Monday, December 21, 2009

It Takes Two To Conduct Lawfare--Israel Responds To Attempts To Arrest Its Leaders

Hamas has now claimed responsibility for the warrant to arrest Tzipi Livni in Great Britain:
The Islamist group Hamas is masterminding efforts to have senior Israeli leaders arrested for alleged war crimes when they visit European countries including Britain, a top Hamas official involved in the effort has told The Times.

The campaign by Hamas takes advantage of an aspect of law in England and Wales that allows anyone to apply for an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes without the need for a prosecuting lawyer. The identity of the person or organisation that applied for Ms Livni’s warrant has not been made public, but Hamas says that it initiated the move.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said yesterday that the Government was “looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again”.
Well, if Hamas is really eager that international law be applied to war criminals, Israel is ready to start treating Palestinian terrorists as the law actually dictates:
For Immediate Release
December 21, 2009

HIGH COURT PETITION: CAPTURED HAMAS TERRORISTS
MUST BE TRIED AS WAR CRIMINALS

(JERUSALEM) The human rights organization Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center
has filed a petition today to the High Court of Justice (BAGATZ) in
Jerusalem demanding that Hamas terrorists arrested by Israel be tried for
war crimes and crimes against humanity, not just murder as is the current
practice.

According to the petition, the Attorney General violated Israeli law by
refusing to indict the terrorists who fire rockets into Israel for war
crimes and crimes against humanity-crimes that carry a life sentence without
the possibility of pardon or early release.

Israel is bound by the humanitarian provisions of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, as well as the Hague Convention and other international
treaties, which stipulate that the deliberate targeting of civilians in the
context of an armed conflict is a war crime; while the deliberate and
systemic assault against a particular civilian population constitutes a
crime against humanity.

By engaging in terror activity and deliberately launching Kassam and Grad
rockets into Israeli civilian centers during Operation Cast Lead, Hamas
activists repeatedly and systematically targeted civilians, and specifically
Israeli civilians, for murder-placing them squarely in the definition of
both war crimes and crimes against humanity. Citing previous Supreme Court
rulings, the petition notes that such international law has been accepted as
binding on Israeli courts and law enforcement authorities.

According to the petition, the State of Israel, having suffered inordinately
from the horrors of terrorism, has a unique duty to serve as a model in the
battle against the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by
terrorists and recognized as such under international law.

According to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin and attorney
for the plaintiffs, "The Goldstone Commission report showed that the
Attorney General's policy of indicting Hamas terrorists for ordinary crimes
rather than crimes against humanity has fanned the flames of war crimes
accusations against Israeli leaders and soldiers by the UN and the
Europeans. Not only has this policy played down the heinous nature of the
genocidal atrocities of Hamas, it has left the field open for Israel's
enemies to make wrong and dangerous claims against us. The failure to indict
Hamas activists for crimes against humanity is immoral, hurts Israel's
interests and, above all, is in flagrant violation of Israeli law."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: (ISRAEL) 972-3-751-4175, 972-52-383-7020
(US) 212-591-0073, Email: info@israellawcenter.org [emphasis added]
Universal Jurisdiction did not start with the Goldstone Report; neither did the attempts to accuse Israeli leaders of being war criminals and attempt to arrest them. What the Goldstone Report did do, however, is give the appearance of legality and justification to such actions.

The resultant chaos is attributable to the sloppiness and bias of the Goldstone Report and to those connected to it

Technorati Tag: and and and .

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

war criminals on both sides must be punished!

Daled Amos said...

Fine.

But first let's see the law defined as well as applied equitably and fairly.

We are a long way from that if it takes 8 years before action is taken to address Hamas bombing of civilian areas.

Anonymous said...

Sure. But the law should be equal to all the war criminals from both sides. If we take a look at the op Cast Lead, we can see that there were war crimes comitted on both sides. At least some of those war criminals from both sides should arrested and tried. That would help preventing war crimes in the future.

Daled Amos said...

If we take a look at the op Cast Lead, we can see that there were war crimes comitted on both sides.

