What Does Israel Have to Hide?

Israel: UN won't question IDF soldiers in Gaza flotilla probe

Sources:

Haaretz, Aug. 9, 2010, By Barak Ravid and DPA.

Israeli Military Admission Masks True Inentions

The acknowledgment, by a high-ranking Israeli officer, of violating rules of engagement during the January 2009 assault on Gaza is spin. In short, the Israelis know that they have been caught committing war crimes, so now they are trying to say it was merely a matter of exceeding a principle of military conduct in order to protect Israeli soldiers. But, while true on one level, the purpose of Israel's violation of military conduct went beyond protecting soldiers.

Israel's claim, released as if the general is speaking on his own, is that the military exceeded the principle of "means and intentions" during their Operation Cast Lead. The principle is that "a targeted suspect must have a weapon and show signs of intending to use it before being fired upon."[1] Instead, Israeli soldiers were told to shoot at anything, as was revealed by testimonials of Israeli soldiers documented by the Israeli group Breaking the Silence:

This is First Sergeant Amir, a reservist from the Armored Corps who served in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, as they call that, the Israeli assault on Gaza earlier this year. He’s describing the briefings his unit received during the training for the assault. [2]

FIRST SGT. AMIR: [translated] At any obstacle, any problem, we open fire and don’t ask questions, even if it’s firing in the dark, aimed at an unknown target. Fire when we don’t see, deterrent fire? No problem with that, etc. A vehicle that’s in the way? Crush it. A building in the way? Shell it. This was the spirit of things that was repeated throughout the training.


INTERVIEWER: Meaning that in briefings no one even mentions the issue of innocents?


FIRST SGT. AMIR: It is not mentioned. And if it is mentioned, it is only to say that there are no innocents, everyone there is enemy. That’s a phrase we kept hearing from that brigade commander, too, that wherever we would be, if there is anyone there, they must be the enemy.

INTERVIEWER: You had briefings before entering that included rules of engagement?


FIRST SGT. AMIR: Not that I recall. There were no rules of engagement. The rules of engagement were to shoot. Those were the rules of engagement. You see anything suspect? Shoot. [2][3]

The military code of conduct principle of "means and intentions" is that you don't shoot unless you can reasonably determine that your opponent has the "means and intention" of shooting you. In an ironic play on words, Israel's "intention" in violating this code of conduct wasn't simply to protect its soldiers.

Israel's recent admission is a preemptive attempt to mask their true "intention" of collectively punishing the Palestinians in Gaza as Israel did the country of Lebanon in 2006. It's instructive to look back at Israel's track record in Lebanon, as described in a 2009 P.U.-Litzer Award written up by Fair and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR):

In a January 14 column, New York Times superstar pundit Tom Friedman explained Israel's war on Lebanon as an attempt to "educate" the enemy by killing civilians: The Israeli strategy was to "inflict substantial property damage and collateral casualties on Lebanon at large. It was not pretty, but it was logical." Friedman added, "The only long-term source of deterrence was to exact enough pain on the civilians--the families and employers of the militants--to restrain Hezbollah in the future." That strategy of targeting civilians to advance a political agenda is usually known as terrorism; Osama bin Laden couldn't have explained it much better. [4] - Thanks to GLH Blog for the tip on this.

Israel's intentional destruction of civilian areas in Beirut Lebanon has become military doctrine, now named the Dahiya doctrine. Major General Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli Northern Command chief, expressed the premise of the Dahiya doctrine:

What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on. […] We will apply disproportionate force on it and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases. […] This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved. [5]

What happened in the Dahiya quarter is reflected in "before" and "after" photos below.


Israel's policy of targeting violence towards civilians to achieve political goals, also known as terrorism, has been documented in the Goldstone investigation of war crimes surrounding the 2009 Gaza events. Just another of several examples,

Major General (Ret.) Giora Eiland has argued that, in the event of another war with Hizbullah, the target must not be the defeat of Hizbullah but “the destruction of the national infrastructure and intense suffering among the population… Serious damage to the Republic of Lebanon, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people are consequences that can influence Hizbollah’s behaviour more than anything else”.[5]

Goldstone cites similar language used by General Eisenkot "while he was in active service in a senior command position and clarified that this was not a theoretical idea but an approved plan." [5]

Israeli politicians and cabinet members voiced similar intentions in advance of Israel's assault on Gaza. One example, of many, voices the intention of collective punishment against civilians and disproportionate use of force:

On 6 January 2009, during the military operations in Gaza, [Israeli] Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai stated: "It [should be] possible to destroy Gaza, so they will understand not to mess with us”.

