No, Israel isn't engaging in "collective punishment" under international law

Ken Roth, the former Human Rights Watch head, tweeted:

"International humanitarian law prohibits collective punishment of...protected persons for acts committed by individuals during an armed conflict. The imposition of collective punishment is a war crime." -- Red Cross @ICRC

He gave the source  from the ICRC - and it proves the opposite  of his attempt to paint Israel as guilty.

The first paragraph, which he skips, defines collective punishment:

The term refers not only to criminal punishment, but also to other types of sanctions, harassment or administrative action taken against a group in retaliation for an act committed by an individual/s who are considered to form part of the group. Such punishment therefore targets persons who bear no responsibility for having committed the conduct in question.

The word "retaliation" makes it sound as if the action must be done deliberately as a punishment, not as a consequence of going after the actual guilty party.

For example, if a terrorist group gets its arms flown in on flights t a commercial airport, a nation can bomb that airport runway - even if it means that legitimate airplanes cannot land. It definitely affects innocent people but it is not collective punishment, because that is not the intent. 

Similarly, other dual use targets - power stations, TV and radio broadcast stations - may be attacked if they are also used by the combatant. (All of these are subject to proportionality analysis, as with any military action.)

Looking at specific legal rulings listed the ICRC, we see that collective punishment was defined quite clearly by the Special Court for Sierra Leone:

224. The Appeals Chamber finds that the correct definition of collective punishments is:

i) the indiscriminate punishment imposed collectively on persons for omissions or acts for which some or none of them may or may not have been responsible;

ii) the specific intent of the perpetrator to punish collectively.

Although sometimes individual politicians have said stupid things in the heat of argument, but Israel has made it clear in its policy and actions that it has no intention of hurting the Gaza population for anything Hamas has done. 

This brings up a bigger question. In many points of international law, such as the principle of distinction, proportionality and even genocide,  the intent of the parties is paramount in determining guilt. No one is a mind reader so the only evidence we have on intent is the actions - if they can be explained without resorting to malicious intent, then such intent should not be assumed. On the other hand, if there are other examples where the malice is clear, due to what parties said or because their other actions leave no other explanation, then one can assume the intent is malicious. 

With Israel, NGOs and people like Ken Roth always assume malicious intent - which they have never done for Hamas. 

This is how people can quote international law to damn Israel. Even when they quote everything accurately, they are assuming Israel is breaking the rules and therefore they interpret intent in that way.

And if you automatically assume that only the Jewish state has malicious intent against civilians in war, especially when there are thousands of counterexamples that prove otherwise, that pretty much make you an antisemite.

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Terror groups support UN Rapporteur. That's all you need to know.

The Hamas website says:

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has hailed the position of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese condemning the flagrant Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, especially the collective punishment policy.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanoa called on the international community and UN and human rights organisations to put this condemnation into action and to take practical steps towards holding the Israeli occupation leaders accountable for their crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.

Now, there is a ringing endorsement!

Oh, and Hamas is also a fan of a Belgian minister who accused Israel of "wiping entire Palestinian villages off the map." And in the past it has loved Human Rights Watch and Amnesty reports. 

Terror groups have lots of allies in the West, none of whom ever seem to want to dissociate themselves from them.

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An example of 1941 Nazi antisemitism that has re-emerged today

In September 1941, AP reported on the latest Nazi war crime - and the excuse given for it

Herding Jews Into Chapel Of Cemetery 

HANNOVER Germany, Sept 8 (AP) 

German authorities began herding Hannover's Jews into the mortuary hall of the Jewish Cemetery here tonight following the mayor's order evicting them from their homes on 24 hour's notice. 

Scores of men, women and children were conducted to this fastcrowding provisional abode. The eviction orders also provided for the sale of their property, the proceeds to be turned over to them "at a given time." 

The orders cited, as one reason for the ousters, a book written by "The Jew Kaufman in New York," ("Germany Must Perish" by Theodore N. Kaufman) demanding "sterilization of all Germans and employment of German soldiers as coolies in foreign lands." 

So because an obscure Jew wrote an anti-German book, all Jews must be punished. In the end, nearly all the Jews of Hanover were murdered.

The book itself was self-published by Kaufman, an advertising man. It received a little coverage because Kaufman sent copies to newspapers and magazines with a miniature coffin to drum up publicity. I can find no one who took the book seriously or praised it. 

It was mentioned in Time magazine where Kaufman was dismissed as a nutjob who, in 1939, suggested that all Americans be sterilized "so that their children might not become homicidal monsters." 

