Truemors
-1.jpg)
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Gaza conflict: Who is a civilian?
Share:
by 158 | January 5, 2009 at 08:13 pm
90 views | 13 Recommendations | 3 comments
Photos
Hamas has said that every Israeli
and every Jew in the world is a
legitimate target in their bid to
destroy Israel. I see a double
standard here.
The bloodied children are clearly civilians; men killed as they launch rockets are undisputedly not. But what about the 40 or so young Hamas police recruits on parade who died in the first wave of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza?
And weapons caches are clearly military sites – but what about the interior ministry, hit in a strike that killed two medical workers; or the money changer's office, destroyed last week injuring a boy living on the floor above?
As the death toll mounts in Gaza, the thorny question is arising of who and what can be considered a legitimate military target in a territory effectively governed by a group that many in the international community consider a terrorist organisation.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 03:33 on January 6th, 2009
The full BBC story contains a much more balanced analysis.
For a different take on double standards from the end of the piece:
at 04:00 on January 6th, 2009
Israel’s military actions in Gaza are entirely justified under international law, and Israel should be commended for its act of self-defense against international terrorism. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves to every nation the right to engage in self-defense against armed attacks. The only limitation international law places on a democracy is that its actions must satisfy the principle of proportionality. Israel’s actions certainly satisfy that principles.
Over the last four years, Palestinian terrorists—in particular, Hamas and Islamic Jihad—have fired more than two thousand rockets at this civilian area, which is home to mostly poor and working-class people. The rockets are designed exclusively to maximize civilian deaths, and some have barely missed schoolyards, kindergartens, hospitals, and school buses. But others hit their targets, killing more than a dozen civilians since 2001, including in February 2008 a father of four who had been studying at the local university. These anticivilian rockets have also injured and traumatized countless children.
Barack Obama reacted to what he had seen in Sderot by saying that if his two daughters were exposed to rocket attacks in their own homes, he would do everything in his power to stop such attacks. I hope and believe that President Obama will take the same position he did as candidate Obama.
at 03:50 on January 6th, 2009
Hamas said that at one point and did retract it as well after their election. Further this sort of statements have to be put back into context and weighed properly. Yours is a s much defamation and unacceptable as theirs would be.
Thank you for the post.