Human Rights or lack thereof in Gaza

[Mediocrates]

Reporting (http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/guerra/sucia/Gaza/elpepuint/20090123elpepiint_10/Tes)from Gaza, Juan Miguel Muñoz says that that more than a hundred Palestinians suspected of spying for Israel were summarily executed by Hamas during the recent conflict in that territory.
While the [Hamas] fighters launched rockets dozens of collaborators passed information about targets to the Israeli forces. Many people must have died as a result of this help give to the enemy. The reaction of the Islamist militia was devastating and brutal. More than a hundred of these fifth columnists were summarily executed […] “They were men who all of a sudden set up stalls to sell nuts in order to monitor the homes of Hamas leaders. Others came back from areas where the Israelis were already deployed without having suffered any kind of harm. It’s almost impossible that they weren’t helping the enemy,” according to a source close to the Islamist movement.
A note of confusion creeps into the report later on when Muñoz quotes the same source as saying that the hundred who were executed had been caught red handed shooting at Hamas fighters. Nevertheless, it seems certain that Hamas murdered a great number of real or perceived collaborators with Israel during the recent conflict.

Will there be calls for these crimes to be investigated? There will not.
Will there be demonstrations around the world to protest against the denial of even the most basic elements of due process to the dead? Not a chance.

Will grave professors now make comparisons between the behavior of Hamas with that of the Nazis during World War II? Don’t hold your breath.
None of these things will happen because the bulk of those howling about Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent days only care about human rights when those violating them are Israelis. When Hamas shoots dozens of Palestinians out of hand, that isn’t regarded by these people as a breach of human rights but rather as a necessary, if regrettable, part of the righteous campaign against the plague of Zionism.


http://blog.z-word.com/2009/01/human-rights-in-gaza/#more-949


Source article in Spanish

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/guerra/sucia/Gaza/elpepuint/20090123elpepiint_10/Tes

[Mediocrates]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHhs9ihSmbU&e

DF forces document the extent to which Hamas has transformed Gaza into a war-zone. Here a school and zoo have been rigged with explosives, showing Hamas' willingness to use the Palestinian people as human shields.

כוחות צה"ל מתעדים כיצד חמא"ס הופך את רצועת עזה לשדה-קרב. ניתן לראות כאן כי בית-ספר וגן-חיות מולכדו ע"י ארגון הטרור הזה שאינו מתבייש לנצל את העם הפלסטיני כמגן אנושי.

يمكنكم أن تروا أن حماس تحولت مدرسة وحديقة الحيوان إلى مصف, فتستغل حماس الشعب الفلسطيني, الذي تريد اسرائيل التعايش معه في السلام, كدرع بشري.

[varian]

(I)DF forces document the extent to which Hamas has transformed Gaza into a war-zone. Here a school and zoo have been rigged with explosives, showing Hamas' willingness to use the Palestinian people as human shields.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643751651&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

EU official: Hamas responsible for Gaza

Jan. 26, 2009
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Hamas bears an "overwhelming responsibility" for the destruction of Gaza, a senior European Union official said Monday, as he toured the area to see the destruction caused by Israel's 22-day military offensive there.

But Louis Michel also leveled harsh words against Israel for killing civilians and bombing nonmilitary targets during the fighting.

Both sides violated international humanitarian law, said Michel, who is the EU development and humanitarian aid commissioner. He estimated that at least half of the dead in Gaza were civilians.

Even though he was "shocked" by what he saw in Gaza, he had uncharacteristically harsh words for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since it staged a violent coup there in June 2007.

"At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas," said Michel, according to AFP. "I intentionally say this here: Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such."

Reuters quoted Michel as criticizing Hamas for its use of civilians as "human shields" and for fighting in populated areas.

The EU, the main aid donor to Palestinian civilians, has in the past contributed to the construction of Gaza infrastructure.

Last week, when EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner visited Israel, she said that the EU would not pay to rebuild Gaza until a government that it found acceptable was in power there.

On Monday, Michel was more frank, saying the EU was tired of paying for the same infrastructure only to have it repeatedly destroyed.

Speaking with reporters later in Tel Aviv, he said, "It is very frustrating that the EU commission and the member states are systematically obliged morally to pay and to pay once more for infrastructures that we have already paid for once or twice or three times," said Michel.

Still, he announced that the EU was prepared to spend $74 million in aid to Palestinian civilians, including $41 million earmarked to "respond to the dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza" following Israel's offensive.

Michel insisted none of the funds would be channeled to Hamas.

He also called on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza above and beyond the nearly 200 trucks that have entered almost daily this week.

There should be 500 to 600 trucks a day going into Gaza, Michel said, as he visited Sderot. The people in Gaza need more than just humanitarian aid, they also need goods to help stimulate the economy, he said.

Both in Sderot and again in Tel Aviv, Michel criticized Israel's military action in Gaza, which he said violated international humanitarian law.

"I was really shocked by what I saw in Gaza," Michel told reporters in Tel Aviv. "Even if I am fully concerned for the security of the people of Israel, I can not accept that the response was so disproportionate."

Israel, he said, had to know that by bombing targets in heavily populated areas that "there would be innocent victims."

Michel told Sderot Mayor David Buskila that he understood that the rockets which had targeted his city made it very difficult for the people to live there and that the attacks against innocent people were "unjustifiable."

Still, he said, as a democracy Israel has a higher level of responsibility in this situation.

Michel's harsh words for Israel did not mollify Hamas, however, which was angered by his comments.

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri was quoted by Reuters as saying his group was "shocked" at Michel's comments.

He lambasted the official for "giving cover to massacres and terrorism committed by the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian people... Palestinian resistance is as legitimate as the resistance of European countries that fought against foreign occupiers."