No, we see no such thing until the criticisms of bias and error in the Goldstone Report have been addressed

o Trevor Norwitz's Open Letter to Judge Goldstone
o CAMERA's A Formal Letter to Judge Goldstone
o CAMERA's The Goldstone Report: A Study in Duplicity
o Israel's Initial Response to Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Gaza
o Israel's The Operation in Gaza: Factual and Legal Aspects (Israel's analysis of the Operation itself)

Anonymous said...

No, I can't agree. There's (and will always be) a criticism of every single thing in the world. You know, Slobo Milosevic (if you know who he was) had a lot of supporters and defenders in Serbia who were very critical of International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Haag, yet Goldstone and other Prosecutors and judges there accused him of many counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. If the Court would adressed all the criticism of the trial and the Kosovo war itself back then, there'd never be end of this and the justice would never have come. The same thing is with this Goldstone's report... I'm sure Hamas doesn't agree with Goldstone's criticism of them either. So yeah, we can play those mind games for years, but then war criminals won't be punished.

Daled Amos said...

I'm sure Hamas doesn't agree with Goldstone's criticism of them either

Are you kidding!? They LOVE the report. They have already come out claiming that they have been exonerated by it, since The Goldstone Report barely mentions them by name.

Hamas: Goldstone Report Exonerates Us from War Crimes Against Israel

Hamas second-in-command Musa Abu Marzouq said in an interview: "All paragraphs in the Goldstone report convict Israel and totally exonerate Hamas from any misconduct. For instance, the report exonerates Hamas from the accusation of using civilians as human shields and attributes this accusation to Israeli forces. Likewise, the report exonerated Hamas from all other accusations mentioned by Israel, and even when the report is dealing with the rockets which were launched from Gaza, it speaks about military groups without naming Hamas." Translated by Jonathan D. Halevi (Al-Mashahid Al-Siyasi-UK, Arabic, 5Dec09)

The fact Hamas is able to say that based on the content of the Report is just one indication of many of the problems with the report.

The other flaw in your argument is to bunch together all possible criticisms of the report as if all are equally intended as a delaying tactic.

The errors in the report are real.

Anonymous said...

Although the Goldstone report reserves most of its criticism for Israel (maybe because she was the agressor and because IDF killed more than thousands Palestinians), it still accuses Hamas of war crime violations. And Hamas probably doesn't like that. That was my point.

As for the criticism, I agree with mr Goldstone when he said that "the level of criticism does not go to the substance of the report." Many attacks on him had in fact become personal and he believes most critics had not even read the report.

Daled Amos said...

Many mistakes here:
1. Even Goldstone admits that Israel is not the aggressor here--or perhaps you assume 8 years of thousands of rockets is irrelevant.

2. The claim that 1400 were killed and that most were civilians has been debunked by pinpointing the identity of those killed and demonstrating they were not unarmed civilians.

3. Hamas was not accused of war crimes--the Report made a point of referring to other groups. That was Hamas's point.

4. You are free to agree with Goldstone about whether the criticisms go to the content of the report.

Or you can actually take a look at the list I gave you earlier in the comments.

The facts are there.
Goldstone is wrong--about this point and others.

Neshobanakni said...

Now wait a minute; British law allows an internationally recognized terrorist organization to bring some kind of charges against government officials of a UN recognized sovereign nation? If true, that's just f**ked up!

Anonymous said...

^ I think Hamas is not "internationally" recognized terrorist organization. Powerfull countries like Russia and China don't recognize them as such.

@ Dalet Amos:

1.) Well, that could be at least discussable. It's still not clear who started the war in a first place. Israel killed more than thousands Palestinians and destroyed many schools and homes in the last Gaza conflict, yet she says she was actually the victim. Something is saying me there's something wrong with that. I'll give you an example - I know it's not the best one, but still... Let's say someone threw a stone and broke your window and your response was to kill him, his family and destroy his house and a house of his neighbours... Do you think your response was has been appropriate? Who's agressor and who's the victim in that case?

Then there are those Hamas rockets... Remember, the Palestinians don't have airplanes, helicopters or tanks. Their Katyusha rockets are largely homemade and can't aim, while Israel's rockets are surgically accurate. One should be aware of that.

2.) Even if most of the 1400 killed Palestinians weren't civilians, the number of civilians deaths is still way to big and it should be avoided. Open you eyes: Israeli response has been inappropriate. Period.

3.) I must admit I didn't read the whole Goldstone report, but I read in media that it actully accuses both sides of war crimes.

