[lit-ideas] Re: The Rules of War
- From: "Helen Wishart" <hwishart@xxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 00:07:14 -0400
I wonder what kind of cartoon could emerge from this?
http://www.occupationalhazard.org/boy-bido.jpg
For both sides in a conflict, what works, too often trumps what's right.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Israel: Decision to Stop Use of "Human Shields" Welcomed
(Jerusalem, May 10, 2002) - The Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) decision to
prohibit the use of Palestinian civilians as "human shields" during military
operations is an important step forward toward complying with the
requirements of international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch said
today.
Human Rights Watch also urged the IDF to take further action to stop the
coerced use of Palestinian civilians during military operations, an issue
the IDF said it would "examine," and reiterated its call for a full
investigation into allegations of serious law of war violations committed by
Israeli forces in Jenin. The Israeli army has taken an important step
towards respecting the laws of war," said Hanny Megally, executive director
of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "But
there are many other Israeli army practices that similarly violate
international standards and require the same unequivocal and immediate
action."
In response to a High Court of Justice petition by seven Israeli and
Palestinian human rights groups, the Israeli army decided on May 9 to
"immediately issue an unequivocal order" to its soldiers, stating that
soldiers "are absolutely forbidden to use civilians of any kind as a means
of 'living shield' against gunfire or attacks by the Palestinian side, or as
'hostages.'" The order states that the prohibition applies "in houses,
streets, and in every area and place in which IDF forces are acting." The
Israeli army also committed itself to "examine" the use of Palestinian
civilians during military operations.
Human Rights Watch researchers met with senior IDF representatives on May 6,
and presented them with detailed research on the use of Palestinian
civilians as human shields and the coerced use of Palestinian civilians for
military purposes, gaining a commitment from the IDF to investigate the
practices and agreement that such practices would violate Israel's
international obligations.
Human Rights Watch has reported extensively on the coerced use of
Palestinian civilians during military operations, and most recently
documented the use of Palestinian civilians as "human shields" and for
military purposes during the Israeli military operations in Jenin. In April
2002, Human Rights Watch released a report on the coerced use of Palestinian
civilians by the IDF, entitled "In a Dark Hour: The Use of Civilians during
IDF Arrest Operations."
In its May 2 report entitled "Jenin: IDF Military Operations," Human Rights
Watch documented several cases of IDF use of "human shields," including one
case in which eight Palestinian men, including a fourteen-year-old boy, were
taken from their homes and placed on a balcony overlooking Palestinian
fighter positions while IDF soldiers fired from behind the men. In another
case, IDF soldiers put a sixty-five-year-old Palestinian woman on the
exposed roof of her home during a gun battle.
Prior to the May 9 Israeli army decision, rather than investigating the
practice, Israeli army officials regularly issued blanket denials about the
IDF's coerced use of civilians and the use of "human shields." For example,
in response to the April 2002 Human Rights Watch report on the coerced use
of civilians, IDF spokesperson Isaac Greenburg told Agence France-Presse:
"Under no circumstances do we use, or will we ever use civilians to help us.
The very idea, the very allegations are preposterous."
"We hope that the Israeli army is finally moving beyond blanket denials and
is now taking seriously its duty to investigate and stop abuses," said
Megally. "It is the duty of any professional army to investigate abuses,
punish those responsible, and issue unambiguous orders to the troops to
stop."
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/05/10/isrlpa3914_txt.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4314898.stm
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric Yost
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2006 3:12 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Rules of War
Ursula: Pure propaganda.
Eric: I am appalled at the inhumanity of those who consider situating
civilians in military targets to be an acceptable tactic.
By the way, the current issue of The Economist has a great cartoon in it.
The cartoon is called SHIELDS THROUGH THE AGES. The panels trace the use of
shields from the ancient Greeks through the Romans and Western middle ages.
Small shields, large shields, beveled shields, etc.
The final panel of SHIELDS THROUGH THE AGES shows a Hezbollah terrorist with
Lebanese civilians strapped to his body.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest
on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
