Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Pedro Almodovar have condemned the Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza. Their act was a brave one, given Hollywood's unquestioning (but questionable) support of Israel, no matter what atrocity the Israelis perpetrate.
Make no mistake about it, the recent invasion of Gaza is an atrocity.
Jon Voigt, who scores no points for those who question his intelligence, if not his sanity, writes a letter that accounts the history of Israel since 1948. No one is interested in that history. We are looking at what Israel is doing today, a vicious attack with tanks and artillery against a defenseless civilian population of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is keeping them penned up like animals. Israel recently warned 100,000 residents of Gaza to leave their homes immediately and not return.
In response to this threat against a civilian population ( itself a War Crime under Article 6 of the Rome Accord), the UN offered shelter at its schools in Gaza. Up to 3,000 Palestinians, who had nowhere else to go, were huddling together in one of these schools when it was targeted by Israelis (either with tanks or artillery--hard to say which, one bombed out building looks much like any other), who scored a direct hit, killing more than 10 and injuring others. This was only one of many authenticated attacks against civilians in Gaza.
Attacking a civilian population is a war crime and a crime against humanity, as defined by the UN's Rome Statute. Forcing a civilian population to leave its homes is a crime of genocide, also as defined by the Rome Statute.
Cruz, Bardem, and Almodovar should be commended for their defense of the Palestinian victims of war crimes in Gaza. Voigt, on the other hand, should do some more research about Israel's recent violations of international law. He should start by reading the Rome Statute. There is no provision there that permits killing of civilians under any circumstances, much less the targeting of shelters where civilians are known to seek refuge.
Belatedly, the Obama administration has condemned Israel for this inexcusable action. White House spokesman Josh Earnest condemned Israeli actions as "totally unacceptable and totally indefensible." Israel's assaults on a defenseless civilian population are likely to continue unless and until the US refuses to support a nation who routinely defies international laws and the good opinion of the family of nations.
Showing posts with label war crimes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war crimes. Show all posts
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
Why Israelis may have committed War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in their assault on civilians in Gaza
During the last presidential election, Mitt Romney was caught on video telling things to a room full of fat cat donors that he wouldn't want anyone else to see. The Fox News Channel developed stories that only its viewers heard about, including the bogus stories that Obama was born in Kenya and the Affordable Care Act would bankrupt the country.
This stereoptic vision of reality has always existed when two opposing political parties try to sway public opinion. But it is particularly destructive when two opposing armies are exchanging bullets and bombs. This week, we have seen that the Israeli press has neglected to inform its readers that a bomb struck a UN school site, killing 16 and injuring more than 100 people, many of them children. The UN gave Israel the coordinates of this building because many people, whom the Israelis told to leave their homes, were sheltered there.
The bombing of the school made front-page headlines all over the world, but I searched in vain for the story in the English version of the online Israel Times. The French and Arabic versions of the same newspaper put the story on the front page along with pictures of huge smoke clouds billowing high into the air. This disconnect between differing versions of the same newspaper is extraordinary, as if Fox News had another channel where it tells the truth about birth certificates and federal budgets, but makes up lies about the character and family life of Republicans.
The situation is hardly humorous, however. One result of such an echo chamber--where Israelis only hear one side of the issues, repeated over and over again--is that 83 percent of them approve the government's latest incursion against a civilian population in Gaza. They firmly believe that the military attacks are a necessary response to an incident where three Israeli students were kidnapped and later found murdered.
The Israelis believe that the students were murdered by the political group Hamas, although no proof has ever been shown for this theory and no trial has ever been held to convict the murderers, as one might expect in a democratic country. Instead of investigating the incident, finding and then punishing the perpetrators, the government of Israel has assumed that the entire Palestinian people are responsible and has been slaughtering them by the hundreds for weeks.
