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<h1><b>Israeli Extra-Judicial Executions </b></h1><font size=3>March, 04
2008 <br><br>
By <b>Stephen Lendman</b> <br><br>
At 8:50AM on February 27, an Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a
civilian microbus on the coastal road near Khan Yunis in the southern
Gaza Strip. Six members of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades were in it at
the time. Five of them were killed. The sixth one was seriously
injured.<br>
<br>
Twenty minutes later, another aircraft attacked a vehicle in which other
Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades members were traveling. They escaped harm by
fleeing before missiles struck their car and destroyed it. <br>
<br>
On March 1, Hamas reported that Israelis killed 91 Palestinians in
February, 83 in Gaza and eight in West Bank, and the killing continues to
escalate. The International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) said
eyewitnesses confirmed that IDF troops and tanks invaded Jabalyia (in
Gaza) before dawn on Saturday. They targeted the refugee camp, struck at
resident homes, attacked medical relief workers, fired missiles at cars
and in residential areas, and killed at least 37 Palestinians (mostly
civilians) and injured 120 others by midday. IMEMC later on Saturday
raised the toll to 56 dead and updated it again Sunday AM to 98 as IDF
forces continued rampaging without letup.<br>
<br>
Haaretz first reported 34 deaths on Saturday, including five children and
three women. Later in the day, it upped the total to 50, then 59 and by
Sunday noon the total known killed was "more than 70." AP first
indicated 33 deaths, then raised it to 45, then 50 late in the day and 66
by Sunday morning (plus about 200 wounded) and nearly 100 deaths
since February 27. <br>
<br>
The Palestinian Ma'an News Agency reported 84 deaths since Saturday, 98
in total since February 27 and over 200 wounded, many with mangled bodies
and serious life-threatening injuries. Throughout the weekend, Israeli
aircraft struck many targets, including Hamas' headquarters building
(unoccupied at the time) that "completely collapsed" and
injured five people, according to witnesses. <br>
<br>
Reports continue being updated, and the latest 6PM Gaza time one from the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) indicates the following: 101
documented deaths since February 27, including 49 unarmed civilians. They
include 25 children and five women. In addition, more than 250 people
have been injured, mostly unarmed civilians, and many injuries are
serious. Further, there's been widespread destruction of homes, other
buildings and property throughout Gaza. As it usually does, the IDF
employs "disproportionate and excessive lethal force in residential
districts, with utter disregard for the lives of civilians." <br>
<br>
Under international law, these are crimes of war and against humanity. On
March 1, the Palestinian human rights organization, Al-Haq, issued a
statement saying: "Many of the recent Israeli attacks constitute war
crimes which may amount to grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, for
which (Israelis are) criminally responsible" and must face trial.
Al-Haq called on the international community to act because "All
states have criminal jurisdiction to try (the) accused....by virtue of
the principle of universal jurisdiction....No excuse can therefore
justify their inaction in view of the unlawful willful killing of
(Palestinian) civilians in" occupied Palestine.<br>
<br>
PCHR also reported that an Israeli aircraft bombed Abd El-Rahman Mohammad
Ali Atallah's home in Gaza City on Saturday. It was completely destroyed
and killed six members of his family, including three women. Six
other family members were injured, four of whom were children and
one was a "two-day old" infant. The situation is dire,
hospitals can't cope, Israeli forces prevent ambulances from evacuating
the injured, supplies of everything are short, morgues are overwhelmed,
coffins aren't available to bury bodies, and overall conditions are
impossible for Gazans to handle as they continue being attacked without
mercy.<br>
<br>
Palestinians in the West Bank are also affected. On Sunday, Israeli
forces assaulted protesters:<br>
<br>
-- in Hebron with live rounds and tear gas, killing a 14 year old boy and
injuring 45 others, including 24 children;<br>
<br>
-- in Ramallah the same way injuring seven teenagers; and<br>
<br>
-- in Bethlelem as well injuring two boys, one from bullet wounds to the
leg and the other from tear gas inhalation. Other demonstrations took
place in Jenin, Nablus and other West Bank and Gaza locations. Hundreds
of Israeli Arabs also held one in Nazareth, Israel on Friday after the
High Court denied a petition to overturn a police ban preventing Israeli
Arabs from holding a memorial service for recently deceased George
Habash, the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
and its Secretary-General until 2000. No violence was reported.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile for Jews inside Israel, life proceeds normally as they conduct
