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The Phony War Crimes Accusation Against Israel

[Huffington Post] Alan Dershowitz - Every time Israel seeks to defend its civilians against terrorist attacks, it is accused of war crimes by various UN agencies, academics and some in the media. It is a totally phony charge concocted as part of Hamas' strategy to delegitimate and demonize the Jewish state. Israel is the only democracy in the world ever accused of war crimes when it fights a defensive war to protect its civilians. This is remarkable, especially in light of the fact that Israel has killed far fewer civilians than any other country in the world that has faced comparable threats. Those who cry "war crime" against Israel don't generally care about war crimes, as such; they often support them when engaged in by countries they like. Any discussion of war crimes must be comparative and contextual. If Russia did not commit war crimes when its soldiers massacred tens of thousands of Chechnyans (not even in a defensive war), then on what basis could Israel be accused of accidentally killing a far fewer number of human shields in an effort to protect its civilians? If Israel alone were ever to be charged with "war crimes," that would mark the end of international human rights law as a neutral arbitrator of conduct. If the laws of war and international human rights are to endure, they must be applied to nations in order of the seriousness of the violations, not in order of the political unpopularity of the nations.
2009-01-23 06:00:00
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