goofyfish
05-03-02, 10:23 AM
JENIN: IDF MILITARY OPERATIONS ( http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/)
A report ( http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/05/jenin0503.htm) has been released by Human Rights Watch.Human Rights Watch did not find evidence to support claims that the IDF massacred hundreds of Palestinians in the camp.However..."The abuses we documented in Jenin are extremely serious, and in some cases appear to be war crimes," said Peter Bouckaert, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch and a member of the investigative team. "Criminal investigations are needed to ascertain individual responsibility for the most serious violations. Such investigations are first and foremost the duty of the Israeli government, but the international community needs to ensure that meaningful accountability occurs."
*snip*
Human Rights Watch also documented cases in which Israeli troops used Palestinian civilians as human shields, a practice prohibited under international humanitarian law. In one case, IDF soldiers forced eight civilians to shield them by making them stand on a balcony while the soldiers fired at Palestinian gunmen. Kamal Tawalba and his fourteen-year-old son were among them. Tawalba described how the soldiers kept them for three hours in the line of fire, and used his and his son's shoulders to rest their rifles as they fired.
"Even accepting the Israeli charge that Palestinian groups who used the refugee camp as a base were responsible for attacking Israeli civilians," said Bouckaert, "this does not excuse the IDF violations documented in this report." Bouckaert added that Human Rights Watch found no evidence that Palestinian gunmen forced civilians to serve as human shields during the battles in the camp, and no indication that Palestinian gunmen had prevented Palestinian civilians from leaving the camp.An Independent story: Human rights group finds evidence of war crimes in Jenin ( http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=291385) The truth about Jenin is coming out, despite a concerted campaign by Israel to cover it up and the United Nations decision this week to abandon a fact-finding mission in the face of Israeli refusal to co-operate.It is not unprecedented for a “respectable” western country to murder innocent people and then try to cover up the evidence with claims of self-defense and anti-terrorism rhetoric (Bloody Sunday ( http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/walsh4.htm#conclusion)). Is there a case to be answered here? Should the U.N. have tried more vigorously to get a team in with the consent of Israel, or is this just the latest in the line of “Anti-Israel propaganda?”
Peace.
A report ( http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/05/jenin0503.htm) has been released by Human Rights Watch.Human Rights Watch did not find evidence to support claims that the IDF massacred hundreds of Palestinians in the camp.However..."The abuses we documented in Jenin are extremely serious, and in some cases appear to be war crimes," said Peter Bouckaert, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch and a member of the investigative team. "Criminal investigations are needed to ascertain individual responsibility for the most serious violations. Such investigations are first and foremost the duty of the Israeli government, but the international community needs to ensure that meaningful accountability occurs."
*snip*
Human Rights Watch also documented cases in which Israeli troops used Palestinian civilians as human shields, a practice prohibited under international humanitarian law. In one case, IDF soldiers forced eight civilians to shield them by making them stand on a balcony while the soldiers fired at Palestinian gunmen. Kamal Tawalba and his fourteen-year-old son were among them. Tawalba described how the soldiers kept them for three hours in the line of fire, and used his and his son's shoulders to rest their rifles as they fired.
"Even accepting the Israeli charge that Palestinian groups who used the refugee camp as a base were responsible for attacking Israeli civilians," said Bouckaert, "this does not excuse the IDF violations documented in this report." Bouckaert added that Human Rights Watch found no evidence that Palestinian gunmen forced civilians to serve as human shields during the battles in the camp, and no indication that Palestinian gunmen had prevented Palestinian civilians from leaving the camp.An Independent story: Human rights group finds evidence of war crimes in Jenin ( http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=291385) The truth about Jenin is coming out, despite a concerted campaign by Israel to cover it up and the United Nations decision this week to abandon a fact-finding mission in the face of Israeli refusal to co-operate.It is not unprecedented for a “respectable” western country to murder innocent people and then try to cover up the evidence with claims of self-defense and anti-terrorism rhetoric (Bloody Sunday ( http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/walsh4.htm#conclusion)). Is there a case to be answered here? Should the U.N. have tried more vigorously to get a team in with the consent of Israel, or is this just the latest in the line of “Anti-Israel propaganda?”
Peace.