their daily affairs. So far, the toll on them and IDF forces is
minimal:<br>
<br>
-- a single civilian death, <br>
<br>
-- two soldiers killed by early evening Saturday, <br>
<br>
-- two others slightly wounded on Saturday and four others lightly on
Sunday, <br>
<br>
-- seven lightly injured Israeli civilians on Saturday from nearby rocket
explosions, and <br>
<br>
-- two others by shrapnel from an exploding Katyusha rocket on
Sunday.<br>
<br>
But it's just the beginning according to Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He
said a large-scale invasion is imminent with IDF forces massed on the
border, awaiting orders to invade and attack. It won't be the first time
as assaults have gone on for decades. But they became especially frequent
after the second Intifada began on September 29, 2000. From then through
late January 2008, PCHR documented the extra-judicial killings
alone:<br>
<br>
-- 705 in total;<br>
<br>
-- 478 of them targeted victims;<br>
<br>
-- 227 of them innocent civilians; and<br>
<br>
-- 68 of them (through June 2006) children.<br>
<br>
Total Palestinian deaths and injuries from September 29, 2000 through
late January 2008 are as follows, according to PCHR:<br>
<br>
-- 4419 Palestinians killed, including 794 children, 152 women, 25
medical personnel and 10 journalists;<br>
<br>
-- 11,700 Palestinians injured in Gaza; and <br>
<br>
-- 13,550 Palestinians wounded in the West Bank;<br>
<br>
Palestinians are attacked on any pretext, but February 28 wasn't typical.
A day after a Qassam rocket killed an Israeli in Sderot, Israeli aircraft
killed 18 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Five of them were
children, and it was after 11 deaths the previous day, including three
children. One victim was the son of senior Hamas lawmaker, Khalil
al-Haya, a top figure in Gaza and himself a target of previous
assassination attempts. Palestinians know what they face - continued
attacks from the air or the ground. This is state terrorism, collective
punishment, executions without trial, cold-blooded killings, a serious
breach of international law and against the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention of the Crime of Genocide. More on that below, but first some
background.<br>
<br>
In its June 4, 2001 issue, Israel's largest circulation (Hebrew)
newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, published the following statement from an
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman: "We set up a list of
Palestinian names of individuals whom the Israeli government has approved
for physical elimination, among the names are included members of Hamas,
Fatah, Popular Front and Islamic Jihad activists." <br>
<br>
This is official state policy, and Israel's High Court affirmed it in
December 2006. The Court ruled that IDF targeted killings don't
categorically violate international law, and each one must be evaluated
on its own merit. Specifically, the three justice panel unanimously
stated:<br>
<br>
"The State of Israel is fighting against severe terrorism, which
plagues it from the 'area.' The means at Israel's disposal are limited.
The State determined that preventative strikes upon 'terrorists' in the
'area' which cause their deaths are a necessary means from the military
standpoint. These strikes at times cause harm and even death to innocent
civilians....the State's struggle against terrorism is not conducted
'outside' of the law. It is conducted 'inside' the law....(We) cannot
determine in advance that targeted killing is always illegal....that it
is prohibited according to customary international law." <br>
<br>
This and comparable High Court rulings have stunning implications. They
affirm Israel's claim to be above the law with the right to conduct
willful state-sponsored killings. The Court's justification was that the
State is waging armed conflict against Palestinian
"terrorists." Their members are civilians who aren't protected
under international law. To be afforded such protection, "A
civilian....must refrain from taking a direct part in the
hostilities." Those who violate "this principle (are) subject
to the risks of attack like those to which a combatant is subject,
without enjoying the rights of a combatant." <br>
<br>
Executive Director, Hannah Friedman, of The Public Committee Against
Torture in Israel responded to the decision. She stated: "We are
concerned that today's High Court of Justice ruling will worsen the
current situation and create a dangerous path that will lead to an
increase in the number of innocent civilians who are killed or
injured." In the past 14 months, it's been horrendous as violence
escalates, international law is ignored, and the world community is mute
about mass-murder crimes, overwhelming human suffering, and can barely
say more than both sides must end violence and resume peace
negotiations.<br>
<br>
Israeli Violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention<br>
<br>
Israel is a serial international law abuser. Specifically, it commits
grave violations of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention that protects
civilians in times of war and has done it for decades:<br>
