January 5, 2009

IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

The media and political establishment in the United States are strongly pro-Israel. We're told repeatedly that the Israelis are under dire threat from their Arab neighbors. We aren't told how the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip basically suffer from apartheid. Now we're told that the Israelis are dropping white phosophrous shells on the mostly civilian population in Gaza. This is reprehensible against even military targets. This article by Jeremy Hammond is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.

Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel. These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.

Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge. Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas official. To kill Rayan, Israel targeted a residential apartment building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an attack under international law. This was a war crime.