As always, Israel gets blamed for being a democracy that should know better, but at least there is a palpable crack in the previous EU solidarity of ignoring the actions of terror groups that provoke Israel. It sounds like more of a follow the money issue to Michel. Oh well; it's the economy stupid all around the globe. At last EU politicos are coming to the conclusion that when it comes to the Palestinians, they're pouring their Euros down a bottomless pit and they're definitely not getting their Euros worth!!! :cool:

[Mediocrates]

http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Digging_For_the_Truth.asp


Despite widespread charges leveled against Israel in the international media, some journalists have, to their credit, made the effort to dig deeper amidst the rubble to find out what really went on in Gaza and the crimes committed by Hamas against its own people. Here are a couple of stories that you may not have seen in your local media.
Hamas hijacking ambulances:
According to the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hamas-tried-to-hijack-ambulances-during-gaza-war/2009/01/25/1232818246374.html): Palestinian civilians living in Gaza during the three-week war with Israel have spoken of the challenge of being caught between Hamas and Israeli soldiers as the radical Islamic movement that controls the Gaza strip attempted to hijack ambulances.
Mohammed Shriteh, 30, is an ambulance driver registered with and trained by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
His first day of work in the al-Quds neighbourhood was January 1, the sixth day of the war. "Mostly the war was not as fast or as chaotic as I expected," Mr Shriteh told the Herald. "We would co-ordinate with the Israelis before we pick up patients, because they have all our names, and our IDs, so they would not shoot at us."
Mr Shriteh said the more immediate threat was from Hamas, who would lure the ambulances into the heart of a battle to transport fighters to safety.
Hamas's human shields:
Der Spiegel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,603203,00.html) reveals the abuse of Palestinian civilian homes by Hamas: Hail's house is just a few streets away and only suffered light damage. There are a few bullet holes in the living room walls and all of the window panes are broken. Hail also found out after the cease-fire that the militants had used his house as a base for their operations. The door to his house stood open and there were electric cables lying in the hallway. When Hail followed them they led to his neighbor's house which it seems Hamas had mined.
As Hail, in his mid-30s, sat on his porch and thought about what to do a man came by: He was from Hamas and had left something in Hail's home. He let him in and the man then emerged with a bullet proof vest, a rocket launcher and an ammunitions belt. An hour later a fighter with Islamic Jihad called to the door, then disappeared onto the roof and reappeared with a box of ammunition. "The abused civilians' homes for their own purposes. That is not right," Hail says with disgust while trying to remain polite.
IDF INVESTIGATES CASUALTY FIGURES
YNet News (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3661940,00.html) reports: A continuing IDF investigation into the number of civilian Palestinian casualties during the Israeli offensive in Gaza indicated that only 250 of the fatalities were civilians.
The military estimates that between 1,100 and 1,200 people were killed during the offensive. Some 700 of are believed to be militants and most are believed to be Hamas operatives.
The IDF is still trying to ascertain the identity of the remaining fatalities, but security sources said many would probably turn out to be militants as well. "Hamas is familiar with the numbers and is doing everything it can to concealed them," said an IDF source....
Many of the fatalities were considered to be civilians at first, because there were no weapons found with them, said a military source, "But that method of operation is consistent with the way Hamas was hiding in the midst of civilians, moving between their strongholds with no weapons. In many cases someone thought to be a civilian casualty turned out to be a Hamas operative after we ran our checks."
CBS SMEARS ISRAEL
We wonder where Bob Simon (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/23/60minutes/main4749723.shtml) of CBS's 60 Minutes has been for the past few weeks. Hamas's actions in the Gaza Strip, which Israel evacuated in 2005, have led to divisions within the Palestinian people and Israel's Operation Cast Lead. Hamas is still intent on destroying the State of Israel through terror. Yet, according to Simon, the sole "obstacle to peace" is West Bank settlements. Whether one agrees or disagrees with settlements, Simon has produced a shocking piece of journalism that amounts to a smear against Israel.


According to Simon, Palestinians "have to submit to humiliating delays at checkpoints and roadblocks." Simon fails to mention the Palestinian terror that has plagued Israel, necessitating such security measures.
In an incredibly loaded narrative, Simon claims that Israel has three options: "They could try ethnic cleansing, drive the Palestinians out of the West Bank, or they could give the Palestinians the vote. That would be the democratic option but it would mean the end of the Jewish state. Or they could try apartheid - have the minority Israelis rule the majority Palestinians, but apartheid regimes don't have a very long life."
Intentionally pandering to Palestinian propaganda, Simon immediately follows this up by associating Israel's security barrier with apartheid: "Apartheid? Israel is building what it calls a security wall between the West Bank and Israel." As the barrier is mostly a fence, Israel certainly does not refer to it as a "wall" and Simon makes no reference as to why the barrier was constructed nor to its effectiveness at preventing terror. Instead, viewers are treated to one side of the story.
It appears that Simon is attempting to misrepresent the majority of Israelis. He claims that "Moderate Israelis who deplore the occupation used to believe passionately in a two-state solution." Yet, to illustrate this point, he interviews Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli who has long advocated (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070618/benvenisti) a one-state solution and considers Israel to be worse than apartheid South Africa. Is this representative of the Israeli mainstream?
Likewise, Simon's focus on settler Daniella Weiss is not representative following Weiss's rejection (http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3632613,00.html) by the mainstream settler movement.

Presenting a one-sided picture of perceived Palestinian grievances, unrepresentative Israeli viewpoints, and completely ignoring the Palestinian role in the conflict, Bob Simon's report deserves a response.
Please send your considered comments to CBS through its Feedback Form - http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml. Select 60 Minutes from the drop down menu and register your complaint.