<br>
-- Article 2 states that "the present Convention shall apply to all
cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise
between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of
war is not recognized by one of them. The Convention shall also apply to
all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory....even if the
said occupation meets with no armed resistance;"<br>
<br>
-- Article 3 prohibits all kinds of assaults on life or physical
security;<br>
<br>
-- Article 27 refers to "protected persons" and states
"They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected
especially against all acts of violence....,"<br>
<br>
-- Article 32 prohibits murder, torture and corporal punishment, and
<br>
<br>
-- Article 33 prohibits collective punishment and "all measures of
intimidation or....terrorism." <br>
<br>
Geneva and other international human rights laws guarantee what Article 3
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: that everyone
"has the right to life, liberty and security of person." It
also affirms Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights of 1966 stating that every "human being has the
inherent right to life." Violations of Geneva and other internationa
laws are crimes of war and against humanity. Israel is a serial offender
but has yet to be held to account. <br>
<br>
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights documented its extra-judicial
executions from September 29, 2000 through December 2007 and updates it
weekly on its web site - pchrgaza.org. Below are examples, but first some
background.<br>
<br>
Some Brief History of Israeli Targeted Killings<br>
<br>
Without cause, these executions target specific individuals with explicit
government approval, and Israelis have done it for decades. During the
Mandatory Palestine period, Stern Gang (later renamed Lehi) and Irgun
members were underground terrorists with very committed aims - to drive
out the British (seen as occupiers), allow unrestricted Jewish
immigration, remove indigenous Arabs, and establish the Jewish state of
Israel. They carried out killings and bombings, some of which were
notorious like Lehi's 1944 assassination of Britain's Lord Moyne, the
military governor of Egypt. Another was Irgun's infamous 1946 King David
Hotel bombing killing 91 Brits, Arabs and Jews and injuring many
more.<br>
<br>
Two of their leaders became future prime ministers - Lehi's Yitzhak
Shamir (1983 - 84 and 1986 - 1992) and Irgun's Menachem Begin (1977 -
1983), but they were wanted men before 1948. The New York Times called
Irgun a "terrorist organization," and the World Zionist
Congress in 1946 strongly condemned "the shedding of innocent blood
as a means of political warfare." It was just beginning.<br>
<br>
In the 1950s, targeted killings were common and were used to halt
fedayeen resistance attacks from Egypt. In 1967, after Gaza and the West
Bank were occupied, Palestinians became the favorite target, inside and
outside the Territories, and by various means:<br>
<br>
-- car and mail bombs, <br>
<br>
-- air attacks, <br>
<br>
-- commando raids, <br>
<br>
-- undercover operations,<br>
<br>
-- poisoning, <br>
<br>
-- snipers, and <br>
<br>
-- various other methods, including proxy forces to do Israeli
killing.<br>
<br>
General Ariel Sharon commanded an "anti-terror" detachment in
the early 1970s that targeted Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza.
Through undercover operations, the unit killed 104 Palestinians and
arrested 742 others.<br>
<br>
After Israeli athletes were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Prime
Minister Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan established
"Committee X" that used Mossad operatives to find the kill the
perpetrators. Thirteen deaths resulted, including a Moroccan busboy in
Norway by mistake.<br>
<br>
Throughout the 1970s, Palestinians in the Territories were targeted,
especially its leaders, and in 1982 Israelis nearly killed Yasir Arafat
with car bombs, air attacks and at least once when a sniper had him
targeted but got no orders to shoot. His second in command, Abu Jihad
(Khalil el-Wazir), was less fortunate. He was key to the first Intifada's
success, an irreplaceable leader, and had to be eliminated. Ehud Barak
reportedly got the assignment and headed a commando operation that killed
him.<br>
<br>
Executions continued in the 1990s, including three major ones with mixed
success. One killed Islamic Jihad leader, Fathi Shikaki, in Malta in
1995. Another eliminated Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas Izzaddin al-Qassam
Brigades member who was known as "the Engineer" for his
bomb-making skills. One embarrassing attempt failed. It targeted Hamas'
Amman, Jordan political bureau chief, Khaled Meshal. Two Mossad agents
poisoned him but were captured by Jordanian authorities before they could
flee. To secure their release, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed
to provide the poison's antidote and release Hamas' founder, Sheik Ahmed
Yassin, from an Israeli prison.<br>
<br>
With the outbreak of the second Intifada, killings escalated markedly.
