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Thursday, March 19, 2009

[chottala.com] UN sees Israeli war crimes in Gaza

U.N. rights envoy sees Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:17pm EDT
 
* U.N. rights envoy sees grave Israeli war crimes

* Sealing Gaza border may also be a crime against humanity

* Falk urges experts probe alleged crimes by both sides


By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, March 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator said on Thursday that Israel's military assault on densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a grave war crime.

Richard Falk, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians.

"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said.

"On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion," he wrote in an annual 26-page report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Falk gave the same death toll from Israel's offensive in December and January -- 1,434 Palestinians, including 960 civilians -- as the Palestinian human rights center.

Israel, which lost 13 people during the war, disputes the figures and has accused Hamas fighters in Gaza of using civilians as human shields during the conflict -- an allegation which Falk said should be investigated.

He called the Israeli attacks a "massive assault on a densely populated urbanised setting" in which the entire civilian population had been subjected to "an inhumane form of warfare that kills, maims and inflicts mental harm".

"As all borders were sealed, civilians could not escape from the orbit of harm," he said.

This denial of people's right to flee the war zone as refugees may also constitute a crime against humanity, he said.
 
WAR CRIMES PROBE

Falk called for an independent experts group to probe possible war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and Hamas. It should gather eyewitness testimony as well as explanations from Israeli and Palestinian military commanders.

Violations included Israel's alleged "targeting of schools, mosques and ambulances" during the offensive, which lasted from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18, and its use of weapons including white phosphorus, as well as Hamas's firing of rockets at civilian targets in southern Israel.

Falk said that Israel's blockade of the coastal strip of 1.5 million people violated the Geneva Conventions and this suggested further war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The aggression was not legally justified and may represent a "crime against peace" -- a principle established at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals, according to Falk, an American law professor who serves as the Human Rights Council's independent investigator.

Falk, who is Jewish, suggested the Security Council might set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza, noting Israel has not signed the Rome statutes establishing the International Criminal Court.

He was denied entry to Israel two weeks before the assault started, forcing him to abort a planned mission to Gaza. In his report, he said that the refusal had set an "unfortunate precedent" for treatment of a special rapporteur.

On Monday, he is to present his report formally to the Human Rights Council, a 47-member forum where Islamic and African countries backed by China, Cuba and Russia have a majority. Neither Israel nor its chief ally the United States are members. (Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Jonathan Wright)
http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSLJ155314
Israelis describe wanton killings of Gaza civilians: journal
  • March 19, 2009 - 7:54PM
Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Gaza border before deploying into the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Gaza border before deploying into the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

JERUSALEM, - Israeli soldiers have described wanton killings of Palestinian civilians and destruction of property during the deadly 22-day Gaza offensive, according to a journal published today.

One soldier described the case of an Israeli sharpshooter who killed a Palestinian mother and her two children who had left their home on a path the troops had declared off-limits, according to the journal of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military academy.

The publication, which quoted graduates of the college's military preparatory course, also cited the case of an elderly Palestinian woman killed as she was walking 100 metres from her home.

Soldiers also spoke of civilians being abused, acts of vandalism and destruction of homes.

"Those were very harsh testimonies about unjustified shooting of civilians and destruction of property that conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians," academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.

He added that military officers were surprised by the findings he relayed to them.

A military spokesman said he was unaware of the incidents mentioned in the journal.

"We will check their credibility and if there is cause to do so, we will launch an investigation," he said.

The Israeli military onslaught on Gaza was launched in late December in response to rocket and mortar fire into Israel by militants in the impoverished territory.

Gaza medics said more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the 22-day conflict, and much of the infrastructure in the coastal strip was left in ruins.

Thirteen Israelis were killed.

AFP

UN rights envoy sees Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Reuters - ‎10 hours ago‎
Falk, who is Jewish, suggested the Security Council might set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza, ...
Jerusalem Post  - ScienceBlogs

Top UN official accuses US of demonizing Iran

The Associated Press - ‎Mar 17, 2009‎
But he said that won't keep him from criticizing Israeli actions, especially in the recent war in Gaza where some 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were ...
 


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[FutureOfBangladesh] RE: [Sonar Bangladesh] A ‘prototype war’ and future anxieties

This writer in Nayadigonta skillfully tried to manipulate  the real truth and is trying to sell his idelogical viewpoints only. He felt so deeply for the killed military officers and their perished and fallen families but tried to hide the highest possibility of what really happened. He tried to blame the neighbor and the people in power but never even sligtly touched on the possibility that the carbnage was perhaps done by the people who he shares his ideology with. Nayadiganta is ruining the country orchastrated by its notorious ideoloical writers. To them, humanity has got no dimension or value at all. All they are busy to ruin the freedom of the country with the severe attempts to import the 2000 years old rotten ideology, and convert the country into the slave state.
 

