Saturday 9 August 2014

Abbas: Longtime Israeli Collaborator by Stephen Lendman


Abbas: Longtime Israeli Collaborator

Note: This article was written before my two month illness. It remained unsubmitted on my desktop.

It's appropriate now given Abbas' less than wholehearted condemnation of Israeli mass murder and destruction in Gaza.

It continues as this article is posted on my blog site and sent to web editors.

Abbas is a longtime Israeli co-conspirator and collaborator against his own people. He shames the office Israel arranged for him to hold. He governs illegitimately.

Israel rigged his 2005 election. It was payback for enforcer services rendered. For betraying his own people.

He profited greatly. He serves illegitimately. His term expired in January 2009. He refuses to call new elections. 

He shames the office he holds. Why Palestinians put up with him, they'll have to explain.

He admitted collaborating with the enemy. Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah explained. More on this below.

Deep-seated corruption and other crimes against his own people continue on his watch.

Large-scale Palestinian resistance is badly needed. Submissiveness is self-defeating. A third Intifada is long overdue. Not on Abbas' watch.

"We will not go back to terrorism and violence," he said. Israel wrote his lines. 

He dutifully regurgitated them as ordered. "We will only operate through diplomacy and through peaceful means," he said.

He permits occupation harshness, passivity and acquiescence alone. Freedom isn't in his vocabulary. 

Liberation struggles aren't tolerated. Israeli rogues couldn't say it better. Abbas serves them. He's a convenient stooge.

Months earlier, Israeli President Shimon Peres praised him, saying:

He "condemned terror and has pledged that under his leadership there will not be a third intifada." 

"He understands very well that the solution to the Palestinian refugee problem cannot be within Israeli territory, so as not to change the demographic character of Israel." 

"But he has put out a hand to Israel to renew the peace process."

Israel values collaborationist Palestinians. Abbas sold out long ago. He's more double agent than legitimate leader.

The late Edward Said (1935 - 2003) met him in March 1977. At a Cairo National Council meeting.

It launched secret PLO/Israeli meetings. It "made Oslo possible," Said said. It didn't matter.

Israelis came prepared. They "fielded an array of experts supported by maps, documents, statistics, and at least 17 prior drafts (before) Palestinians" accepted what demanded rejection, Said explained. 

"Three PLO men" alone were allowed to negotiate. "(N)ot one of whom knew English or had a background in international (or any other kind of) law," said Said.

"The outcome was predictable, a one-sided agreement for Israel. Palestinians getting nothing besides anointment as 'Israel's sheriff,' " Said explained.

In his 1995 memoir, "Through Secret Channels: The Road to Oslo," Abbas took unfair credit.

He anointed himself Oslo's architect. He never left Tunis. "Arafat pull(ed) all the strings," said Said. 

He arranged his own capitulation. "No wonder then that the Oslo negotiations made the overall situation of the Palestinians a good deal worse." 

Said called Abbas "colorless, moderately corrupt, and without any clear ideas of his own, except that he wants to please the white man."

His "authenticity (was) lacking in the path" he chose to follow. He was a tailor-made stooge. Hugely corrupt later on.

Concerned solely for his own welfare. Mindless of Palestinian rights. He represents Quisling leadership.

He's against Palestine's liberating struggle. He knew about Cast Lead in advance. A previous article explained.

On November 30, 2010, Reuters headlined "Israel says Abbas, Egypt warned on Gaza war - leaks," saying:

Ahead of Cast Lead, Israel "conferred with the Western-backed Palestinian leadership and with Egypt..."

Leaked US diplomatic cables quoted a senior Israeli official confirming it. Haaretz reported the same thing. Mubarak and Abbas were briefed in advance.

Haaretz said "Israel tried to coordinate the Gaza war with the Palestinian authority." WikiLeaks released US diplomatic cables confirming it.

In June 2009, months before Cast Lead, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US congressional members.

He "consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead." He asked "if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas."

He "received negative answers from both." Previous leaked information reported the same thing. WikiLeaks provided "the first documented proof."

Abbas denied getting advance word. He lied. Mubarak said nothing either way.

Reuters said Abbas "urged Israel to crush Hamas during the war."

Avigdor Lieberman held ministerial positions under Sharon and Ehud Olmert. In April 2009, he became Netanyahu's Foreign Minister.

