Gaza: the Laws of War in context

LAW VERSUS PROPAGANDA
It is said that “truth is the first casualty of war.” Every war sees propaganda put out by each party for domestic consumption, enemy consumption (comprising an aspect of psychological warfare), and international consumption, and this recent genocidal project is no different. But noticeably absent from any commentary or news reporting is how the Laws of War are being followed or broken. Accusations without evidence simply constitute propaganda, however, there is ample evidence of violations of the Laws of War in this genocidal war on Gaza that Israel call in Hebrew “Operation Strong Cliff.”

Long Journey Home: The Right of Return, International Law, & the Fate of Palestinian Refugees

2 February, 2011 Muftah

Remains of Lifta near Jerusalem

In 1948 when Palestinians fled from their homes in the war leading to the creation of the Israeli state, many assumed their lives would resume as soon as hostilities ceased. Nearly 63 years later, however, Palestinian refugees remain in suspension, still barred from returning to the villages, towns and cities inside Israel, which they left behind.

Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States

This treaty was signed at the International Conference of American States in Montevideo, Uruguay on December 26, 1933. It entered into force on December 26, 1934. The treaty discusses the definition and rights of statehood.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted to ensure that all peoples – of every race, creed, colour and nationality were granted equal rights under international law, even where those peoples were formerly oppressed by warlords, colonial regimes or militarily occupied or otherwise deprived of rights due to war or the like. While many people have a dim view of the United Nations, this instrument of international law is a giant leap forward for those who had been deemed unworthy or in other ways denied basic rights that should be afforded to all by virtue of being born a human being.

International Court of Justice – Advisory Opinion on Legal Consequences of Building Wall in Occupied Palestinian Territory

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

REPORTS OF JUDGMENTS, ADVISORY OPINIONS AND ORDERS

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
ADVISORY OPINION

OF 9 JULY 2004

Attempted annexation of Jerusalem rejected as invalid

CEPR – Israel seized East Jerusalem during the 1967 war, in which it completed its occupation of all Palestinian land. Israel unilaterally expanded the boundaries of Jerusalem by annexing [via passing a domestic law] some 70 sq kms to the municipal boundaries of the West Bank area and evicting over 6,000 Palestinians from the Old City’s Mughrabi Quarter in order to create a plaza in front of Al-Buraq (the Western Wall).  Israel then declared Jerusalem its capital. [Jerusalem was not claimed or designated its capital when Israel declared independence. – ed]

What does the law say about the establishment of settlements in occupied territory?

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 05-10-2010 FAQ

Hebron region. In the foreground, a tent where a Palestinian family lives, and in the background an illegal Israeli settlement. © ICRC / Chung / il-e-01870

When a territory is placed under the authority of a hostile army, the rules of international humanitarian law dealing with occupation apply. Occupation confers certain rights and obligations on the occupying power.

Palestine signs 14 treaties and conventions

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) –Letters of accession for 15 international multilateral treaties and conventions were handed to the relevant parties on Wednesday after being signed by President Mahmoud Abbas a day earlier, Palestinian officials said.

“I presented the letters signed by Abbas this morning to UN special envoy Robert Serry, as well as to the representatives of the Netherlands and Switzerland,” Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Israeli amusement park sign

The Convention on the Elimination of All Racial Discrimination (ICERD)  was adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1965 by resolution 2106 (XX), and it entered into force on 4 January 1969, thirty days after the deposit of the twenty-seventh instrument of ratification, as provided for in its article 19.

Rome Statute definition of Apartheid

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as:

Article 7
Crimes against humanity

1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid

Article II

For the purpose of the present Convention, the term ‘the crime of apartheid’, which shall include similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination as practiced in southern Africa, shall apply to the following inhumane acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them:

US General Patton saw for himself

We entered the synagogue, which was packed with the greatest stinking bunch of humanity I have ever seen. When we got about halfway up, the head rabbi, who was dressed in a fur hat similar to that worn by Henry VIII of England and in a surplice heavily embroidered and very filthy, came down and met the General (Eisenhower)…The smell was so terrible that I almost fainted and actually about three hours later lost my lunch as the result remembering it.

~ General Patton in Germany, diary entry Sept 17, 1945

Our most powerful weapon is racial tensions

We must realize that our party’s most powerful weapon is racial tensions. By propounding into the consciousness of the dark races that for centuries they have been oppressed by whites, we can mold them to the program of the Communist Party. In America we will aim for subtle victory. While inflaming the Negro minority against the whites, we will endeavor to instill in the whites a guilt complex for their exploitation of the Negros. We will aid the Negroes to rise in prominence in every walk of life, in the professions and in the world of sports and entertainment. With this prestige, the Negro will be able to intermarry with the whites and begin a process which will deliver America to our cause.

Israel Cohen, A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century, 1912. Congressional Record, Vol. 103, p. 8559, June 7, 1957

Complex matrix of control

Exploiting the genuine security related worries of the Israeli people and the majority’s wish for a political parting from the Palestinians, the Sharon government is constructing a system of fences that will not achieve separation, that will not draw a border, and that will not, eventually, bring security. What we are facing in the “fence” is yet another typical, thoroughly calculated “Sharonic” act of deception. The real purpose of the walls is very different. They are intended as another layer–maybe the ultimate one–in the complex matrix of control which constitutes the Israeli occupation: the settlements, the roads, the roadblocks, the curfews, the closures, and the use of brute military force. The walls that Sharon is building now are intended to render Israel’s hold over the land it captured in 1967 irreversible. They are the last nail in the coffin of the two-states solution. We shall wake up, in another year and a half from now, to a drastically different reality: a cruel state consisting of pens enclosures will stretch between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean.

Yigal Bronner, 23 September 2003

In the Shadow of Hermes by Juri Lina

Documentary on Genocide of 65 Million in Russia by the Jewish Bolsheviks and their savage Cheka

 

Video: How Christians are treated in Israel

60 MINUTES EPISODE

Historical maps of Palestine

This gallery contains 18 photos.

Gaza destruction infographics

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Gaza: IOF targets eliminated by resistance

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Not just Gaza: All Occupied Palestine under attack

Infographic showing a 1-year timeline of attacks by “Israel.”

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“No life is more precious than the lives of our dear people”

Statement 3 August, 2014:

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