How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
JVL Introduction
Research by the ouathor Dan Owen for the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din shows how “the main role of Israel’s military law enforcement system is to maintain the appearance of internal accountability in order to shield itself from external criticism.”
It is based on the doctrine that where possible war crimes are committed, they cannot be investigated by international bodies if the state in question has a legal system capable of investigating them on its own.
Israel claim this to be the case. Owen shows conclusively that it is not.
“Out of nearly 600 incidents in Gaza from the past 10 years that raised suspicions of law violations and whose outcomes are known, only three investigations — one per military offensive — resulted in indictments. Even in these rare instances, whitewashing remains central to the military’s tactics, with the perpetrators avoiding harsh punishment.”
Furthermore, Israel’s law enforcement system hasn’t even begun investigate those who make the decisions that lead to war crimes, whether in government or in the military.
RK
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine, in partnership with Local Call on Wed 24 Jul 2024. Read the original here.
How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
The Israeli army uses the veneer of internal accountability to fend off external criticism. But its record reveals how few perpetrators are punished.
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Hopefully Israel will soon find it harder to bend the USA to its will …
These extracts are from today’s “Al Jazeera” …
“Civil society organisations demand probe into Israeli campaign targeting Americans
Thirty organisations have sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for an investigation and accountability regarding reports that Israel engaged in covert operations aimed at influencing the US’s democratic debate and maligning critics of the Israeli government.
The letter states: “It is incumbent on our government to protect its citizens from efforts by foreign governments to inappropriately interfere in our democratic process by spreading disinformation, targeting US elected officials, and seeking to intimidate members of US civil society.”
The organisations include the Center for International Policy, DAWN and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action (USCPR).
The letter notes that the US has pushed back on similar influence operations undertaken by other countries, including Russia, and the director of national intelligence recently warned about influence operations conducted by Iran.
However, there has apparently been no such effort to protect Americans from Israeli influence operations that are now well documented.”
It’s tantamount to the mafia Investigating itself.