He explained Abbas' involvement, saying:

"Over the past year, I witnessed (Abbas) at his best. In Operation Cast Lead, (he) called us personally, applied pressure, and demanded that we topple Hamas and remove it from power."

Throughout Cast Lead, a senior Olmert official called his comments "essentially accurate."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said this information "reaffirms the fact that Mahmoud Abbas is no longer fit to represent our people, who conspired against his people during a war."

Abbas was never fit to serve. That's why Israel and Washington chose him.

WikiLeaks disclosed that Hamas spokesman Salah Al-Bardaweel said:

"We have not ruled out that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority could have contributed in one way or another in the war against Gaza for political reasons such as bringing down the Hamas movement and regaining control."

Washington's Tel Aviv embassy said Fatah officials asked Israel to attack Hamas.

Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin said "demoralized" Fatah officials wanted help to destroy Hamas.

"They are approaching a zero-sum situation," he said. "(Y)et they ask us to attack Hamas. They are desperate. This is a new development. We have never seen this before."

"Fatah is in a very bad shape in Gaza. We have received requests to train their forces in Egypt and Yemen." 

"We would like them to get the training they need, and to be more powerful, but they do not have anyone to lead them."

Shin Bet has a "very good working relationship" with Abbas. His internal security service collaborates with Israel. 

He understands "Israel's security is central to (his) survival in the struggle with Hamas…"

At the time, Fatah collaborated with Washington to oust Hamas. An abortive coup failed. More information surfaced.

WikiLeaks published a June 12, 2007 cable. It said Israeli military intelligence head Amos Yadlin told US embassy officials that Hamas retaining power in Gaza was advantageous.

"Although not necessarily representing a GOI (government of Israel) consensus view," said Yadlin, 

"Israel would be 'happy' if Hamas took over Gaza because the IDF could then deal with (it) as a hostile state."

Israel needs manufactured enemies. Having them facilitates violence and instability. They help justify small and larger-scale wars.

Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud were planned months in advance. Their aim was advancing Israel's imperium.

Doing so involves controlling all valued parts of Judea and Samaria, depopulating much of Palestine, and confining remaining population elements to canonized worthless scrubland.

Both conflicts were more about weakening Hamas than destroying it. They involved waging war on noncombatant men, women, children, infants and the elderly.

It's official Israeli policy. Abbas and other Fatah officials knew about Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud in advance. They urged them.

Abbas did nothing to help beleaguered Gazans. He approved Israeli slaughter and mass destruction.

It bears repeating. Abbas is a longtime Israeli collaborator. 

According to Abunimah, he "told Israeli journalists and business people that his collaboration with Israeli occupation forces is 'sacred' and would continue even if the PA forms a 'government' backed by the Palestinian military resistance organization Hamas."

"The security relationship…and I say it on air, security coordination is sacred, is sacred," Abbas stressed.

"And we'll continue it whether we disagree or agree over policy." 

"US-financed PA intelligence and security forces work closely with Israeli occupation forces and Shin Bet secret police to suppress any Palestinian resistance to occupation," said Abunimah.

Abbas showed which side he's on numerous times before.

"In 2012, he pleaded with a visiting Israel lobby delegation to help him secure weapons from Israel to stop resistance," Abunimah explained.

"If they help me to get weapons, I'm helping them because I’m promoting security," Abbas said.

He praised Oslo at the same time. He did so disgracefully. It was unilateral surrender. A Palestinian Versailles.

A vaguely defined negotiating process was agreed on. No fixed timeline or outcome were specified. 

Israeli officials obstructed and delayed. They refused to make concessions. They kept stealing Palestinian land. They never stopped.

Colonization is policy. Occupation harshness enforces it. Negotiating with Israel is fruitless. 

Palestinians got nothing for renouncing armed struggle, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and agreeing to leave major unresolved issues for later final status talks. They're still waiting.

Major issues include Palestinian self-determination. Free from occupation. Inside 1967 borders. The right of return.

Settlements. Clearly defined borders. Water and other resource rights. Air and coastal water rights. East Jerusalem as Palestine's exclusive capital.
Abbas feigns support. Privately he backs Israeli delay and deny tactics. He openly declared opposition to boycotting Israel.