The book itself, more a pamphlet, does not mention the word "Jew" once. It was an obscure text by a publicity-seeker whose eugenics ideas were no more accepted in the West than those of the Nazis he opposed. 

But today's Nazis are resurrecting the book - not mentioning that it was used as an excuse to murder Jews.

A scumbag named Keith Woods (who boasts 50,000 followers on Twitter as well as on  Youtube) resurrected the Nazi propaganda for today's antisemites, blaming Jews for German suffering, just like the Nazis did. 

Nearly a thousand people "liked" this incitement against Jews. 

Antisemitism is alive and well, and Jew-haters are as open about it as they were in the 1930s.

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Palestinians complain that Israel halted furniture exports from Gaza. They won't mention the reason.

On May 5, Middle East Monitor reported:

Israeli authorities yesterday banned the export of furniture products from the occupied Gaza Strip.

The economic ministry said in a statement that the Israeli move aimed at "inflicting more losses on the enclave's industries that have been suffering due to the blockade."

The ministry called on the international community "to pressure Israel to allow freedom of import and export without restrictions so that the different industries in Gaza can prosper and overcome challenges resulted from the blockade."

So according to Gaza authorities, Israel just decided to stop furniture exports to punish them for no reason. And Arabic media also complains about the ban, which continued into June, asking the international community to pressure Israel to resume the exports and stop its arbitrary punishment of a specific industry.

But there was a reason. 

On May 3, Israeli authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle guns, silencers and cartridges of bullets from Gaza to terrorists in the West Bank - inside furniture.

So now, Israeli authorities must update their procedures to ensure that future attempts to smuggle weapons in furniture are not successful. 

Notice that the weapons appear to have been deliberately hidden in metal components, not only wood, so standard X-ray scanning might not catch them.

  It will take time to come up with a solution that would catch any attempts to export weapons inside items like furniture.

Yet there is no anger for the would-be weapons smugglers, whose decision hurts all furniture manufacturers in Gaza. On the contrary, "human rights" NGOs are saying that Israeli attempts to stop weapons exports from Gaza is "collective punishment" - after all, it isn't a big deal when Jews get shot by West Bank terrorists, right? 

Murdering Jews is not a violation of human rights - but a temporary ban on furniture exports is. And Israel is expected to tolerate its citizens being murdered under the pretext of "human rights."

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Of course the rampages through Palestinian towns are terrorism

Times of Israel reports:

Israel Defense Forces chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai in a joint statement on Saturday strongly condemned an ongoing series of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, branding them as “nationalist terrorism in the full sense of the term.”

In the wake of a deadly terror attack carried out by Hamas-affiliated gunmen in the West Bank on Tuesday, in which four Israelis were killed, the past five days have seen hundreds of settlers rampage inside Palestinian towns and villages, setting fire to homes, cars, and even opening fire in some cases.

“In recent days, violent attacks by Israeli citizens against innocent Palestinians have been carried out in the Judea and Samaria area,” the security chiefs’ statement read, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. “These attacks are against every moral and Jewish value and are also nationalist terrorism in the full sense of the term, and we are obliged to fight them.”

It then later reported in a headline, "Far-right ministers reject criticism of settler attacks on Palestinians as ‘terror’" - but I couldn't find in the text of the article where they said that. They complained about placing an equivalence between the settler attacks and Palestinian attacks, which is not how I interpret the joint statement.

Whether they said it or not, it is important that the Israeli side not engage in what the Israel haters do all the time - redefine terms for political purposes. Israel-haters do it with "apartheid" and "ethnic cleansing" and many other accusations against Israel, ignoring the real meaning of the terms, and the Zionist side must not do the same.

While there is no single agreed upon definition of terrorism, here are some.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2005 said that "terrorism is any action intended to cause death or serious harm to civilians with the purpose of intimidation."

A 2018 UN report on terrorism included in its definition, “any action...that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.”

The US Department of Defense says it is "The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological."

While one might argue whether the rioters intend to cause death to the members of the Arab villages they rioted in, there is no doubt they intend to use violence to intimidate them. The violence is targeting people who are not known to be involved in attacks.

Israel is subjected to double standards all the time. If we are against such double standards, we must enforce a single standard ourselves, no matter what. 

The riots are illegal, immoral, and collective punishment. They are indeed terror. Beyond that, they are counterproductive and hurt the State of Israel, especially among its newest peace partners in the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, not to mention its relations with Europe and the US.  The anger might be understandable but the actions are not justifiable. 

