Friday, July 21, 2006
Two very good entries at this Progressive blog, ZioNation:
First, Doni Remba, the President of the Chicago chapter of Peace Now has an in-depth look at the question of whether Israel is guilty of "war crimes" in the current conflict: Are Israel's Military Operations in Lebanon Proportional? Is Israel Guilty of War Crimes? - What International Law Really Says
The answer, which he gives full and deep examination to, is no:
...As horrible as it is for us to see hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing from the war zone--and we should support immediate humanitarian assistance to the 45,000 of these (and all others) who need it--Israel has committed no war crime by taking action against legitimate Hezbollah military targets which it has willfully placed within urban and other civilian areas. This is all the more so given that Israel has fully complied with the laws of war by giving sufficient warning to the Lebanese civilians affected by its operations against Hezbollah military targets. The law may seem to some to be insufficiently morally sensitive. But so long as we cannot--and must not, morally--embrace pacifism, we must accept the tragic fact that even the most just wars may result in many civilian casualties—foreseeably and unintentionally—yet justifiably, with the full and terrible weight of law and morality.
Then there's this, about Ada Aharoni, a founder of "Four Mothers" -- a movement to get Israel out of Lebanon in the late '90's. She supports the current action (though opposes a ground invasion).
