Indeed, there is no comparison: Israel’s crimes are far worse than Hamas’
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
Jonathan Cook is clear: there are hierarchies when it comes to commiting war crimes.
And Israel’s are far, far worse than those of Hamas: far longer-lasting, hugely greater in number, systematically targeting – and starving – civilians, health workers, journalists and more as part of a project of ongoing ethnic cleansing.
You don’t have to have a kind word for Hamas to see who wins hand-down in the atrocity stakes.
RK
This article was originally published by Jonathan Cook's blog on Tue 21 May 2024. Read the original here.
Indeed, there is no comparison: Israel’s crimes are far worse than Hamas’
Benjamin Netanyahu is right to dismiss as “absurd and false” the suggestion that there is any equivalence in the atrocities committed by the two sides. Here’s why
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It is so important to highlight the facts on any issue as Jonathan Cook has done here.So many facts are often missing from the mainstream, to get the whole picture on any issue you have to actively search for it.
It is obvious to all who study the facts that the crimes of the State of Israel are the worst in the world, actually far worse than those of Hamas or Russia.
If only our ruling establishment politicians would objectively study the facts.
Let’s give the International Criminal Court credit for knowing the difference. Michael Mansfield was very eloquent on this on Al Jazeera TV yesterday afternoon.
This piece is just a variation upon the quasi-religious/philosophical argument about what constitutes a ‘just war’. The ICC is not concerned with whether the combatants are justified in waging war on each other; it is concerned with the question of how the combatants conduct themselves on the battlefield. By announcing that it is seeking arrest warrants the ICC has broken the stalemate which has existed since 7 October 2023 in which the only thing open for discussion has been Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’. No longer can those protesting about what is happening in Gaza be put at an immediate disadvantage by interviewers opening with this question. The question politicians and apologists for Israel will now have to answer is whether they support the way that Israel is conducting this war. Evidently Joe Bydon does.
By seeking arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yolav Gallant for alleged war crimes the ICC is going after the ‘low hanging fruit’ because there is abundant visual, audio and written evidence of their actions. The men who actually bombed the hospitals, shelters and residential buildings, shot civilians at will, executed or tortured captives, on the basis that they were ‘only obeying orders’ will never stand trial for their actions. Instead they will be quietly absorbed back into Israeli society as heroic fathers, brothers or sons.
Getting evidence against the three senior Hamas leaders of sufficient quality to convince a court of their guilt may not be so easy, not least because the actions of the Israeli military on 7 October will come under close scrutiny.
Jonathan Cook’s summary is really excellent. It contains the familiar facts, that all JVL colleagues know well, in a concise nicely presented way, and it punches its points with fine irony. What a bunch of hypocrites our politicians are.
I can honestly say Jonathan Cook’s article is the most honest and full account of Israeli crimes in occupied Palestine I’ve ever read in the 45 years since I became aware of the plight of Palestine. My frustration and often horror at reading carefully curated propaganda about Israel when I knew from Personal contact with Palestinians the situation was nothing like the picture painted by the media and BBC in particular. I met exiled Palestinians here in UK in 1979 and over the years shared their tragedies as one by one their family members were targeted as they were the educated Palestinians, the Doctors , Teachers, Professors etc, which was their families had got their precious children out after a spate of snipers targeting school buses.. knowing they might never see them again. When I say children, they were university students here and most got jobs & visas in America but have always had pain & loss for their Homeland & Families