To: sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com
From: ahsan_mohammed2000@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:25:52 -0700
Subject: [Sonar Bangladesh] A 'prototype war' and future anxieties


Dear Members,
 
If you analyse Pilkhana massacre, you may find it as a prototype war targeted to test strategies of a full scale war against Bangladesh.  It revealed the weaknesses of our overall state security.  Please read my article published in Daily Naya Diganta on this issue:
 
http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/2009/03/19/fullnews.asp?News_ID=134871&sec=6
 
 
It was also published at:
 
http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=636

 
Best regards.
 
Ahsan Mohammed




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....we must use caution and restraint in our language.  No personal attacks, address the issues, avoid inflammatory rhetoric, do not suggest or infer violence and be able to back up any statements or facts with a credible web site link....



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[chottala.com] Re: [khabor.com] MBI Munshi's Mossad Connection: UN asked to return Bangladeshi forces

Dear Mr. Aslam,

Please use evidence rather than your own opinion before making allegations and defamatory remarks against a person. If you claim that I am a MOSSAD agent show me the evidence and the exchange of money. Simply do not assert that I am a MOSSAD agent provide proof. I am not promoting Salah uddin Shaoib Choudhury but he has produced some very interesting exclusives on the BDR mutiny. The world deserves to have all the materaial on the BDR mutiny before it and not just the RAW manufactured version.

Regards

MBI Munshi


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MunshiJee who is this Ms Susan Ramgopalan ??????
 
M.B.I. Munshi is now promoting well-known Mossad agent Salah Uddin
Shoaib Choudhury's "Blitz Exclusive" articles. Mr. Munshi wasted no time
to faithfully post it in Pakistan Defence Forum to satisfy the ISI needs:
 
Behind the veil ISI-Mossad collaborations are long known.
 
The "things" are being done by the way of deception.
 
The no-byline Blitz Exclusive quotes one Susan Ramgopalan
as the writer of the letter letters to the  UN Secretary General and
other officials of United Nations on March 15,
 
Will Mr. MBI Munshi disclose who this  Susan Ramgopalan is?
Where did Mr. MBI Munshi's cohort  Mossad agent Salah Uddin
Shoaib Choudhury got the information for his Blitz Exclusive
article from?
 
Mr. MBI Munshi has been posting Salah Uddin
Shoaib Choudhury/Blitz exclusives for last few months.
Is that just a coincidence or  ISI and MOSSAD think alike
in Bangladesh Matters ??????


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[* Moderator's Note - CHOTTALA is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political and non-discriminatory organization.

* Disclaimer: Any posting to the CHOTTALA are the opinion of the author. Authors of the messages to the CHOTTALA are responsible for the accuracy of their information and the conformance of their material with applicable copyright and other laws. Many people will read your post, and it will be archived for a very long time. The act of posting to the CHOTTALA indicates the subscriber's agreement to accept the adjudications of the moderator]




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[chottala.com] FW: [Sonar Bangladesh] who is radical anyway?

In bangla, the proverb says, "Mounota Shmmotir Lakkhon". For Muslims, this is something more than true. It is a fact that most muslims are not fanatic islamist radicals, rather peace loving people. But peace has to keep. It automatically does not remain in place. When a child does something wrong, the parents take appropriate actions to rectify. With the same token these peaceful muslims needed to strongly protest altogether against these criminal islamists. Did they do that? Certainly not. So, Who is responsible? People who are criticizing the islamic terrorists for their heinous actions or the peaceful muslims who are not protesting these heinous acts against the humanity in general. These problems are coming out of the muslim tent? So, it is the responsibility of the muslims to clean up this mess. Peace is not going to stay with the muslims if they do not attempt to keep it. My two cents.

To: dahuk@yahoogroups.com; witness-pioneer@yahoogroups.com; sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com; inquisitive_sisters@yahoogroups.com; ei_sumon@yahoo.com
From: mohebbollah@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:17:03 -0700
Subject: [Sonar Bangladesh] who is radical anyway?


MUHAMMED ÇETİN cetin.m@todayszaman.com Columnists
Who is radical anyway?