There is no conceivable explanation for the Israeli attacks that does not leave the Israeli government guilty of crimes against humanity. But the Israeli people apparently do not know what constitutes a crime against humanity under international law, chiefly described by the Geneva Accords and the Rome Statute. Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute, but its leadership could still be indicted by the International Criminal Court for their violations of it.
The causes for indicting the Israeli government officials who started this military action are the following:
1. Genocide. Under the terms of the Rome Statute, article 6, a person commits the crime of genocide by killing, injuring, or oppressing a person or persons with the intention of destroying in whole or in part, a particular national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The crime could also consist of driving these persons from their homes.
In the case of the bombing of the UN School, the Israeli government allegedly told people to leave their homes. That alone could be an act of genocide, but the Israelis then killed and injured large numbers of these people in a place where they had taken refuge.
2. Crimes against humanity. Murder. Under the terms of the Rome Statute (see above), article 7, a person commits the crime against humanity of murder when he or she kills a person or persons in the context of an attack on a civilian population while participating knowingly in such an attack.
The actual killers in the case of the UN school bombing may not have known that they were attacking civilians. But the UN asserts that it repeatedly informed the Israeli military command of the coordinates of places of refuge, including the particular UN school that was bombed. The Israeli military command was therefore guilty of a crime against humanity for not informing members of the attacking army that they must not attack these places where civilians were seeking refuge.
3. Crimes against humanity. Extermination. A person is guilty of this crime if he or she killed civilians as part of a mass killing of members of a civilian population.
In this case, a person can be guilty of extermination if he or she kills a civilian. The victim does not need to be of a particular nationality or religion; he or she only needs to be a civilian in an attack where numerous civilians are killed.
The list of crimes against humanity with which the Israeli leadership may be charged goes on, but enough has been asserted here to warrant an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In addition, they may have committed War Crimes under section 8 of the Rome Statute. It is possible, indeed likely, that opponents of Israel have committed similar violations of international laws, but nothing in the law permits a government to retaliate against such crimes by perpetrating similar crimes of their own. The interdiction of such crimes is absolute. No excuse is considered a valid reason for committing genocide or a crime against humanity.
People have become inured to the commission of war crimes by their continual exposure to films, written materials, and other forms of propaganda that all maintain that crimes against humanity may be justified. The U.S. Government under President Bush even attempted to make a new legal definition of torture to evade responsibility for committing a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly banned torture of enemy prisoners of war. People have even come to believe that torture may be necessary under certain extreme circumstances. This general denial of the justice of prosecuting people for commission of war crimes, genocide, or crimes against humanity represents a backward step in our progress toward a world where each person is recognized as a fellow human being with all the rights that adhere to that recognition.
This stereoptic vision of reality has always existed when two opposing political parties try to sway public opinion. But it is particularly destructive when two opposing armies are exchanging bullets and bombs. This week, we have seen that the Israeli press has neglected to inform its readers that a bomb struck a UN school site, killing 16 and injuring more than 100 people, many of them children. The UN gave Israel the coordinates of this building because many people, whom the Israelis told to leave their homes, were sheltered there.
The bombing of the school made front-page headlines all over the world, but I searched in vain for the story in the English version of the online Israel Times. The French and Arabic versions of the same newspaper put the story on the front page along with pictures of huge smoke clouds billowing high into the air. This disconnect between differing versions of the same newspaper is extraordinary, as if Fox News had another channel where it tells the truth about birth certificates and federal budgets, but makes up lies about the character and family life of Republicans.
The situation is hardly humorous, however. One result of such an echo chamber--where Israelis only hear one side of the issues, repeated over and over again--is that 83 percent of them approve the government's latest incursion against a civilian population in Gaza. They firmly believe that the military attacks are a necessary response to an incident where three Israeli students were kidnapped and later found murdered.
The Israelis believe that the students were murdered by the political group Hamas, although no proof has ever been shown for this theory and no trial has ever been held to convict the murderers, as one might expect in a democratic country. Instead of investigating the incident, finding and then punishing the perpetrators, the government of Israel has assumed that the entire Palestinian people are responsible and has been slaughtering them by the hundreds for weeks.
