Of course there is the matter of Page 1: Human Shields...
The actual Human Rights Watchdogs on the ground (United Nations, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International etc) always say the OPPOSITE of
what Zionists claims. They say there is NO EVIDENCE of Palestinians using human shields and that it is Israel who repeatedly does. These human rights
groups have hundreds of inspectors on the ground documenting this meticulously.
Here are the brief facts:
1. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the Israel Defense Forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields during the 2002 Battle of
Jenin. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that "the IDF systematically used Palestinian civilians as human shields, forcing them to carry
out military actions which threatened their lives". Amnesty International also reported the IDF's systematic use of, quote, "human shields during the
invasion of Beit Hanoun in 2004." Amnesty International and the UN have repeatedly found no cases of Palestinians using human shields.
2. In 2004, an instance of human shield use by the Israeli border police in the West Bank was caught on camera. A 13-year-old boy was captured by
Israeli police and put in front of the jeep in order to deter other youth from throwing stones at the vehicle.
3. The Israel Defense Forces admitted it had used Palestinians as human shields; it acknowledged using human shields 1,200 times during the Second
Intifada alone.
4. In February 2007, Associated Press Television News released footage of an incident involving Sameh Amira, a 24-year-old Palestinian. The video
shows the West Bank resident serving as a human shield for a group of Israeli soldiers. An 11 year-old girl named Jihan Dadush was also used as a
shield in 2007 by IDF soldiers
5. During the 2008-2009 Gaza War known as Operation Cast Lead, Israeli military forces were accused of continuing to use civilians as human shields by
Amnesty International and the civil rights group, Breaking the Silence. Here, Israeli forces used unarmed Palestinians including children to protect
military positions, walk in front of armed soldiers; go into buildings to check for booby traps or gunmen; and inspect suspicious objects for
explosives
6. Amnesty International claimed that the Israeli military used human shields during the Gaza War of 2008-2009, stating that it found cases in which,
quote, "Israeli troops forced Palestinians to stay in one room of their home while turning the rest of the house into a base and sniper position,
effectively using the families, both adults and children, as human shields and putting them at risk." The UN Human Rights Council also accused Israel
of using human shields during 2008-2009 Gaza Conflict.
7. The Guardian compiled three videos and testimony from civilians about alleged war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers during the 2008-2009 Gaza
War, including the use of Palestinian teenagers as human shields. In the videos three teenage brothers from the al-Attar family were forced at
gunpoint to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas fighters from firing at them and that they were used to "clear" houses for the Israeli soldiers.
8. In 2009, the IDF forced a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags they thought might contain explosives. The boy told he was hit by the
soldiers and forced to work for them at gunpoint.
9 The UN has compiled evidence that Israeli soldiers used Palestinian children as human shields or informants fourteen times between early 2010 and
early 2013. It says almost all soldiers involved in the incident have gone unpunished.
10. In 2014, Amnesty International carried out an exhaustive report of human rights abuses by both Israel and Hamas. The report, quote, “did not
find evidence that Hamas or other Palestinian groups violated the laws of war to the extent repeatedly alleged by Israel,” and that ”contrary to
repeated allegations by Israeli officials of the use of ‘human shields,’ Amnesty International found no evidence that Hamas or other Palestinian
fighters directed the movement of civilians to shield military objectives from attacks."
It, quote, "found no evidence that Hamas or other armed groups forced residents to stay in or around buildings used by fighters, nor that fighters
prevented residents from leaving buildings or areas which had been commandeered by militants."
15. Amnesty International investigated dozens of destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure by Israeli airstrikes and found that, quote, "none of
them were being used by armed groups for military purposes". The report does not contest the presence of Hamas fighters and weapons in civilian
locations, but does not believe this is, quote, “conclusive evidence of intent to use civilians as ‘human shields’, but rather the reality of a
densely populated society under military occupation." [...] “when fighters take cover behind a civilian house or building it does not make that
building and its civilian inhabitants a legitimate military target. Any such attacks are unlawful.”
16. While Amnesty International did not find evidence of Hamas using civilians as human shields, they did find evidence of Israeli soldiers doing just
that. Their report goes on to state:
"In several cases Israeli soldiers also used civilians, including children, as “human shields”, endangering their lives by forcing them to remain
in or near houses which they took over and used as military positions. Some were forced to carry out dangerous tasks such as inspecting properties or
objects suspected of being booby-trapped. Soldiers also took position and launched attacks from and around inhabited houses, exposing local residents
to the danger of attacks or of being caught in the crossfire. Several civilian ambulances were also comandeered by IDF forces."
17. In addition to Amnesty International, even the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded that Israel, quote, "used disproportionate force, deliberately
targeted civilians, used Palestinians as human shields and destroyed civilian infrastructure during its incursion into the Gaza Strip to root out
Palestinian rocket squads.”
That's what the UN inspectors on the ground who are watching stuff happen and documenting it are saying.
18. They're also collecting testimonies from victims of Israeli war crimes in which they were used as human shields:
"Breaking the Silence, a human rights group that publishes testimonies from Israeli soldiers, released a report in which soldiers admitted to their
commanders urging troops to “shoot first and worry later about sorting out civilians.” The group also published testimony from a soldier who
claims that his unit used Palestinians as human shields while raiding houses during a January 2009 invasion of Gaza."
Also, The Goldstone Report (a UN factfinding mission) concluded that, quote, “the Israeli armed forces repeatedly opened fire on civilians who were
not taking part in the hostilities and who posed no threat to them,” and that “Israeli armed forces had carried out direct intentional strikes
against civilians” by using “deliberately disproportionate force designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize the civilian population.”
Even the Israeli Interior Minister agrees. He said, “the goal is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages,” a plan to “destroy and damage
infrastructure, public buildings, and government buildings.”
Gilad Sharon, the son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, “We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The
Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima — the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too. There should be no electricity
in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a cease-fire.”
Israeli minister Michael Ben-Ari said, “There are no innocents in Gaza, don’t let any diplomats who want to look good in front of the world
endanger your lives, mow them down.”
This is basically an admittance of mass murder. So what you have is a colonialist illegally stealing land in violation of international laws, killing
civilians as documented by the UN and at least 4 major Human RIghts bodies, and yet the Palestinians are accused of being savage.
The biggest irony, though, is this: Abbas, an Israeli puppet, gave Israel security cooperation and a West Bank mostly free of suicide attacks and
rocket fire. In return he was given an increase in settlement expansions and additional lists of demands by the Israeli’s. Hamas has kidnapped
soldiers and engaged in attacks. In exchange Bibi has negotiated with them, given them prisoner releases and exchanges and generally treated them
seriously. From that perspective violence is yielding the better results and moderation is a mugs game. Of course history (India, South Africa,
Ireland, the West Indies) has told us that anyway. Power and colonialists never give up anything without force and a demand.
edit on 13-9-2014
by EC666 because: (no reason given)