He wants diaspora Palestinians denied their right of return. He said so publicly. It bears repeating.

He's a longtime Israeli collaborator. He's a world class traitor. He's a scoundrel writ large. He betrayed his own people. 

He did so for special benefits he derives. He's more Zionist than Palestinian. Liberation is impossible with him in charge.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."


Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour 
 
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150 + International Legal Experts: Israel Has Committed War Crimes … Should be Referred to the International Criminal Court

The United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all say that Israel has committed war crimes by targeting civilians.
Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians is also a war crime.
Over 150 international legal experts – including two Former UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights situation in Palestine – have also signed a declaration stating:
  • Israel has targeted civilians
  • Israel has inflicted collective punishment on the Palestinians
  • These are war crimes
  • The matter should be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Indeed,  a French lawyer filed a complaint with the ICC on July 25, 2014 on behalf of the Palestinian justice minister.  The complaint alleges that Israel committed war crimes – citing Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories, Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing military operations there.
Numerous prominent British legal experts have also requested that the ICC investigate Israeli war crimes in Gaza, stating:
Reports produced by non-governmental organisations following preliminary investigations strongly suggest that crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court have been and are being committed. Supporting information is appended to this letter. Additional information, including from “States, organs of the United Nations, intergovernmental or non- governmental organizations [and] other reliable sources” (article 15(2)) is readily and widely available. Eye witness accounts have been documented, and “written or oral testimony” can be provided by victims and others (article 15(2)). There can be no doubt as to the “seriousness  of the information” available (article 15(2)).
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has called for “accountability and  justice”. That call has been echoed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, who has underscored the need for “real accountability considering the increasing evidence of war crimes”.
***
All the requirements for the initiation of an investigation pursuant to article 15 are clearly made out. The “information available to the prosecutor provides”, at the very least, “a  reasonable basis to believe that… crime[s] within the jurisdiction of the Court ha[ve] been or [are] being committed” (article 53(1)(a)).
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worried … as shown by the fact that he has asked the U.S. for help in avoiding war crime charges.
Postscript: The ICC has said that it does not have jurisdiction over Israeli war crimes in Gaza, because the Palestinians have not yet accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction (perhaps because they are worried that Hamas has also committed war crimes).  However, Palestinian leaders now appear ready to submit to ICC jurisdiction.
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Netanyahu: Washington should stay out of the Iraqi conflict – and let Daash break-up Iraq.


Mr. Habib al-TarafiMr. Habib al-Tarafi, an MP from the National Coalition block in an interview with foreign journalist in Iraqi capital, Baghdad described ISIS fighters as a bevy of thugs and mercenaries who has nothing to do with Islam peaceful teachings and they are assigned to tarnish Islam’s reputation.
al-Tarafi added : in a time where innocent Palestinian citizens re under the most brutal attacks and when Gaza is being pounded by air, sea and land every day , ISIS coward leaders are busy to shed Muslim’s blood in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
He also continued by saying ISIS attitude clearly show the intrinsic nature of this satanic group.
Recently, Netanyahu in his first comment on ISIS victories in Iraq, said that Washington should stay out of the Iraqi conflict – and let the Sunni militants defeat the Shia-dominated government of prime minister al-Maliki and break-up Iraq. “This will weaken Iranian influence in the Arab region,” said Netanyahu during his address at Tel Aviv University’s INSS think-tank.
Meanwhile Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday told US Secretary of State John Kerry that he believes “the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion,” citing Iraq’s “breaking up.” Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres told US President Barack Obama that “the Kurds have, de facto, created their own state, which is democratic.”
-----

US Strikes IS Targets in Iraq with Drones, Jets
Local Editor

US Strikes ISILUS forces launched a second wave of air strikes against the Islamic State extremists near Arbil in northern Iraq on Friday, destroying a militant convoy and killing a mortar team, the Pentagon said.

Shortly after 1400 GMT, US drones destroyed a mortar position and killed a group of militants. Just over an hour later four F/A-18 jets hit a seven-vehicle Islamic State convoy with eight laser-guided bombs.

"The US military continued to attack ISIL targets near Arbil today conducting two additional air strikes to help defend the city where US personnel are assisting the government of Iraq," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he had authorized US air strikes to prevent fighters from the so-called Islamic State from attacking the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish region.