There is no conceivable explanation for the Israeli attacks that does not leave the Israeli government guilty of crimes against humanity. But the Israeli people apparently do not know what constitutes a crime against humanity under international law, chiefly described by the Geneva Accords and the Rome Statute. Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute, but its leadership could still be indicted by the International Criminal Court for their violations of it.
The causes for indicting the Israeli government officials who started this military action are the following:
1. Genocide. Under the terms of the Rome Statute, article 6, a person commits the crime of genocide by killing, injuring, or oppressing a person or persons with the intention of destroying in whole or in part, a particular national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The crime could also consist of driving these persons from their homes.
In the case of the bombing of the UN School, the Israeli government allegedly told people to leave their homes. That alone could be an act of genocide, but the Israelis then killed and injured large numbers of these people in a place where they had taken refuge.
2. Crimes against humanity. Murder. Under the terms of the Rome Statute (see above), article 7, a person commits the crime against humanity of murder when he or she kills a person or persons in the context of an attack on a civilian population while participating knowingly in such an attack.
The actual killers in the case of the UN school bombing may not have known that they were attacking civilians. But the UN asserts that it repeatedly informed the Israeli military command of the coordinates of places of refuge, including the particular UN school that was bombed. The Israeli military command was therefore guilty of a crime against humanity for not informing members of the attacking army that they must not attack these places where civilians were seeking refuge.
3. Crimes against humanity. Extermination. A person is guilty of this crime if he or she killed civilians as part of a mass killing of members of a civilian population.
In this case, a person can be guilty of extermination if he or she kills a civilian. The victim does not need to be of a particular nationality or religion; he or she only needs to be a civilian in an attack where numerous civilians are killed.
The list of crimes against humanity with which the Israeli leadership may be charged goes on, but enough has been asserted here to warrant an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In addition, they may have committed War Crimes under section 8 of the Rome Statute. It is possible, indeed likely, that opponents of Israel have committed similar violations of international laws, but nothing in the law permits a government to retaliate against such crimes by perpetrating similar crimes of their own. The interdiction of such crimes is absolute. No excuse is considered a valid reason for committing genocide or a crime against humanity.
People have become inured to the commission of war crimes by their continual exposure to films, written materials, and other forms of propaganda that all maintain that crimes against humanity may be justified. The U.S. Government under President Bush even attempted to make a new legal definition of torture to evade responsibility for committing a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly banned torture of enemy prisoners of war. People have even come to believe that torture may be necessary under certain extreme circumstances. This general denial of the justice of prosecuting people for commission of war crimes, genocide, or crimes against humanity represents a backward step in our progress toward a world where each person is recognized as a fellow human being with all the rights that adhere to that recognition.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Cuban Five will not soon be released
Fourteen years ago this week, five Cubans were arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. They were tried and ultimately sentenced to life sentences. This case remains one of the worst examples of judicial malfeasance in US history.
The facts are these. The five Cubans came to the US from Cuba to infiltrate Anti-Castro groups engaged in terrorist activities against Cuba. Among the terrorist acts committed by these groups were murder, assassination, and the bombing of Cuban Flight 455, a commercial airplane carrying 73 passengers. By any definition of terrorism--except one--those are terrorist acts.
This is the topsy-turvy world of US espionage. When a US agent tortures a captive, he is a hero. When another country's agent tortures a captive, he is a terrorist. This is the inevitable consequence of the US open-ended war on terror. The US has declared war on acts of violence. The UN declarations of human rights not only condemn such acts but also provide mechanisms to punish them. The US wants no part of peaceful methods. It has declared war instead.
