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Verdict: Israel Not Guilty

[Power Line] John Hinderaker - George Bisharat is a Palestinian-American law professor who has made a career out of defaming Israel. On April 4 the New York Times donated space on its op-ed page for his latest screed, titled "Israel On Trial." It begins: "Chilling testimony by Israeli soldiers substantiates charges that Israel's Gaza Strip assault entailed grave violations of international law." He fails to mention that the "chilling testimony" turned out to be untrue. Bisharat states: "Despite Israel's 2005 'disengagement' from Gaza, the territory remains occupied." The statement is simply false. It is because Israel withdrew from Gaza that Hamas was able to take control and launch thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel over a period of years. He accuses Israel of "imposing collective punishment in the form of a blockade, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." Israel had a perfect right to prevent military supplies from being shipped or smuggled into Gaza so that more rockets could be launched. He accuses Israel of "willfully killing civilians without military justification." Hamas' principal military strategy is the employment of human shields. Those who want to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza should stop firing rockets from there. There is no evidence, however, that Israel's military killed any civilians in Gaza otherwise than by accident in the course of operations undertaken for self-defense. He accuses Israel of "deliberately employing disproportionate force." The "proportionate force" theory is beloved by Israel-bashers. In fact, however, no such principle exists in international law. It was invented for the occasion and has never been used as a club against any nation except Israel. No sane country, when attacked, responds "proportionally." Nazi Germany never did attack the United States. Was the fire-bombing of Dresden proportionate? A sane country, when attacked, reacts with all of the force at its command in order to win the war that was started by its enemy. Has anyone ever questioned this fundamental right of self-defense, except as applied to Israel?
2009-04-08 06:00:00
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