The strikes are also designed to break the siege of Mount Sinjar, where IS forces have cornered and reportedly threatened to kill thousands of civilian refugees from the Yazidi religious minority.

Overnight, a first strike saw an F/A-18 hit an IS artillery position with a 500lb bomb. Shortly beforehand US military planes had dropped food and water to the beleaguered Yazidis.

Friday's second wave saw unmanned drones brought into action.

"Remotely piloted aircraft struck a terrorist mortar position. When ISIL fighters returned to the site moments later, the terrorists were attacked again and successfully eliminated," Kirby said.

"At approximately 11:20 a.m. EDT, four F/A-18 aircraft successfully struck a stationary ISIL convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position near Arbil," his statement continued.

"The aircraft executed two planned passes. On both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser guided bomb making a total of eight bombs dropped on target neutralizing the mortar and convoy."

Source: AFP
08-08-2014 - 16:37 Last updated 08-08-2014 - 23:55

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Psychopathology of the Zionist Mind

Netanyahu__UNGA_2012_Nuclear_Iran_same_as_nucleararmed_alQaeda_Zionist_Propaganda_BS__112931
In explaining the Israeli compulsion to pulverize (the Zionist element at least), whether into submission or into smithereens, the Palestinian people of Gaza, a moot point, one can combine Marx and Freud by way of explanation, as did Herbert Marcuse in Eros and Civilization, on a related problem: the instinctual realm of profound layers of darkness, in which consciousness of evil on the oppressors’ part must be obliterated (for Marcuse, the repression of Thanatos as it continues to do its ugly work), in Israel’s case, its destruction of the Palestinian memory (memory as historical awareness, legitimation of group-existence, including pride and sense of place, claims to survival and growth) through mounting the disproportionate use of force, a species of overkill, metaphorically, the Israeli military-psychological bulldozer.
Rather than the massive machinery for crushing homes, which in any case continues, it is intended to crush the human spirit—as already seen in the widespread devastation, rubble everywhere—now addressing the very IDENTITY of a whole people, physical genocide, as impersonally tabulated in the grim statistics of body counts, but in addition, mental genocide, the attack on a people’s self-knowledge, culture, achievements in letters, the arts, political thought.
I never imagined Israel’s campaign of mental genocide, a pervertedness which speaks to, and leaves no doubt about, premeditation in the commission of thorough destruction: shackles, torture, bombs, but this, rooting out the foundations of a people’s existence, all for the purpose of exercising domination over them and, by debasing and depersonalizing them, experience relief from the guilt of having done so—catharsis without knowing and feeling it because having structured the situation so as to treat the victim as nonexistent, a cipher, emphatically inferior, or all of the foregoing plus, for that reason, given license to dominate (and really, exterminate) without the slightest moral blemish. Therefore, when I speak of the dialectical interplay of memory and conscience, I have in mind relations of domination and submission, this, as a first approximation, yet from that point, the complication arises because it is the oppressed whose memory is being forcibly suppressed, while, as the condition for what follows, it is the oppressor whose conscience is numbed, frozen, perhaps repressed, though how repressed when the aggression toward others bespeaks a moral vacuum that even repression can’t touch? Psychopathology of the Israeli mind, the habituation to domination driving out all self-recrimination.
***
How do we know this? I was awakened to this dimension of genocide (even as once a historian, I was never attracted to the concept of “memory,” a seemingly voguish distraction from class, power, and exploitation) by Evan Jones’s recent CounterPunch article, “The Pariah State,” excellent in all respects, and to be read alongside Arno Mayer’s, From Ploughshares to Swords, near-definitive in critical aspects of Israel’s self-definition, march to statehood, and gathering militarism. But among Jones’s topics covered, drawing on writers, like the father of Yehudi and Hepzibah Menuhin (two musicians-plus-more I feel especially attracted to) whose works may be largely known only to specialists—an admission of my own weakness, there is a section, “The annihilation of identity,” truly significant in pressing the analysis of Israelis’ inner psychological logic of, and political-military disposition to, genocide. I invite the reader to study the article, the totality of his evidence in mind, to see how the onslaught on identity makes perfect sense in the physical-mental liquidation, as occurring thus far and for decades in Gaza, of the Palestinians.
