| |||
|
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY By
Gidon D. Remba Published in
THECHICAGO TRIBUNE
Gidon
D. Remba was a foreign press translator in the
With the rise of Ariel Sharon as prime
minister of It has become fashionable in some circles
to tar "What the Israelis term `terrorism' includes resistance
against military occupation forces, something that all people have a right to
carry out under international law, " writes Ali Abunimah, vice president
of the Arab-American Action Network, in The Washington Post. Yet all UN
Security Council resolutions on the Arab-Israel conflict, which define the applicable
international law, oblige Arabs to respect The Palestinians insist that 100 percent of Israeli
settlements be uprooted, even those close to the original border. This is tantamount to waging war to create a
polity based on complete ethnic purity and exclusivity. Why can't the
Palestinian state contain a few minority Jewish communities just as Some have urged There's a better way to promote justice and
stability in the region. In his meeting
with President Bush this week, Fair-minded observers should insist that
Arafat return to the land-for-peace formula upon which decades of Israeli-Arab
peacemaking have been predicated. Arafat's acceptance of these offers would not
only encourage a restoration of faith among the Palestinian public in gaining
independence through diplomacy. It would mark the first time that As By Gidon D. Remba
Published
in The M. Cherif Bassiouni charges Israel with war
crimes against the Palestinians, but he condemns the pervasive Palestinian acts
of violence against Israeli civilians without admitting that they are equally
war crimes, which violate international humanitarian law ("As the Middle
East goes up in flames," Commentary, July 20). Professor Bassiouni is an eminent legal
scholar who chaired the United Nations commission that investigated the crimes
against humanity of Serb and Yugoslav leaders. It is unfortunate that Bassiouni neglects
to share with the readers of the Tribune what he teaches his law students. In a well-known textbook on international
criminal law that he recently co-authored with six others, Bassiouni writes
that "acts of terrorism against non-combatants and others `who do not take
a direct part . . . in hostilities'" are war crimes. He refers readers to a list on which
"murder and massacres--systematic terrorism" is war crime No. 1. And he comments: "Are not even `freedom
fighters' bound to refrain from war crimes, acts of genocide and impermissible
strategies of terrorism?" But what is most overlooked in all the
heated talk about crimes against humanity in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
is the sage advice of one of Bassiouni's co-authors, Michael Scharf, a jurist
who helped create the International Criminal Tribunal for Sometimes "insisting on criminal
prosecutions can prolong the conflict," he notes, "resulting in more
deaths, destruction and human suffering." We must avoid politicizing the prosecution
of war crimes, which only fosters the tragic tendency to treat human rights as
just another poison arrow for waging ethnic and national conflict. What Palestinians and Israelis need most is
not prosecution and war crimes trials, but amnesty, reconciliation and
forgiveness for past transgressions, on both sides. Copyright © 2001, Human Rights Organizations: Palestinian Attacks on Israeli Civilians, Including Settlers, Violate International Humanitarian LawB’Tselem: Attacks on Israeli Civilians by PalestiniansB’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada, there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks perpetrated by Palestinian organizations against Israeli civilians. These attacks have killed hundreds of Israelis and wounded thousands, including many minors, inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories. Attacks aimed at civilians undermine all rules of morality and law. Specifically, the intentional killing of civilians is considered a "grave breach" of international humanitarian law and a war crime. Whatever the circumstances, such acts are unjustifiable. Palestinian organizations raise several arguments to justify attacks on Israeli civilians. The main argument is that "all means are appropriate in fighting against a foreign occupation and to attain independence." This argument is baseless. It is also contrary to the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law, whereby civilians are to be protected from the consequences of warfare. In attacking the other side, therefore, each party must discriminate in selecting its targets and attack only military objects. This principle is part of international customary law; as such, it applies to every state, organization, and person, even those who are not party to any relevant convention. Palestinian spokespersons distinguish between attacks inside Israel and attacks directed at settlers in the Occupied Territories. They argue that, because the settlements are illegal and many settlers belong to Israel's security forces, settlers are not entitled to the protections granted to civilians by international law. This argument is readily refuted. The illegality of the settlements has no effect at all on the status of their civilian residents. The settlers constitute a distinctly civilian population, which is entitled to all the protections granted civilians by international law. The Israeli security forces' use of land in the settlements or the membership of some settlers in the Israeli security forces does not affect the status of the other residents living among them, and certainly does not make them proper targets of attack. B'Tselem strongly opposes the attempts to justify attacks against Israeli civilians by using distorted interpretations of international law. Furthermore, B'Tselem demands that the Palestinian Authority do everything within its power to prevent future attacks and to prosecute the individuals involved in past attacks. |