Below are examples, including several high-ranking Palestinians:<br>
<br>
-- Abu Ali Mustafa - head of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP),<br>
<br>
-- Mustafa Zibri - the PFLP's Secretary-General,<br>
<br>
-- Raed al-Karmi - a Lebanese Tanzim movement leader, and<br>
<br>
-- many mid-level resistance fighters from various Palestinian groups
opposing the occupation.<br>
<br>
Examples of Extra-Judicial Executions from September 29, 2000 Through
December 2006<br>
<br>
All three Israeli government branches support extra-judicial killings and
require no evidence to justify them. Officials merely say those targeted
are wanted, dangerous, and threaten State security. As a result, security
forces kill with impunity and with no regard for the innocent, including
women, children, the elderly or infirm.<br>
<br>
Consider an egregious example. On July 12, 2006, IDF aircraft attacked
the home of Dr. Nabeel Abu Silmiya in the Gaza City Sheikh Radwan
neighborhood. The house was completely destroyed and Dr. Nabeel, his wife
and seven children were killed - possibly in error, according to IDF. It
claimed it targeted Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades leader, Mohammed al-Daif,
and a number of his colleagues but struck the wrong house instead.<br>
<br>
Multiple killings are common and are carried out against civilian homes,
government buildings and structures, and by planting bombs in cars and
targeted shootings on the ground. The death toll keeps rising, and PCHR
documented specific examples below. <br>
<br>
Examples of IDF Executions from January Through March 2007<br>
<br>
Five targeted killings occurred in the period during which three others
were injured.<br>
<br>
On February 1, IDF soldiers killed Jaser Nader Ahmad Abut Zugheib in the
Tulkarm refugee camp. In the same incursion, two Palestinians were
wounded, one seriously with a bullet in the chest.<br>
<br>
On February 21, an IDF undercover unit targeted the al-Bassatin area west
of Jenin. It killed Mahmoud Ibrahim Qassem Obaid, an Islamic Jihad
al-Quds Brigades leader, by shooting him in the head at close range.<br>
<br>
On February 28, another IDF undercover unit executed three Islamic Jihad
members as they tried to flee the Jenin refugee camp in a car.<br>
<br>
In the examples above, arrests weren't attempted, and victims were either
wounded or unarmed when IDF soldiers executed them Mafia-style by
point-blank shootings. PCHR stresses that with no due process and the
absence of evidence, there's no guarantee or even likelihood that
targeted individuals committed crimes. They were simply Israeli vigilante
justice victims targeting the innocent.<br>
<br>
Selected IDF Executions from April Through June 2007<br>
<br>
During the period, 25 killings occurred, but only 16 were actually
targeted.<br>
<br>
On April 21, an IDF undercover unit attacked a car in Jenin killing three
Palestinians in it. Two were al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members and the
other belonged to the al-Quds Brigades. On the same day, an IDF
aircraft-fired missile killed an innocent civilian in his vehicle who had
no affiliation with Palestinian resistance groups.<br>
<br>
On May 4, Seilat al-Harthiya village, west of Jenin was attacked. Two
al-Quds Brigades members and a mentally disabled Palestinian civilian
were executed.<br>
<br>
On May 20, an IDF aircraft missile struck a Gaza City al-Shojaeya
neighborhood meeting hall killing seven members of the al-Haya family and
a Hamas activist as well as wounding three others.<br>
<br>
On May 29, IDF undercover units killed two Palestinian activists in
Ramallah and Jenin and wounded five others.<br>
<br>
On June 1, the IDF assassinated an Islamic Jihad member in Khan
Yunis.<br>
<br>
On June 12, the IDF executed an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member in the
north Tulkarm Saida village.<br>
<br>
On June 24, the IDF killed three al-Quds Brigades members and wounded
three civilians.<br>
<br>
On June 30, IDF forces executed three al-Quds Brigades members in Khan
Yunis.<br>
<br>
Selected IDF Executions from July Through September 2007<br>
<br>
On July 26, an IDF aircraft struck a vehicle south of Gaza City killing
three activists in it.<br>
<br>
On August 4, an aircraft-fired missile struck a civilian car near the
Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border. Three al-Quds
Brigades members in it were seriously wounded but managed to survive.
Moments later, two other missiles hit another civilian car killing the
driver and a civilian bystander and wounding 12 others.<br>
<br>
On August 20, IDF forces executed four Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades
members and two additional Palestinian Ministry of Interior Executive
Force members in central Gaza's al-Boreij refugee camp.<br>
<br>
On August 21, IDF air and ground forces killed three Palestinians in
al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis.<br>
<br>
On August 22, the IDF executed an Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades member and
wounded another east of Gaza City.<br>
<br>
During the last week of August, three children were
extra-judicially killed in Beit Hanoun. There was no evidence they had
any affiliation with a local resistance group.<br>
<br>
On September 26, IDF forces executed five Army of Islam members in the
al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City.<br>
<br>
Examples of IDF Executions from September through December 2007<br>
<br>
On October 11, an IDF undercover unit killed one and wounded another
al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member near al-Hamam Square in Jenin.<br>
<br>
On November 25, IDF forces executed an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member in
the Tulkarm refugee camp, east of the town. Witnesses said he raised his
hands to surrender but was shot in the neck. Seriously injured, two IDF
soldiers beat him violently and let him bleed to death in a coffee shop.