Jones writes (citing Nur Masalha’s The Palestine Nakba, 2012), “Having denied the existence of a functioning Palestinian society before expropriation, Israel’s founders of necessity confronted its existence…. The myth of the non-existent Palestinian society had to be forged in reality.” Hence, ethnic cleansing, forcing Palestinians out (the NAKBA), leaving them without “social and political integration.” Then, of extreme importance complementing forced population displacement, “the physical space had to be furiously appropriated—the landscape destroyed, built over; everything re-named.” Hence too, “the cultural landscape: memory, history, identity and its artefacts.” Jones quotes Masalha on the campaign of the Israeli government, in 1948, to appropriate (i.e., steal/plunder) “’for itself immovable Palestinian assets and personal possessions, including schools, libraries, books, pictures, private papers, historical documents and manuscripts,’” to which he adds, “’several private collections and tens of thousands of books were looted by the Haganah and never returned.’” In 1958, “’the Israeli authorities destroyed 27,000 books, most of them Palestinian textbooks from the pre-1948 period, claiming that they were either useless or threatened the state. The authorities sold the books to a paper plant.’”
Obviously the extermination of memory, a process that, with widening acts of terrorism, intellectual and physical, has continued to this day. Jones writes in summary: “In short, the strategic and systematic annihilation of identity.” To which I would add, benefiting from his discussion, that although combining Marx and Freud may be problematic, the sexualization of domination may be seen in the thoroughness, cynicism, cult of impunity, attached to the wholesale confiscation of Palestinian accumulated learning and knowledge. The punitiveness of the assault, as though tearing apart the fabric of Palestinian life and culture, and the self-confidence with which it has been carried out, has an element of sadomasochism almost necessarily—here specifically the rape of the Palestinian mind, on condition the rapist becomes successfully devoid of conscience, examples of which can be seen in the troops in massive armored vehicles, thrilled by the power underfoot and oblivious to the damage they have wrought, then too, the Israelis cheering on hillsides as explosions light up the Gaza sky, or the whining about sacrifices in their Tel Aviv cafes, or further cheering in their living-rooms watching television, all of which devoid equally of consciousness, so rote-like the manufacture of killing fields.
The sexualization of domination was perhaps not important to Marx, domination per se, in its myriad pungent class forms–labor exploitation, to foreign policy imperialism and colonialism, to commodity tyranny and fetishism at the epistemological foundations of capitalist society, to culture and ideology emanating from the gross inequality of class-differentiation—being enough on his plate, but this aspect of domination cannot be overlooked when one considers the sadism at the core of domination, whether political-economic or taking more bizarre forms. Without his brilliant understanding of the relations of dominance and subordination, superiority and inferiority, there would be poorer psychological understanding of the correlates of domination, merely perversities standing alone, shorn of societal context. Freud was Marx’s natural ally in the crucial respect that even his psychoanalysis drew on his metapsychological theorizing, as in The Pleasure Principle or Moses and Monotheism, all-important context for fusing individual and societal repression. For me, a useful synthesis would be Adorno, et. al., The Authoritarian Personality (1950), an uncanny anticipation of the Israeli mindset and (I toss this in gratis) our ever more militaristic POTUS.
The act of eradication requires psychic energy. Depersonalizing Palestinians wipes—or seems to wipe—the psychological slate clean for the dominator/oppressor, who can feel nothing when the victim has been rendered faceless, anonymous, inanimate, on the order, drilled into the military forces and integral to the Chosen-People ethos as currently interpreted, of killing a two-dimensional cardboard figure. Yet, when the human identity of the victim breaks through, perhaps largely standing his/her ground and committing acts of resistance, then the dominator goes ballistics, and the sadistic urges/energies flow like water (or arsenic?)—the urge to ERADICATE, to silence or dissipate guilt. I return, as in my previous articles, to the psychological legacy of the Holocaust, which I take to be reaching to the darkest layers/levels of the Unconscious, and then transmitted to later generations, as the vortex of domination internalized as the practices of the oppressor. This takes on a perhaps Darwinian selective process because it works so well, i.e., an institutionalized form and expression by the State, here Israel and the IDF. The dead children entombed in rubble testify to the mightiness of the Israeli state.
Norman Pollack has written on Populism. His interests are social theory and the structural analysis of capitalism and fascism. He can be reached at pollackn@msu.edu .

