Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Elder of Ziyon
Because then it can issue statements against all such attacks and pretend that it is not biased against Israel.
Yet even when Amnesty issues a very mild rebuke of Hamas, it bends over backwards to minimize blame while it uses it as yet another excuse to bash Israel.
Here is most of the Amnesty press release about the recent Jerusalem bus bombing, divided up into the parts that are negative towards Hamas, neutral and negative towards Israel (I omitted some background information.)
Even though the title calls on Hamas to condemn the attack, most of the negative words it has are for Israel alone.
Anti-Hamas
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Neutral
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Anti-Israel
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Hamas must condemn attacks on civilians following Jerusalem bus bombing
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After the Hamas movement in Bethlehem claimed the person who detonated a bomb aboard a Jerusalem bus earlier this week as a member, Amnesty International reiterates that deliberate attacks on civilians can never be justified, and calls on Hamas to condemn all such attacks.
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On the evening of 18 April, 20 people were wounded when a Palestinian man detonated a bomb on an Israeli bus in Jerusalem….While it does not appear that Hamas’ leadership or its military wing in Gaza ordered the attack, the involvement of the Hamas movement, possibly including members of its military wing in Bethlehem or elsewhere, is a worrying development.
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Hamas, including its political leadership in Gaza and elsewhere, must clearly condemn all attacks targeting civilians. Such attacks can never be justified and represent a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
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In the upsurge of violence since the beginning of October 2015, 29 Israelis and two US nationals have been killed in Palestinian stabbing, shooting, and car-ramming attacks on Israeli soldiers, police and civilians.1 The vast majority of these attacks, however, have been carried out by individuals not affiliated with any Palestinian armed group,
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though Palestinian political factions and armed groups, including Hamas and its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades, have frequently praised the attacks.
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During the same period, at least 197 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and civilians,
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the majority of whom were reportedly either carrying out or perceived as intending to carry out attacks.
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While deliberate attacks against civilians are never justifiable, the Israeli authorities have an obligation to uphold international law at all times, including in their response to such attacks.
Amnesty International has documented a series of unlawful killings of Palestinians – including attackers or alleged attackers who were not posing an imminent threat to life when they were shot – by Israeli forces since the beginning of October 2015. Some of these killings appear to have been extrajudicial executions.
In addition, Israeli forces have increased measures that amount to collective punishment against Palestinians, such as demolishing the family homes of attackers, imposing arbitrary restrictions on movement, and carrying out mass arbitrary arrests. Collective punishment is prohibited under international law, including Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which applies to Israel as the occupying power.
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Note that Amnesty takes pains to say that Hamas in Gaza doesn't seem to have really been directly involved and cannot even say that Hamas had anything to do with the attack altogether - its only negative words for Hamas is the fact that it did not condemn the attack, not that it was involved in planning and executing it.
The bus attack was well planned and involved many people, and the bomber was an admitted member of Hamas. The Shin Bet says that Hamas was behind it. Yet Amnesty, which will run with any anti-Israel accusation with little proof, is careful to give Hamas the full benefit of the doubt as to whether it was involved in planning this attack.
Amnesty loves to point to press releases like this as proof that it is not biased, yet it proves the exact opposite.
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