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The Genocide Convention vs. Hamas

(National Review) Joshua Muravchik - The moral case for Israel's counterattacks on Hamas is overwhelming. But even in strictly legal terms, Israel's actions have sound justification. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, a treaty with the force of law, codifies what the Nuremberg tribunal and the UN General Assembly in its very first session found to be existing customary law. Article One of the convention defines genocide as "killing" intended "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group." By this definition, Hamas is an organization devoted to genocide and has been working busily at this mission for years, its goal being the complete destruction of the Jewish state. As the late Rantisi affirmed: "We will not leave one Jew in Palestine." Hamas's and Rantisi's platform is as clearly formulated a project of genocide as we have had since Mein Kampf. What this means is that France, Sweden, and the rest are under a legal obligation to destroy or cripple Hamas and to assist in the arrest and prosecution of its leaders and members. Yet until six months ago, the EU allowed Hamas to work freely in Europe, as if it were just another NGO, the rationale being a specious distinction between the organization's "political" and "military" wings, much like the distinction between Hitler's Nazi party and his storm troopers. Under the genocide convention, Europe's legal obligations go well beyond belatedly closing its own territory to Hamas operations. They include doing what can be done to bring a halt to the genocide and punish the perpetrators. By killing Rantisi and Yassin, Israel is doing what all the other nations ought by law to be doing.
2004-04-29 00:00:00
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