The IDF, Shin Bet and Israel Police are correct in their statement, and the rioters are hurting the State of Israel they claim to support. Unlike what Smotrich said, clearly condemning the rioters' crimes in no way lessens the horror and depravity of Palestinian terrorism.

 

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Here's proof positive that @Amnesty is antisemitic

(Based on a Twitter thread.)

Amnesty International tweeted:

"Human rights" organization Amnesty International  is openly advocating the forcible removal and ethnic cleansing of 670,000 Jews from their homes. 

Normally, that's a war crime. 

They have never insisted on that  in Western Sahara or Northern Cyprus or anywhere else. 

Only for Jews.

The Encyclopedia of Human Rights says settlers have human rights and ethnically cleansing them wholesale is clearly a violation of those rights.

It was talking about Northern Cyprus.

"Human rights" groups are saying, of course, Turkish settlers have human rights and compelling reasons to stay where they are - but Jews don't.

And remember, there are thousands of Arab "settlers" - Israeli Arabs  who have moved over the Green Line in Beit Safafa, Beit Hanina, French Hill and elsewhere. 

Amnesty never calls them "settlers."

No, the only people in the WORLD they want to ethnically cleanse are Jews!

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When Jews have a different set of rules than everyone else, that is the definition of antisemitism. And Amnesty is guilty.

There is another proof of Amnesty's antisemitism in Amnesty's tweet.

Even though most Jews in Judea and Samaria do not support the violence in Huwara, Amnesty wants to use the event as an excuse to collectively punish all Jews who live in Judea/Samaria.

Yes, the most prestigious human rights organization is stereotyping all Jews who live across the Green Line as if they are the same - and wants to punish the peaceful ones because of the actions of a tiny minority.

That is classic bigotry. 

Organizations like Amnesty and other "human rights" organizations that insist that the only people in the world who must be forcibly removed from their homes are Jews. For everyone else, it is a crime, but to remove Jews who have lived in their homes for three generations now - it is obligatory.

How can you explain this without antisemitism? What kind of hoops must one jump through to figure out some crazy distinction that makes it a mere coincidence that Jews are the only people on Earth who must be ethnically cleansed - under "international law"?

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Predictable: HRW doesn't mention Neve Yaakov massacre until they can condemn Israel for something else

Human Rights Watch's website was silent on the Neve Yaakov massacre last Friday night. 

Six days later, they do mention it - in the context of an article condemning Israel for sealing up the houses of the family of the murderer.

The pattern, which we often see in the media as well, is predictable. When Gaza groups shoot rockets, the media only condemns Israel's reaction. When a terrorist kills Jewish civilians, human rights groups wait as long as they can to create a context where Israel is the guilty party.

In this case, murdering civilians is on the same  moral plane as sealing the house of a terrorist. 

Look how HRW frames the attack in Neve Yaakov:

Israeli authorities’ actions to seal the family homes in the occupied West Bank of two Palestinians suspected of attacks against Israelis amount to collective punishment, a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. 

This punitive measure, which Israeli authorities have said they will follow by demolishing the homes, comes amid a spike in violence that has cost the lives of 35 Palestinians and 6 Israelis since January 1, 2023. The violence has included Israeli army raids that unlawfully attack Palestinian cities and refugee camps, Palestinian attacks on Israelis, and attacks on Palestinians and their property by Israeli settlers, who rarely face punishment for these crimes. 

“Deliberate attacks on civilians are reprehensible crimes,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “But just as no grievance can justify the intentional targeting of civilians in Neve Yaakov, such attacks cannot justify Israeli authorities intentionally punishing the families of Palestinian suspects by demolishing their homes and throwing them out on the street.”

Notice how you can never find a straight condemnation of attacks on Jews without a caveat or a "context" in the same sentence.  As if sealing or demolishing a home is just as bad as murdering people. 

Neither Amnesty nor Human Rights Watch had a stand-alone article condemning Palestinian terror attacks last year when there were several mass casualty events against civilians. Those attacks are also buried in this HRW article, seemingly mentioned for the first time on the site, and do not rate a full sentence: "The [Jenion] raid follows more than 10 months of intensified Israeli army raids in the West Bank, after several deadly attacks by Palestinians inside Israel in March 2022."

There were also fatal attacks in April and May and October and November, but HRW already dedicated about 10% of the article to attacks on Israelis, and that is way above their quota already. 

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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