So now the US holds the Cuban Five in prison. They have been held in solitary confinement, at one point for 17 months as they awaited trial, an act condemned by the Geneva accords as a war crime. They have been denied visits with their wives. The rest of the world has taken up their cause. Amnesty International considers them political prisoners and has documented their abuse. Their attorney, Leonard Weinglass, stated that it was customary in espionage cases to return the captured spies to their home country, usually within 30 days.
But the Cuban Five will not soon be released.
The Cuban Five will only be released if the people who sympathize with them join together and create a public outcry against injustice. But the groups who want this to happen hardly even talk to each other. The Cubans do not understand English. The American progressive groups do not understand Spanish. The Socialist groups speak a Marxist-Leninist dialect that they alone understand.
Tom Hayden has said that reconciliation of opposites is only possible if the interested parties give up their broader interests and limit their goals to the one at hand, in this case the liberation of the Cuban Five. But the Cubans want an end to the embargo and normalization of relations with Cuba. This will take years, perhaps decades. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The American progressives want to reform the US prison system and punish US war criminals. This will take years, perhaps decades. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The Marxist-Leninists want to overthrow capitalism. This will take years. Perhaps they may never succeed. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The American people are fair-minded. They hate injustice when they know about it. But unless the other interested parties overcome their selfish concerns long enough to publicize the Cuban Five and petition Obama for their release, the American people will not learn about this injustice and will not demand that it be stopped.
The progressives, the Cubans, the Marxist-Leninists, must set aside their selfish, long-term goals and work exclusively for the release of the Cuban Five.
Otherwise, the Cuban Five will not soon be released.
The facts are these. The five Cubans came to the US from Cuba to infiltrate Anti-Castro groups engaged in terrorist activities against Cuba. Among the terrorist acts committed by these groups were murder, assassination, and the bombing of Cuban Flight 455, a commercial airplane carrying 73 passengers. By any definition of terrorism--except one--those are terrorist acts.
 |
| Funeral for 73 people who died on Cuban Flight 455 (NYTimes) |
The one exception is that a person or group of people can commit with impunity terrorist acts against governments the US doesn't like, like Cuba and Venezuela. The US arrested and convicted the Cuban Five of conspiracy to commit espionage and murder without ever producing evidence of a single act of violence. At the same time, the US government refuses to extradite suspected terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles, who has admitted to placing bombs in public places in Cuba.
 |
| Posada-Carriles, alleged terrorist |
So now the US holds the Cuban Five in prison. They have been held in solitary confinement, at one point for 17 months as they awaited trial, an act condemned by the Geneva accords as a war crime. They have been denied visits with their wives. The rest of the world has taken up their cause. Amnesty International considers them political prisoners and has documented their abuse. Their attorney, Leonard Weinglass, stated that it was customary in espionage cases to return the captured spies to their home country, usually within 30 days.
But the Cuban Five will not soon be released.
The Cuban Five will only be released if the people who sympathize with them join together and create a public outcry against injustice. But the groups who want this to happen hardly even talk to each other. The Cubans do not understand English. The American progressive groups do not understand Spanish. The Socialist groups speak a Marxist-Leninist dialect that they alone understand.
Tom Hayden has said that reconciliation of opposites is only possible if the interested parties give up their broader interests and limit their goals to the one at hand, in this case the liberation of the Cuban Five. But the Cubans want an end to the embargo and normalization of relations with Cuba. This will take years, perhaps decades. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The American progressives want to reform the US prison system and punish US war criminals. This will take years, perhaps decades. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The Marxist-Leninists want to overthrow capitalism. This will take years. Perhaps they may never succeed. In the meantime, the Cuban Five are in prison.
The American people are fair-minded. They hate injustice when they know about it. But unless the other interested parties overcome their selfish concerns long enough to publicize the Cuban Five and petition Obama for their release, the American people will not learn about this injustice and will not demand that it be stopped.
The progressives, the Cubans, the Marxist-Leninists, must set aside their selfish, long-term goals and work exclusively for the release of the Cuban Five.
Otherwise, the Cuban Five will not soon be released.
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