On 2 February 2009, after the end of the military operations, Eli Yishai went on: “Even if the rockets fall in an open air or to the sea, we should hit their infrastructure, and destroy 100 homes for every rocket fired.”[5]

Thus, for the Israeli military to simply admit that they merely broached military codes of conduct to minimize risk to their soldiers, while having a grain of truth, isn't the whole truth.

Sources:

1. The Independent, Israeli commander: 'We rewrote the rules of war for Gaza', February 3, 2010.

2. DemocracyNow!, "Israeli Activists Criticize US House for Considering Resolution Condemning Goldstone Report on Israeli War Crimes in Gaza," November 3, 2009.

3. Breaking the Silence web site.

4. Fair and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) 2009 P.U.-Litzer Awards.

5. References to Goldstone Report, Mondoweiss.

6. Photo Credit, A comparison of the Dahiya neighborhood before and after Israel attacks in 2006 Gorillas Guides.

7. Graphic Credit: Blockade After Gaza Victory, by Zealousof Peace.

What's Good for Israel is Good for Sri Lanka

Sound familiar?

The [hospital] attack came after a weekend of heavy shelling that killed hundreds of civilians trapped in the war zone. The [Sri Lankan] military has denied accusations that it was still shelling the tiny coastal strip under rebel control, which is packed with an estimated 50,000 civilians.

Except in Israel's case the tiny coastal strip (Gaza) had over 1 million civilians and more than just one hospital.

Sound familiar?

Reports of the fighting are difficult to verify because the government bars journalists and aid workers from the war zone.

Sound Familiar?

Rebel spokesman Seevaratnam Puleedevan blamed the attack on the government, and said civilians were fleeing in all directions inside the tiny war zone, seeking safety.

"There's no place to seek shelter or protect themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, the international community stands by watching, allowing these war crimes, and US torture, to proceed with impunity. Sound familiar?

Of course, the Tamil Tigers aren't innocent themselves.... there's always a grain of truth to "justify" government excesses.

Sources:

Associated Press, Doctor says 49 killed in Sri Lanka hospital attack, May 12, 2009.

Israel's Two-Front War?

Initial corporate media accounts are down-playing the significance of rockets fired from Lebanon as being isolated. But give Israel's gross violations of legal and ethical norms, an uncontrolled escalation is a risk.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Reuters, Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel amid Gaza offensive, Haim Shafir, January 8, 2008.

Palestinian AP Reporter Article to go Viral...

.... with your help.

AP Gaza reporter finds hometown in rubble

If you have a yahoo account, skim this article, go to the bottom, and click "Recommend." Then, click "BuzzUp" and add a comment.

If you don't have a yahoo account, you might consider starting one if only so you can participate in the buzz wars. Alone we are little, together we are large.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

AP Gaza reporter finds hometown in rubble, IBRAHIM BARZAK, January 7, 2008.

March on Washington for Gaza

(please send to friends and lists)
LET GAZA LIVE!
Stop the U.S./Israeli War Against the Palestinian People

National March on Washington
Saturday, January 10 Assemble at
the White House (north side) at 1:00 PM

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Modern Day Exodus

It should go down in history as a modern day exodus.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt...

Gazans crossed on foot, in cars or in donkey carts ... [escaping] an Israeli blockade of their impoverished territory. Across the coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, people pushed into buses and piled into rickety pickup trucks heading to Egypt and a rare opportunity to escape months of isolation.

"Freedom is good. We need no border after today," said unemployed 29-year-old Mohammed Abu Ghazal. Desperation is driving humanity across the Egyptian boarder, like a Bible story.

US and Israeli foreign policy of crushing the Palestinians has become so unbearable that the people are fleeing the oppression. This is the "wrong side of history" as warned by Martin Luther King, Jr.