Last week the international magazine Newsweek featured a striking cover. The main headline was in Arabic with an English translation in smaller type below: "Radical Islam is a fact of life. How to live with it."

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Fareed Zakaria's article and editorial argued that not all groups that find support in Muslim communities advocate jihadist ideologies and not all Muslim communities host terrorists -- in fact, most do not. The managing editor, Daniel Klaidman, also emphasizes: "We must be smart about distinguishing between true threats and irrational fears. What we need is more analysis and less anger." As he hints, different readers see such covers and topics in different ways -- deceptive with a twist, or menacing -- and the graceful Arabic calligraphy is beautiful, but commercially catchy, too. Such media analyses deserve attention in many respects.
While approaching issues related to Muslims or Islam, the naming and framing of issues is mostly erroneously misconstrued or used falsely and specific terms are used with ideological motives. For instance, many Muslims rightly object to the phrase "radical Islam" and refuse to accept or use it. Individuals or people can be radical, the interpretation of certain principles of a religion by some of its followers can be radical, but not the whole faith or religion itself. Expressions such as "radical Islam" imprint themselves and mold people's minds even before they start reading and thinking about the religion and Muslims.
This deepens communication problems. Any individual follower of a religion, male or female, can be radical, extremist or even terrorist, but not the religion. The term "Islamic terrorist" is used so often and in such a slack or even ill-intentioned way, whereas the media and politicians never refer to "Christian terror" or "Christian terrorists," or "Jewish terror" or "Jewish terrorists" or any other religion or faith, for that matter. At most they become "Christian rebels," "the far right" or some other dignified term, but never terrorists for their faith. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which claims to be guided by the Bible's Ten Commandments, has wreaked havoc in the regions bordering Congo, Uganda and Sudan for two decades. The LRA is notorious for cutting off the limbs, lips, ears and throats of civilians, torture, executions, rape, forced displacement and forcing thousands of children to serve as soldiers or sex slaves.
A second issue is the visual imagery used to depict Muslims. While discussing violence and terrorism, the Western media use pictures of mosques, people praying or reading the Quran or innocent children and women in traditional clothing. Even as it argued against stereotyping Muslims, Newsweek's March 9 edition itself fell prey to this error: It showed children in traditional white gowns walking down the stairs of a modern mosque, young girls and women wearing headscarves at a university during Friday prayer and children reading the Quran in an underprivileged, remote area of a country. The reader is not brought to understand that these people have nothing to do with "nihilistic philosophies and expansionist aims," as the Newsweek editor put it. Instead, this associates all Muslims, man, woman and child, all their resources and institutions, the Quran, the mosque and their universities with fear; they are all seen as potential sources of radicalism, fundamentalism or ideological violence.
So even when people start with the right diagnosis of the issues, if they pursue the discussion with the wrong language and imagery, it does not help to resolve any ongoing dehumanizing of another group, especially of Muslims in this case.
The range of issues to confront, and they are many -- various sociopolitical and economic backgrounds, dysfunctional systems or regimes, disruption or disorientation of modernity in traditional societies, imposed cultural alienation, the negative effects of globalization, the role and weight of authoritarian regimes or militaries, media or judicial systems, transnational corporate and international agencies intervening or interfering with the domestic and international affairs of a country, regional conflicts and wars, the backlash produced by a colonial past or former or present foreign military interventions -- are all experienced and resolved differently in the varied and vast lands in which Muslim communities or societies live. So it is misleading to talk about "global Islamic insurgency." The different interests, issues and conflicts facing a particular society are represented by a range of political, ideological and sectarian groups. None of these stand for all Muslims, Islam or Islamic teachings, meanings and values. They are not part of a single global movement. Groups, motives, interests and movements are far more local or regional than that. They each have their own specific issues and grievances. Many do not have much in common in terms of tactics, strategies, reactions or positive responses. Thus, so-called radicalism, extremism or fundamentalism in various parts of the world cannot be resolved by bombing, killing, capturing, torturing, dehumanizing and demonizing individuals, people, communities or countries, as Newsweek also points out.
The problems are not the same in every society, and neither are the people. The same medicine cannot be used for all patients. As modern, educated and sophisticated people, we should demonstrate our political, moral, intellectual and spiritual superiority to extremists and radicals by sustaining civic, educational, philanthropic and altruistic efforts and projects. We need to bring people into our fold, not repel, stigmatize or compartmentalize them with artificial ideological labels. In the end, we have one world and one life to live. The world is not the property or responsibility of only a few.



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