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US Leaders Aid and Abet Israeli War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes against Humanity



Global Research, August 08, 2014
war-crime-israel-usa-alqudsBy sending vast amounts of military aid to Israel, members of the US Congress, President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have aided and abetted the commission of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by Israeli officials and commanders in Gaza.
An individual can be convicted of a war crime, genocide or a crime against humanity [PDF] in the ‘International Criminal Court (ICC) if he or she “aids, abets or otherwise assists” in the commission or attempted commission of the crime, “including providing the means for its commission.”
There is growing evidence that Israeli leaders and commanders have committed the following war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity as defined in the Rome Statute for the ICC. US military aid has aided, abetted and assisted the commission of these crimes by providing Israel with the military means to commit them.
During Operation Protective Edge, Israeli forces again used the Dahiye Doctrine, which,according to the UN Human Rights Council [Goldstone] Report [PDF], involves “the application of disproportionate force and causing of great damage and destruction to civilian property and infrastructure, and suffering to civilian populations.”
A summary of Israeli leaders’ extensive crimes is presented below.
US military aid to Israel
According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2007, the Bush Administration agreed to provide Israel with $30 billion [PDF] in military assistance from 2009 to 2018, provided in annual increments of $3.1 billion. During his March 2013 visit to Israel, Obamapledged that the US would continue to provide Israel with multi-year commitments of military aid subject to the approval of Congress.
Since 2012, the US has sent $276 million worth of weapons and munitions to Israel, not including exports of military transport equipment and high technologies. From January to May 2014, the US transferred to Israel almost $27 million for rocket launchers, $9.3 million worth of parts of guided missiles and nearly $762,000 for bombs, grenades and munitions of war.
On July 20, 2014, Israel requested additional ammunition, including 140mm tank rounds and 40mm illumination grenades, and the Defense Department approved the sale three days later. It came from a $1 billion stockpile of ammunition the US military stores in Israel for that country’s use; it is called War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel. In early August 2014, both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed, and Obama signed, an appropriation of $225 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which has also been used in Gaza. The Senate vote was unanimous. With no debate, the House of Representatives voted 395 to 8 to approve the deal.
Here is a summary of the crimes, as defined in the Rome Statute, Israeli leaders have committed and US leaders have aided and abetted:
War crimes
(1) Willful killing: Israeli forces have killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians (more than 400 children and over 80% civilians). Israel used 155-millimeter artillery, which, according toHuman Rights Watch, is “utterly inappropriate in a densely populated area, because this kind of artillery is considered accurate if it lands anyplace within a 50-meter radius.”
(2) Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health: Nearly 10,000 people, 2,500 of them children, have been wounded. Naban Abu Shaar told the Daily Beast that the dead bodies from what appeared to be a “mass execution” in Khuza’a looked like they were “melted” and were piled on top of each other; assault rifle bullet casings found in the house were marked “IMI” (Israel Military Industries). UNICEF said the Israeli offensive has had a “catastrophic and tragic impact” on children in Gaza; about 373,000 children have had traumatic experiences and need psychological help. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said: “There’s a public health catastrophe going on. You know, most of the medical facilities in Gaza are non-operational.”
(3) Unlawful and wanton, extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity: Tens of thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes. More than 1,300 buildings were destroyed and 752 were severely damaged. Damage to sewer and water infrastructure has affected two-thirds of Gazans. On July 20, Israeli forces virtually flattened the small town of Khuza’a; one man counted 360 shell attacks in one hour. Reconstruction of Gaza is estimated to cost $6 billion. Israel shrunk Gaza’s habitable land mass by 44 percent, establishing a 3 km “no-go” zone for Palestinians; 147 square miles of land will be compressed into 82 square miles. Oxfam described the level of destruction as “outrageous … much worse than anything we have seen in previous [Israeli] military operations.”
(4) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or a civilian the rights of fair and regular trial: Nearly 2,000 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces during July 2014, accordingto the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies. Prisoners include 15 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, about 240 children, dozens of women, journalists, activists, academics and 62 former prisoners previously released in a prisoner exchange. Israeli forces executed many prisoners after arrest, either by directly firing on them, refusing to allow treatment or allowing them to bleed to death. More than 445 prisoners are being held without charge or trial under administrative detention.
