your anti-UN rhetoric reminds me of those John Bircher billboards i saw in my youth.

only they used "communist" instead of "terrorist". But the simplistic idiocy remains the same.

[Jim Sagle]

17. Your equation of me with a John Bircher is much more simplistic than anything I could come up with.

[oberliner]

18. The UN also prohibits deliberate attacks on civilian areas

It does not seem as if international law is being observed by the Palestinian leadership either.

[bemildred]

19. That prohibition doesn't seem to get much respect anywhere.

Mostly lip service. Those damn civilians are everywhere, they are always in the way, and sometimes their sympathies are against you too, it's almost like they are enemies themselves, they just are not armed and ready. And the little ones just grow up and become enemies too. And sometimes they get organized and challenge the political powers that be, and you can't have that. And they are much easier targets. There are just so many reasons.
:sarcasm:

Still, there is nothing stopping anyone whose self-respect demands better of them from doing better. (Not sarcasm.)

[oberliner]

20. Too true

If international law was actually implemented worldwide there would be a serious backlog of folks waiting to stand trial.