The Israeli army indiscriminately and deliberately targeted civilians during a brutal 2014 assault known as "Black Friday", according to a new report on last summer's Gaza war.
The joint study by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture, released on Wednesday, cites "strong evidence" of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity on August 1, 2014, as Israeli forces bombarded residential areas in Rafah in retaliation for the capture of one of its soldiers.
"There is overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces committed disproportionate, or otherwise indiscriminate, attacks which killed scores of civilians in their homes, on the streets and in vehicles and injured many more," notes the report.
"This includes repeatedly firing artillery and other imprecise explosive weapons in densely populated civilian areas… In some cases, there are indications that they directly fired at and killed civilians, including people fleeing."
The report relies on hundreds of videos, photos and satellite images that were analysed and cross-referenced with eyewitness testimony.
It catalogues the events of August 1-4, 2014, when a scheduled humanitarian ceasefire was derailed after Israeli soldiers clashed with Hamas fighters in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. Two Israeli soldiers and one Palestinian fighter died in the ensuing firefight, and Hamas fighters captured a third soldier , Lieutenant Hadar Goldin.
The US was the only country in the world to oppose a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for war crimes, at the 29th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), held from 15 June to 3 July 2015.
The US voted against “ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in” the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
41 nations voted for the measure, including Germany, France, Japan, Brazil, China, and more. Just five nations abstained—the most high-profile of which was India, which is presently run by a right-wing Hindu nationalist government that spends billions on Israeli weapons.
This vote came just weeks after the release of the UN Human Rights Council report on the 2014 Gaza war, which documents possible war crimes by Israel, including the deliberate targeting of besieged Palestinian civilians.
Israel and the US accused the UN of downplaying violations of international law by the Gazan armed resistance in its report. Scholar Norman Finkelstein, nevertheless, argued that the report was in fact biased in the interest of Israel, calling it “tepid” and “unserious,” accusing it of exhibiting “rank anti-Muslim bigotry.”
This is by no means the first time the US has flaunted its utter contempt for international law in the chambers of the UN. In fact, it did precisely the same less than a year before.
In July 2014, the US was yet again the only country on the UNHRC to vote against “ensuring respect for international law in the OPT.”
29 nations voted in favor of this resolution, including all of the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). 17 nations abstained, including Germany and France, who voted for the July 2015 resolution. The US was the only country to defy the measure.
One and a half years earlier, just nine nations (the largest of which were the US, Israel, and Canada) voted against non-member observer status for Palestine at the UN. 138 countries voted in favor of the measure.
There are few issues that can unite this much of the international community in almost unanimous agreement.
Images like these show just how isolated the US is on the global stage, and just how deranged US public and political discourse around Israel-Palestine is. The fact that the international political disparity continued to grow in the wake of Israel’s summer 2014 attack on Gaza and that the US refuses to pass even the most moderately worded and lukewarm of UN resolutions further demonstrate this fact.
If Mondoweiss were a clickbait publication, the title of this piece would likely be “How the US Is a Rogue State, in One Image.”
The “battle for the hearts and minds,” as it is said, of 95% of the world was already won long ago. The international community is, with few exceptions, united in its desire to see international law respected in occupied Palestine (in the form of an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the cessation of its illegal siege on Gaza) and human rights guaranteed to the indigenous Palestinian population.
US and Israel should Held responsible for the Current Refugee crisis ... After attacking their homes now these people have no where else to go
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Disturbing footage of a heavily armed Israeli soldier holding a terrified child in a headlock have gone viral.
It’s believed the soldier was trying to arrest the 11-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Tamimi , who appears to have a broken arm.
Women pull at the soldier desperately, and his sister A’hed bites him on the hand in an attempt to free her brother.
Watch the video here == > http://bcove.me/ks5egjyj
The incident took place in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank during an organised protest by Palestinian activists.
CNN claim the boy’s father, Bassem Tamimi, provided footage of the altercation.
Well Every Dog Has its Day
‘This is very difficult for any father or mother to see their son or daughter in that way, being violently attacked.’
He said the family often record the demonstrations to post in a Nabi Saleh solidarity forum and document evidence of what he claims is Israeli abuse
The Israeli army has since defended the soldier’s actions, insisting people in the crowd had thrown stones before the arrest attempt.
‘The forces decided to detain one of the Palestinians identified hurling rocks,’ an Israeli spokesperson told CNN.
After all you can see on internet and Media if you still believe that what israel is doing is Self Defense , Then i guess there's no brain left in that Big head of yours ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdfmZUOrGCk
The Footages shows that Israel Used White Phosphorus Gas on Gaza Strip wich is banned to use in Highly Civilized areas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOi1tGTog-U
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/17/israel-gaza-phosphorus-civilians
Look What Jews and IDF Soldiers have to say about Israhell
https://youtu.be/U1jcWqNcRvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V5NwJE82Lg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pw8m4azLcg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u59ii5znkLI
and checkout this page the Organization by an IDF War Veteren
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