4.) Goldstone is wrong? That's just your opinion. I can respect it, but I don't agree with it.

Daled Amos said...

I think Hamas is not "internationally" recognized terrorist organization. Powerfull countries like Russia and China don't recognize them as such

Oh, so we put it to a vote?
And Russia and China are the most representative of objectivity--and humanitarianism?
Are you equally enthralled with the UNHRC?

(continued in next comment)

Daled Amos said...

Remember, the Palestinians don't have airplanes, helicopters or tanks. Their Katyusha rockets are largely homemade and can't aim

Looks like the Goldstone Report agrees with you:

1722. Given the apparent inability of the Palestinian armed groups to aim rockets and mortars at specific targets and, the fact that the attacks have caused very little damage to Israeli military assets, it is plausible that one of the primary purposes of these continued attacks is to spread terror – prohibited under international humanitarian law - among the civilian population of southern Israel.

So much the worse for the truth--doesn't anyone read the Goldstone Report?

1649. There is little independent confirmation of the types of weaponry held by Palestinian armed groups or the number of weapons that may be stockpiled. According to an Amnesty International report, of February 2009, the arsenals held by armed groups in the Gaza Strip include: al-Qassam (or al-Quds), 122mm Grad and 220 Fadjr-3 rockets as well as the al-Battar, the Banna 1 and Banna 2 anti-armour rockets.

...(b) 122 mm Grad rocket
1652. 122 mm Grad rocket is a Russian-designed missile with a range of approximately 20 to25 kilometres. Given the higher level of technological sophistication and the fact that it is manufactured with material not easily (if at all) available in Gaza, it is likely that they are not made in Gaza.

1653. While most 122 mm Grad rockets have a range of about 20 kilometres, some have landed 40 kilometres inside Israel.997 Global Security has concluded that on the basis of photographs, that the rockets that struck open space near Yavne and Bnei Darom on 28 December 2008 were Chinese-manufactured 122 mm WeiShei-1E rockets, which can travel distances of 20 to40 kilometres.998


While the commission notes that the Grad rockets have a longer range, it neglects to mention that they are more accurate. According to GlobalSecurity.org:

Recently [prior to January 2009], Hamas imported factory manufactured rockets from China and Iran. Based on a family of Soviet rockets dating back to World War II, these rockets have the range to hit many more Israeli cities, and their introduction help precipitate the current conflict.

The Iranian rocket, called a Grad, has a range of about 12 miles, long enough to hit the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. The Chinese rocket, called the WS-1-E (and sold on a rather cheap looking Web site for a defense company) has an even greater range of up to 27 miles, and better accuracy than the Grad. And according to Amanda Castle, the public relations manager at Jane’s Information Group, Israeli intelligence agencies also believe Hamas possesses Iranian Fajr-4 rockets, which have a range long enough to hit Tel Aviv. [emphasis added]

One does not even have to research the accuracy of Hamas weaponry, considering that the Goldstone Commission itself points out the premeditated pattern of Palestinian terrorist attacks:

1692. Where rockets have landed in towns and villages in southern Israel, they have caused localized property damage. This has included private houses1036 and cars.1037 During the operations in Gaza, a total of nine schools and kindergartens in Sderot, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat Ha Hinoch were hit and damaged by rockets.1038 Two kindergartens were struck and damaged by rocket fire in Ashdod.1039 On 8 January 2009, a Grad rocket hit a school in Ashkelon.1040

Think about that: 5 different Israeli cities were hit by Hamas rockets, and in each city schools are hit. It is difficult not to come to the conclusion that schools are being targeted--unless of course you are a member of the Goldstone Commission.

Daled Amos said...

(continued from last comment)

Homemade? Can't aim?
Do you really believe everything Hamas tells you?

Even if most of the 1400 killed Palestinians weren't civilians

Again, you are assuming that there were 1400 killed. There is excellent reason to see that as badly exaggerated.

inappropriate?
How is it inappropriate to defend one's country as terrorists use more and more accurate rockets that reach further and further into one's country.

The only 'inappropriate' thing is that they did not do this sooner.

Goldstone is wrong? That's just your opinion.

Perhaps, but then again I can document the errors in the report--what have you got...?