A second man was also seriously injured in the attack.<br>
<br>
On November 29, IDF aircraft attacked and killed two Izziddin al-Qassam
Brigades members northeast of Khan Yunis.<br>
<br>
Attacks continue unabated - by air strikes and on-the-ground Mafia-style
executions in violation of sacred international law explained above. And
a Haaretz February 29 article suggests they threaten to escalate.
It quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak blaming Hamas for the increased
violence and said it will "bear the cost of our response....(it's)
necessary and will be carried out." On the same day, Knesset
chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Tzachi Hanegbi,
said IDF forces must "quickly....topple the Hamas terror regime and
take over all the areas from which rockets are fired on Israel," and
they should remain in those areas for years.<br>
<br>
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai went further and threatened a
"shoah," which is the Hebrew word for holocaust. On Israeli
radio he said: "the more Qassam (rocket) fire intensifies and the
rockets reach a longer range, (the Palestinians) will bring upon
themselves a bigger 'shoah' because we will use all our might to defend
ourselves." The comment is outrageous, it incites genocide, and it's
a punishable crime in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention. <br>
<br>
Gregory Stanton's Genocide Watch site has a mission: to "predict,
prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder (by)
rais(ing awareness and influenc(ing) public policy concerning potential
and actual genocide." Its aim "is to build an international
movement to prevent and stop genocide," and it's badly needed in
Occupied Palestine where Israel has conducted state-sponsored genocide
for decades according to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. <br>
<br>
International law expert Francis Boyle agrees and proposed in a March 20,
1998 article that "the Provisional Government of (Palestine) and its
President institute legal proceedings against Israel before the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague for violating the
(Genocide Convention)." He categorically stated that "Israel
has indeed perpetrated the international crime of genocide against the
Palestinian people (and the) lawsuit would....demonstrate that undeniable
fact to the entire world." Boyle would likely agree that the case
today is even more compelling at a time Israeli forces are ravaging Gaza
and assaulting West Bank communities as well.<br>
<br>
Genocide is hideous in concept and execution, and Stanton explains how it
progresses in eight defined stages:<br>
<br>
1. Classification - Cultures or societies distinguish between "us
and them" to categorize people by race, religion, nationality or
other distinguishing characteristic;<br>
<br>
2. Symbolization - Classifications are given names or other symbols, such
as Jews, Latinos, blacks or Muslims.<br>
<br>
3. Dehuminization - A dominant group denies another's humanity and
equates its members with animals, vermin, insects, diseases or, in the
case of Palestinian resistance fighters, gunmen or terrorists;<br>
<br>
4. Organization - Genocide is always organized; most often it's by the
state using militias, the military and/or other security forces to target
victimized groups;<br>
<br>
5. Polarization - Extremists incite hate through propaganda and other
communication methods, and laws and other measures often target the
victims;<br>
<br>
6. Preparation - Victims are identified, separated out and targeted for
elimination;<br>
<br>
7. Extermination - Once it starts, it escalates to mass killing that's
legally defined as "genocide;" and finally<br>
<br>
8. Denial - The final stage assures continued genocide will follow with
evidence of it suppressed or destroyed. Some genocidal regimes are
brought to justice like the Nazis at Nuremberg. Others like Israeli
governments since 1948 have gotten away with it for decades with no
indication (so far) the Olmert or a future regime will be held to
account.<br>
<br>
Minister Vilnai affirms that killing may now escalate against a people
who've been under a medieval siege for months. Talk of peace and
ceasefire is hollow, Israel and Washington incite violence and want none
of it, and IDF commanders are preparing a large-scale assault to target
Hamas for removal. How much longer will this go on? When will the
occupation end? How many more killings will be tolerated? When will world
leaders take note? People who care want answers. It's about time they got
them.<br>
<br>
<i>Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at
sjlendman.blogspot.com. <br>
<hr>
<div align="center"></i></div>
<b>From:<br>
</b>Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives<br>
<b>URL:<br>
</b><a href="http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16752">
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16752</a><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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