January 15, 2009
Asymmetric symmetry
Griff Witte writes Gaza War Generates Debate on Civilians. Witte boils down his debate thusly (after giving Israeli human rights organizations their say):
The debate underscores the asymmetry of the conflict. On one side, Israel possesses a modern military, the strongest in the Middle East, with overwhelming firepower and the stated aim of sparing innocent Palestinian lives when it can, but above all protecting Israelis by crushing Hamas. On the other side, Hamas is an Islamist movement with a militia that has been badly damaged by the Israeli assault but that continues to fire rockets indiscriminately into Israeli civilian areas, as it has for eight years. It operates from within the civilian population in Gaza's densely packed cities and refugee camps.
Witte acknowledges the asymmetry in the relative strength of the two sides but presents them as symmetrical in terms of the claims they have of being on the side of right.
Later on Witte writes:
One of the main problems, he said, is that the Israeli military has defined any Hamas-affiliated target as legitimate, not just military targets. In Gaza, where Hamas has been the ruling authority for 19 months and runs an extensive social services network, that definition has come to include government ministries, the parliament, the police academy, a university, mosques and a seaport.
The definition hasn't expanded by some arbitrary Israeli military decision, it has been expanded by Hamas's tactics.
Witte should have been more specific about what Hamas does, such as having its fighters dress as civilians or hiding weapons and ordnance in places such as mosques.
These are the very definitions of war crimes and yet Witte only uses that term in relation to Israel. It's not just a term, it has specific legal ramifications. Ralph Peters writes:
Israel hasn't killed a single civilian in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred civilians have died, and Israeli bombs or shells may have ended their lives. But Israel didn't kill them.Hamas did.
It's time to smash the lies. The lies of Hamas. The UN lies. And the save-the-terrorists lies of the global media.
The media that has been more interested in creating a morality play than in reporting has failed to convey a central tenet of international law: that combatants who hide among non-combatants are culpable for any injuries to the non-combatants. They have injected an element of ambiguity (if not a reversal of the truth) where there is none. And by doing so, they have been covering for, if not openly rooting for, the terrorist organization Hamas rather than the sovereign democracy Israel.
You might think that a free press would feel it had a stake in supporting a democracy over anti-democratic terrorists. Unfortunately, the opposite appears to be true.
Crossposted on Yourish.
Posted by SoccerDad at January 15, 2009 6:14 AM
Why Does The Goldstone Commission Report Rely On Contradicting Testimony?
On a foundation of sand
Kemp vs. goldstone
The Goldstone Commission: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Gaza
Garlasco hits the fan
Israel deploys WorldNetDaily against Iran!
Have you forgotten?
Slapping the outstretched hand
Turki stuffing
Fadlallah clarifies that Israel's existence is the issue
Oh Come On !
You're having a laugh aren't you ?!?
Not only did you get a free pass from most of the mainstream media for the first weeks of this debacle - and in many instances are still getting your hasbara points and language repeated in many news services across the world . . . . you are also en masse exposing your predilection for pseudo-logic (particularly that of equating the human condition to a legal argument) plus demonstrating a particular trait for being Bad Sports when anyone dares to challenge you on that purely legalistic basis.
"? War Crimes - but we are on the side of right !"
Guess what ..... maybe life is a morality play . . .
and whatever you may whinge about .... you FAIL
People of character may become radicalized until justice is delivered to them, but they do not become monsters (nor do they demonise the true victims, taking mere rhetoric of their "enemy" and using it as an excuse to become the monster)
Sorry, you guys have a copyright on victimhood don't you - but you are not the victims i'm talking about.
People of character do not submit to bullies (Bullies pummel, victims punch)
People of character do not see material progress - as discussed in an earlier post here - as any form of relativity regarding loss of human rights.
People of character do not submit to - or inflict - blockades which amount to a policy of collective punishment being imposed upon 1.4 million people, in violation of international humanitarian law (there we go with that law thing again ...... you are SO on the side of right)
People of character do not submit to - or impose - checkpoints where people are toyed with by officials, fulfilling their purpose of destroying peoples lives minute by minute
People of character may find that they are placed in a position where their resistance (rather than submission to the bully) may have to take the form of radical leadership and the tactics of the freedom fighter.... including joining the fight AS a civilian (did you ever entertain the thought that civilians would join the fight rather than merely the deviousness of soldiers donning clothes to impersonate ) This does not excuse the killing on NON-COMBATANT civilians as any trained soldier can surely tell the difference.
But people of character do not cry foul when they encounter shady tactics in war yet they themselves are guilty of shady tactics even where no official war is declared. After all Israeli military commanders have openly admitted that units impersonating terrorists are a key element in their campaign in the West Bank.
So do you expect us to believe that you are the ones of character in this battle ?
Posted by: stRUTH at January 15, 2009 11:09 AMI've said it before, I believe the media should be considered legitimate targets for the IDF since they are actively involved in aiding hamas.
Posted by: Laura at January 15, 2009 12:49 PMWow, that was an awful lot of gibberish to sift through. Let me see if I understand your point, Israel Bad, Palestinians good.
You can take your people of character and stuff it. People of character recognize that intentionally using children as human shields is wrong. People of character recgonize that sending your child off to be a suicide bomber is wrong.
People of character recognize that supporting such things and or trying to equate them as being morally acceptable is moronic.
In case that last comment was unclear it was directed at stRUTH.
Posted by: Jack at January 15, 2009 1:01 PMBOOGA BOOGA
so your a fan of the 5th amendment eh? refuse to put up the links to incriminating videos on your blog ? Suppose it is all a bit irrelevent and a bit of a bore. I could call you names re such behaviour but i will not give you the excuse of calling me obnoxious - but not to worry about the end of our brief public interchange, i am bored with you too
No suprise really that you denied me a right of reply - funny how the world has become much more wise to the selective truth employed by your ilk
I was once very sympathetic to the people of your "nation", but that was gradually eroded, and recently snuffed
"You" may use all your revisionist skills to portray this latest tragedy as a victory, maybe "you" can even fool yourselves that a new low has not been reached.
There are many who hold that Human Rights Practices are the only absolute mark of truth (vs the mark of Cain), and that one can very effectively be measured on its "activity scale"
and it cannot be denied that just as the people of Gaza are being held responsible for the policies and activities of their elected leaders, so must the Israeli people be similarly held to account.
Engaging in robust debate and self-questioning at the core of these activities would have been at least "something".
(but i know i know , hamas is being mean to you, and before that it was arafat, but somewhere between all that and the Big One there were meanies like the stern gang et al so who's to judge on those grounds eh?)
Ya know what ? - and this IS a truth ------- I have just seen the most wondrous light re the difference between your God and mine .... its really brilliant ....
Thanx !