(5) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, civilian objects, or humanitarian vehicles, installations and personnel: “The civilian population in the Gaza Strip is under direct attack,” reads a joint declaration of over 150 international law experts. Israeli forces violated the principle of “distinction,” which forbids deliberate attacks on civilians or civilian objects. Israeli forces bombed 142 schools (89 run by the UN), including six UN schools in which civilians were taking refuge. Israeli forces shot and killed fleeing civilians (warnings, which must effectively give civilians time to flee before bombing, do not relieve Israel from its legal obligations not to target civilians). Israeli forces repeatedly bombed Gaza’s only power plant and other infrastructure, which are “beyond repair.” Israeli forces bombed one-third of Gaza’s hospitals, 14 primary healthcare clinics and 29 ambulances. At least five medical staff were killed and tens of others were injured.
(6) Intentionally launching attacks with knowledge they will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or long-term severe damage to the natural environment, if they are clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage: The principle of “proportionality” forbids disproportionate and excessive civilian casualties compared to the claimed military advantage gained in the attack. The Dahiye Doctrine directly violates this principle. Responding to Hamas’ rockets with 155-millimeter artillery is disproportionate. Although nearly 2,000 Palestinians (over 80 percent civilians) have been killed, 67 Israelis (all but three of them soldiers) have been killed. The coordinates of all UN facilities were repeatedly communicatedto the Israeli forces; they nevertheless bombed them multiple times. Civilians were attacked in Shuja’iyyah market.
(7) Attacking or bombarding undefended towns, villages, dwellings or buildings, or intentionally attacking religious, educational and medical buildings, which are not military objectives: On July 20, Israeli forces virtually flattened the small town of Khuza’a; one man counted360 shell attacks in one hour. Israeli forces bombed 142 schools (89 run by the UN), one-third of Gaza’s hospitals, 14 primary healthcare clinics, and 29 ambulances. Israeli shelling completelydestroyed 41 mosques and partially destroyed 120 mosques.
Genocide
(a) With the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group: Palestinians, including primarily civilians, and Palestinian infrastructure necessary to sustain life were deliberately targeted by Israeli forces.
(b) The commission of any of the following acts
(i) killing members of the group: Israeli forces killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians.
(ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group: Israeli forceswounded10,000 Palestinians.
(iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction in whole or in part: Israeli forces devastated Gaza’s infrastructure, knocking out Gaza’s only power plant, and destroying homes, schools, buildings, mosques and hospitals.
Crimes against humanity
(A) The commission of murder as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population: Israeli forces relentlessly bombed Gaza for one month, killing nearly 2,000 Palestinians, more than 80 percent of whom were civilians. Israeli forces intentionally destroyed Gaza’s infrastructure, knocking out Gaza’s only power plant, anddestroying homes, schools, buildings, mosques and hospitals.
(B) Persecution against a group or collectivity based on its political, racial, national, ethnic or religious character, as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population: Israeli forces killed, wounded, summarily executed, and administratively detained Palestinians, Hamas forces and civilians alike. Israel forces intentionally destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza, populated by Palestinians. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: “the massive death and destruction in Gaza have shocked and shamed the world.” He added the repeated bombing of UN shelters facilities in Gaza was “outrageous, unacceptable and unjustifiable.”
(C) The crime of apartheid (inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutional regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another racial group, with the intent to maintain that regime): Ali Hayek, head of Gaza’s federation of industries representing 3,900 businesses that employ 35,000 people,said: “After 30 days of war, the economic situation has become, like, dead. It seems the occupation intentionally destroyed these vital factories that constitute the backbone of the society.” Israel maintains an illegal barrier wall that encroaches on Palestinian territory and builds illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands. Israel keeps Gazans caged in what many call “the world’s largest open air prison.” Israel controls all ingress and egress to Gaza, limits Gazans’ access to medicine, subjects Palestinians to arbitrary arrest, expropriates their property, maintains separate areas and roads, segregated housing, different legal and educational systems for Palestinians and Jews and prevents mixed marriages. Only Jews, not Palestinians, have the right to return to Israel-Palestine.
Collective punishment
Although the Rome Statute does not include the crime of collective punishment, it is considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which constitutes a war crime. Collective punishment means punishing a civilian for an offense he or she has not personally committed; it forbids reprisals against civilians and their property (civilian objects).
