The Palestinians: Everybodies Favorite Human Shield

It has been said, many times, and in many places, that Hamas hides hides their weapons and soldiers among civilians and uses them as human shields. This, apparently, legitimizes Israeli military attacks on civilian targets – indeed, our own government blames innocent Palestinian deaths on Hamas because of this tactic.

According to an article in The UK Guardian

The Israeli military are accused of:

• Using powerful shells in civilian areas which the army knew would cause large numbers of innocent casualties;
• Using banned weapons such as phosphorus bombs;
• Holding Palestinian families as human shields;
• Attacking medical facilities, including the killing of 12 ambulance men in marked vehicles;
• Killing large numbers of police who had no military role.

Wait a minute….. what’s that third item?

The Israeli military holds Palestinian families as human shields?

Israeli military actions prompted an unusual public rebuke from the International Red Cross after the army moved a Palestinian family into a building and shelled it, killing 30. The surviving children clung to the bodies of their dead mothers for four days while the army blocked rescuers from reaching the wounded.

[ ..... ]

Israel’s most prominent human rights organisation, B’Tselem, has written to the attorney general in Jerusalem, Meni Mazuz, asking him to investigate suspected crimes including how the military selects its targets and the killing of scores of policemen at a passing out parade.

“Many of the targets seem not to have been legitimate military targets as specified by international humanitarian law,” said Sarit Michaeli of B’Tselem.

Rovera has also collected evidence that the Israeli army holds Palestinian families prisoner in their own homes as human shields. “It’s standard practice for Israeli soldiers to go into a house, lock up the family in a room on the ground floor and use the rest of the house as a military base, as a sniper’s position. That is the absolute textbook case of human shields.

“It has been practised by the Israeli army for many years and they are doing it again in Gaza now,” she said.

(emphasis mine)

I wonder what our government has to say about the Israeli army using Palestinians as human shields?

– and if it still believes that it’s really Hamas’s fault that those three Palestinian kids were killed at a UN school by an Israeli artillery strike while going to the washroom?

According to another article in the Uk Guardian the Palestinian death toll has now passed 1,000 – based on the population estimates of Gaza’s population found at Wikipedia that represents .07% of the total population.

While some may say that’s not a seriously large number let’s compare it to a few other places, like maybe Israel, that would be the equivalent of 5,097 Israeli’s (as opposed to the 13 Israelis have been killed – a number that includes 10 military)….. is that still a small number?

If we used Canada it would be the equivalent of 23,464 dead Canadians, if we used the United States it would be 214,294 – are either of those still small numbers?

On September 11, 2001, 2,974 (.001% of the total year 2000 population) people were killed in the United States and that was considered a huge number.

I have absolutely 0 confidence that Israel will come under any serious scrutiny for any action it has, or is taking – for that to happen western governments like ours would have to revoke the get out of jail free cards they have handed Israel over the years….. and that just ain’t gonna happen is it?

Israel seems to think it’s actions are appropriate

Seven members of one family have died in Gaza after the Israeli army shelled their home.

The incident took place at the Shati refugee camp, on the outskirts of Gaza City. A man and his wife and five children were killed when their home came under fire from artillary from an Israeli Navy ship on Sunday night.

In another shelling a mother and her three children were killed, while a man and his grandson were killed in the Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, in a pre-dawn incident on Monday.

[ ..... ]

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on CNN said she could not understand why the proportionality issue was coming up. Israel’s response was not disproportionate she said. “I would like to say that I do not understand what is the nature of proportionality which is needed. They targeted our school in Berschov in Israel last week. Do you think proportionate action is to target schools?”

I call it like I called US military tactics in Iraq…… when you embrace the tactics and mentality of what you say you are fighting against what have you become?

It does pose an interesting question though, that being, “is there anything that Israel could do that would result in any significant condemnation of their tactics“?