More Info and Pictures: BBC, UK Times on Line,CBS

Sources:

Associated Press, Tens of thousands cross downed Gaza wall, January 23, 2008.

We're Different from those who are in Unaccountable Power

"Internationally-renowned investigative reporter and filmmaker John Pilger talks about the limitless occupation in Palestine, the war in Iraq, the current pathetic state of mainstream journalism, and his new book Freedom Next Time."

That's how Flashpoints Radio casts its May 17, 2007 interview of Pilger. Pilger's clarity of thought, founded on adherence to basic principles and sound logic, accounts for his concise and compelling explanation of current affairs. The following is the first in a two-part series of partial transcripts from the interview.

The interview began with the current situation in Gaza. Pilger understands that context is critical in any discussion. On Gaza he begins,

You have to understand, Gaza is a prison. On one side is the sea. On another side is Egypt, through which there is a boarder, but generally it's closed. And, on the other side, is Israel, which locks people in.

There are more than a million people living there... [he describes the malnourished children and lack of economy]... it's an enforced ghetto. And it's enforced by the United States. When I say the United States, yes Israel does it, but really, all of the wars conducted by Israel, and the impositions of Israel in the Middle East are American-backed, and they're done, as just described, with American aircraft, who happen to be flown by Israelis.

That's very important to understand that, in the reporting, I've just watched a television report here, in which it described the most horrific bombing, as even using that euphemism "air strikes," how anodyne that sounds, and four Hamas militants were killed. How do they know? And militants about what? Militants about running the Country? Hamas was voted in to run the Country, in democratic elections, and that sorely upset the United States, and they decided to stop it.

And the tragic civil war, of a kind, that has erupted in Gaza is entirely caused by outside forces, about people not being allowed to democratically run their own country, choose their own people.

If I sound somewhat strong about this it's because I've been to Gaza and I've seen the conditions there, and it's just unreal to come away from a place like that, and to really know what's causing this, horror, and then to be, sort of, transported into our safe and comfortable world.

Gaza is the metaphor, a very live and bleeding metaphor, for the whole Middle East, and probably for the whole world in terms of the imposition of great power on powerless people.

Dennis Bernstein asked about Pilger's two films and said, "We hear language like, 'a road map'"... "It's a cynical discussion to talk about a map." Pilger replied,

Yes, it's a cynical discussion... and it's a farcical discussion, and it requires the kind of contortion of intellect and morality that most people aren't capable of. In my opinion I think most people live their lives in a straight forward manner. Power does not. We're different. We're different from those who are in unaccountable power. And that's true now in the United States, it's true to a great degree here in Britain, and in other so-called democracies, the word itself has fallen into disrepute.

Yes I made two films. I made the first one, Palestine is Still the Issue I believe in 1975 I think. I made the second one, Palestine is Still the Issue in 2002. And the reason I kept the title was because it was still the issue. Fundamentally over those years, nothing had changed, fundamentally nothing had changed. The Palestinian people were subjected to the world's longest military occupation, were an indigenous people in their own homeland, denied the right of living peacefully in their own homeland. Denied the right to even live peacefully along side those who came later, that is the Israelis. Those who want to believe the Biblical story of three thousand years ago, go ahead, ah [chuckle] ah there are plenty of myths in the world, but we're dealing with lives now.

Israelis and Palestinians could be living together today in peace were it not for the power ambitions of the United States, combining with the more extreme power ambitions of Zionist Israel. I don't say that with a light heart, it's just true. Any any journalist who's been going backwards and forward to that part of the world for so many years, as I have, who denies that truth, because they're worried they're going to be attacked by Zionists and get a blizzard of e-mails, and the usual stuff, then they should stand up to that, because that's the truth.

And until Palestine, until the people of Palestine are given justice, which will automatically give security to the people of Israel, then the rest of the Middle East will remain in a sort of perpetual torment, ah and indeed, much of the world.

Bernstein turned the discussion to Iraq, bridging it with the common theme of the mainstream media coverage [See Part 2].

Sources:

Flashpoints Radio, WPFA, May 17, 2007.