It was interesting to read Jim Kouri's article Jan 5th, entitled: "Amnesty International's Anti-Israeli Complaint". He wrote:
- Leave it to the folks at Amnesty International to take the side of Islamic terrorists in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What the hell is "disproportionate response" when you are dealing with terrorists? Read Amnesty International USA's released statement below, but have a barf bag available.
It was interesting because this fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police views the situation through the eyes of law enforcement, not the eyes of bleeding heart Political Correctness. On the Issue of Proportionate and Disproportionate force, read the full article of this following extract: "Is Israel using 'disproportionate force' in Gaza?" Dec 31, 2008 Jerusalem Post By Dore Gold
- There are good reasons why initial criticism of Israel has been muted. After all, population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other organizations since 2001.
The majority of those attacks were launched after Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. Indeed, rocket attacks increased by 500% (from 179 to 946) from 2005 to 2006.
Under international law, Israel is not required to calibrate its use of force precisely according to the size and range of the weaponry used against it. Israel is not expected to make Kassam rockets and lob them back into Gaza.
proportionality addresses whether force was specifically used by Israel to bring an end to the armed attack against it. By implication, force becomes excessive if it is employed for another purpose, like causing unnecessary harm to civilians.
What was critical from the standpoint of international law was that if the attempt had been made "to minimize civilian damage, then even a strike that causes large amounts of damage - but is directed at a target with very large military value - would be lawful."
But as for the bleeding hearts who cry over the humanitarian crisis, they had fair warning of what was going to happen. It was recorded in Jerusalem Post Feb 28th 2008 and entitled: "Israel prepares for assault on Gaza". It was written by Herb Keinon.
According to that report, at the Beginning of 2008 the Israeli Foreign Ministry revealed that Grad missiles fired at Ashkelon were smuggled through Sinai from Iran and announced that as Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of heavy rocket attacks, Israel would begin preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the inevitable war in Gaza.
In February, Barak said, "We should be prepared for an upswing in hostilities in Gaza. The big ground operation is a reality and it is tangible. We are not eager to embark upon such an operation, but we are not put off by it either."
He announced that the goals would be to reduce the threat of rocket fire and rocket manufacturing in the Gaza Strip, as well as paralyzing the Hamas government's ability to operate, and perhaps a "regime change."
The Foreign Ministry stated that when Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005 it did so without the intention of ever returning, but that the continuation of terrorist attacks was likely to place the country in a position where it may have no other choice.
One diplomat, in stressing the Iranian origin of the missiles suggested that it was important to initiate aggressive action to stop arms smuggling and to isolate Hamas from Syria and Iran, which "directs the organization's terrorist actions."
In February 2008: Livni is reported to have said that "there is no moral equivalence between terrorists and those fighting them, even if during those actions innocent civilians are accidentally killed. In these cases the world should not come to us - there is only one address for the Palestinian situation in Gaza and for what is likely to happen there in the future - and it is Hamas."
Well It Happened! I even warned about it in February 2006 in the article entitled: "The Trojan Horse Hamas"
Despite all the bleeding hearts and Amnesty International, the best way to judge the truth of the situation is to look at the rest of the Arab world's reaction to it.
The moderates blame Hamas, and the Anti-American Anti-Israel world blames Israel. See Jerusalem Post "While Israel fights in Gaza, Egypt and Saudi Arabia take on Iran" Dec 31, 2008 By Jonathan Spyer.
- On Sunday, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah focused on the events in Gaza in a speech on al-Manar TV. Nasrallah did not limit himself to calling down fire and brimstone on Israel.
Rather, he singled out Egypt for criticism. Nasrallah echoed Hamas condemnation of Egypt for refusing to allow a general opening of the Rafah Crossing. The Hizbullah leader expressed incredulity at a statement by a senior Egyptian official holding Hamas ultimately responsible for events in Gaza.
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R.P.BenDedek
Email: rpbendedek@kingscalendar.com
R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' ( http://www.kingscalendar.com/ ), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China.
Articles on the Middle East
"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.
