Here’s something that’ll knock your socks off. Though, most Israelis this time of year don’t even wear socks – just sandals – so I guess Israelis just won’t be all that affected. That is, Human Rights Watch just published a report about Hamas’ rocket attacks since November ’08. And here go the socks: They actually said that firing the rockets was ILLEGAL, and VIOLATED INTERNATIONAL LAW and constitutes a “war crime”.
My question is, what about the years 2000-2007 when 23 Jews were killed by Qassam and mortar fire? Were those legal? Did international law suddenly change last November?
This eerily reminds me of 1991 back when the UN reversed its 1975 resolution that Zionism is Racism. Some Israelis were so ecstatic about that little reversal, though others just sat back and folded their arms. What is so earth shattering about the fact that the UN admits that Zionism is not racism if the Security Council, the world body responsible for maintaining world security, is going to admit Syria to its ranks, but forbid Israel from ever having a seat there? What’s the difference if the UN keeps singling out Israel for criticism?
And what is the significance of a Human Rights Watch report condemning Hamas for war crimes if, as we all know, Hamas couldn’t care less about human rights? The rockets will continue to fall whenever Hamas feels it’s had enough time to resuscitate itself, and the only reason they’ve stopped for now is that they’re scared. Not that they suddenly respect the idea of human rights.
Though these types of things are certainly nice and they make us feel better for about two minutes, they have very little relevance. The de facto Islamic government in Gaza does not care about international law. They care about liberating all of Palestine at all costs. As long as they have hope that they can do that, the rocket fire will never stop.
Leave a Reply