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It is a War Crime for Terrorists to Hide Among Civilians

(Jerusalem Post) Alan Dershowitz - The one-state solution proposal now being made by Palestinian lawyers and some anti-Israel academics is nothing more than a ploy designed to destroy the Jewish state and to substitute another Islamic Arab state. Those who advocate the single-state solution would never do so with regard to India, the former Yugoslavia, or other previously united states which have now been divided on ethnic or religious grounds. Israel should not have sent a legal team to The Hague because when it comes to Israel, that court is a sham, with a predetermined result. Israel should not legitimate such a legal travesty. Its own Supreme Court is far more capable of rendering a nuanced judgment on the complex issues growing out of the security fence. The law should recognize that it is a war crime for terrorists to hide among civilians, thereby requiring democracies to choose between allowing the terrorists to continue to kill innocent civilians in a democracy or taking military action which will often result in some civilian casualties. The fault for all civilian casualties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies exclusively with the Palestinian terrorists, who deliberately create a situation in which civilians will be killed. Arafat is clearly guilty of murdering American diplomats [in Sudan], and the CIA has his voice on tape ordering the murders. There is no statute of limitations for murder. American foreign policy rests on favoring democracies over tyrannies and supporting our allies. Israel is also an important strategic and military ally that provides the U.S. with important intelligence information and other benefits. That is why every American president and nearly every American congressman and senator supports Israel, even when their own electoral interests do not require such support. The writer is Professor of Law at Harvard University.
2004-10-21 00:00:00
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