Ostensibly to rout out Hamas fighters, Israel has wreaked unprecedented devastation on the people of Gaza, killing nearly 2,000 people (more than 80 percent of them civilians) and destroying much of the infrastructure of Gaza. This constitutes collective punishment.
On August 5, 2014, veteran Israeli military advisor Giora Eiland advocated collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, saying: “In order to guarantee our interests versus the other side’s demands, we must avoid the artificial, wrong and dangerous distinction between the Hamas people, who are ‘the bad guys,’ and Gaza’s residents, which are allegedly ‘the good guys.’” That is precisely the strategy Israel has employed during Operation Protective Edge.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands also constitutes collective punishment. Israel maintains effective control over Gaza’s land, airspace, seaport, electricity, water, telecommunications and population registry. Israel deprives Gazans of food, medicine, fuel and basic services.
Prospects for criminal accountability
Both Israel and the US have refused to ratify the Rome Statute. But if Palestine were a party to the statute, the ICC could exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed by Israelis and Americans in Palestinian territory. The ICC could also take jurisdiction if the UN Security Council refers the matter to the ICC, or if the ICC prosecutor initiates an investigation of the crime. The US would veto any Security Council referral to the ICC. And the ICC prosecutor has not initiated an investigation. So the question is whether Palestine can ratify the statute, thereby becoming a party to the ICC.
In 2009, the Palestinian National Authority filed a declaration [PDF] with the ICC accepting the court’s jurisdiction. In 2012, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly recognizedPalestine as a non-member observer state. During the present war, the Palestinian minister of justice and the deputy minister of justice both submitted documents to the ICC indicating that the 2009 declaration is still valid. On August 5, 2014, the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs met with officials from the ICC and inquired about the procedures for Palestine to become a party to the statute.
On July 25, 2014, a French lawyer filed a complaint with the ICC on behalf of the Palestinian justice minister. Citing Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories, Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing military operations there, the complaint alleges that Israel committed war crimes and other crimes. The Palestinian government has not formally commented on this complaint.
On July 23, 2014, the UN Human Rights Council established a commission of inquiry into Israeli violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law. The resolution also called on parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to convene and respond to the alleged violations. That convention requires parties to prosecute violators. Countries can bring foreign nationals to justice for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity under the well-established doctrine of universal jurisdiction. Genocide charges could also be brought under the Genocide Convention, to which both Israel and the United States are parties. That convention also punishes complicity in genocide; US leaders’ provision of military aid would constitute complicity.
Although the Israeli and US governments continue to maintain that Israel has only acted in self-defense against Hamas’ terrorism, the weight of world opinion points in the opposite direction. There is overwhelming opposition to Israeli aggression in Gaza and calls for justice and accountability.
Both Israeli and US leaders must be criminally prosecuted for committing and aiding and abetting these crimes.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and a former president of the National Lawyers Guild. Her next book, “Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues,” will be published in September.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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Zionist-puppet Jordanian Regime allowed Syria war refugees to country except Palestinian ones


Date and Time:9 August 2014

140808-yarmoukEven though they are fleeing the same violence, zionist-puppet Jordanian regime is discriminating in its treatment of people escaping the Syria war depending on their nationality.

A report by Human Rights Watch released this week finds that Jordan’s practices of refusing entry and forcibly deporting Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria constitutes a “clear breach of its international obligations.”

This is in contrast to its treatment of Syrian nationals, “upon whom Jordan has not placed any formal entry restrictions,” according to the report, titled “Not Welcome: Jordan’s Treatment of Palestinians Escaping Syria.”

More than half a million Syrians have fled to Jordan since the beginning of the crisis in 2011.

There were approximately 520,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria before the outbreak of the violence, “some living in refugee camps and others in Syrian towns and cities, where they enjoyed many of the same rights as Syrian citizens, including access to government services,” Human Rights Watch observes.

Most Palestinians in Syria are refugees from the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine and their descendants. Israel refuses to respect the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land and property.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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Emile Lahoud: Ersal

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!