{"id":133195,"date":"2014-07-24T22:21:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T22:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=133195"},"modified":"2014-07-24T22:21:48","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T22:21:48","slug":"human-rights-watch-findings-gaza-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/human-rights-watch-findings-gaza-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Rights Watch Findings on Gaza Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"At this point\" href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2014\/07\/23\/israeli-cabinet-mulls-further-escalation-at-least-700-gazans-killed\/\" target=\"_blank\">At this point<\/a>\u00a0in Israel\u2019s\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"massacre \" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/wants-attention-hamas-rockets.html\" target=\"_blank\">massacre\u00a0<\/a>in Gaza, almost 800\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"Palestinians \" href=\"http:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/the-victims-of-gaza-a-list-of-627-palestinians-killed-in-israels-ongoing-assault\/5392713\" target=\"_blank\">Palestinians\u00a0<\/a>have been slaughtered, overwhelmingly civilians, including 24% children. \u00a034 Israelis have been killed, all but 2 of them soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Israel\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"bombed\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timesdispatch.com\/news\/national-world\/ap\/israeli-fire-hits-un-facility-housing-school-in-gaza-killing\/article_ce89a9da-1339-11e4-b57d-001a4bcf6878.html\" target=\"_blank\">bombed<\/a>\u00a0a marked UN school, for which it had the GPS coordinates, killing 15 and wounding at least 150 people. \u00a0This is a repeat of Israeli terrorism against UN humanitarian facilities in Gaza in Israel\u2019s\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"2009 Gaza massacre\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/facts-us-citizens-need-know-israel-palestine.html\" target=\"_blank\">2009 Gaza massacre<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2009, Israel sprayed clearly marked UN humanitarian relief centers with lethal white phosphorous. \u00a0They did this after the UN provided the Israeli army with the GPS coordinates of the center, and while the UN was on the phone with the Israeli army telling them not to bomb the center because civilians were sheltering there and there were no militants present. \u00a0Human Rights Watch confirmed that there were no militants present. \u00a0For details on this, see \u201c<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"Rain of Fire: Israel\u2019s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorous in Gaza\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/reports\/2009\/03\/25\/rain-fire\" target=\"_blank\">Rain of Fire: Israel\u2019s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorous in Gaza<\/a>\u201c, by Human Rights Watch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Israel also sprayed several other civilian shelters, including hospitals and schools, with white phosphorous, and Human Rights Watch likewise confirmed that no militants were present.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>White phosphorus burns at 1,500 degree\u00a0Fahrenheit and sticks to the skin, burning to the bone. \u00a0The chemical properties can also cause organ failure and death.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Human Rights Watch, which was founded as a private American NGO and has a major\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"revolving door with the US government\" href=\"http:\/\/www.informationclearinghouse.info\/article38481.htm\" target=\"_blank\">revolving door with the US government<\/a>, has a well-documented pro-Israel bias, as illustrated\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"here \" href=\"http:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/human-rights-watch-hrw-whitewashes-israel-the-law-supports-hamas-reflections-on-israels-latest-massacre\/5393036\" target=\"_blank\">here\u00a0<\/a>by leading expert on the conflict Dr. Norman Finkelstein.<\/p>\n<p>However, even Human Rights Watch is forced, during these\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"Wounded Knee-style\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/wants-attention-hamas-rockets.html\" target=\"_blank\">Wounded Knee-style<\/a>\u00a0massacres by Israel, to document some of Israel\u2019s atrocities.<\/p>\n<p>Here are key findings from one of the organization\u2019s\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"latest reports\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2014\/07\/22\/gaza-airstrike-deaths-raise-concerns-ground-offensive\" target=\"_blank\">latest reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>Human Rights Watch investigated:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A missile attack that\u00a0killed four boys on a Gaza City pier\u00a0and wounded three others<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Multiple strikes over several days on a\u00a0<strong>hospital for paralyzed and elderly patients<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Attacks on an apparent civilian residence and media worker\u2019s car, and four previously documented strikes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIn many, if not all, of these cases,\u00a0<strong>Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsraeli forces may . have knowingly or recklessly\u00a0<strong>attacked people who were clearly civilians<\/strong>, such as\u00a0<strong>young boys<\/strong>, and civilian structures, including a\u00a0<strong>hospital<\/strong>\u00a0.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HRW on the Israeli strike that killed four fleeing children on the beach:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Evidence at the scene indicates that the attack was carried out with Spike missiles, which have sensors that allow the operator to see the target even after the missile is fired and divert them mid-course if the target is not clearly military.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>HRW on \u201can Israeli airstrike in Rafah on July 11 [that] killed five members of the Ghannam family\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Human Rights Watch visited the home three days after the attack and\u00a0<strong>found no evidence that it was being used for any military purpose<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Israel has not provided a reason for this strike<\/strong>, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Israeli Attack on Wafa Hospital:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Based on photographs of recovered munitions Human Rights Watch viewed, the remnants appear to be sabots from tank-fired projectiles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Tank fire is line-of-sight, direct fire, and Israeli tanks have accurate targeting systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The repeated Israeli attacks using accurate missile and tank fire that hit the hospital indicate that<strong>Israeli forces targeted the hospital intentionally and not accidentally<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">[There was]\u00a0<strong>no justification to hit the hospital<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>HRW, in this same report, on Israel\u2019s 2008\/09 Gaza massacre:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The last ground offensive in Gaza, from December 2008 to January 2009, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, many as the result of unlawful air and artillery attacks, and the unlawful destruction of civilian property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Israel prosecuted only four military personnel<\/strong>\u00a0for offenses during that conflict, and the<strong>heaviest sentence handed down was a seven-and-a-half-month prison term for credit card theft<\/strong>, heightening concerns of continuing impunity in the current fighting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>HRW on what to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the international community wants to prevent civilian suffering, it should urgently put the parties on notice that war crimes during this Gaza escalation will not get a free pass.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The US and other countries should stop pressuring Palestine not to go to the ICC \u2014 pressure that is both misguided and, as evidence of serious violations mounts, hostile to the need for justice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>This HRW report came out on July 22nd. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>On July 23rd, the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"USA was the only country in the world\" href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2014\/07\/23\/un-rights-council-to-investigate-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza\/\" target=\"_blank\">USA was the only country in the world<\/a>\u00a0to veto a UN proposal to carry out an investigation of Israel\u2019s ongoing war crimes in Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Jason Ditz points out, the UN investigation of Israel\u2019s 08\/09 massacre in Gaza found that \u201cfar from self-defense, the Israeli war was meant to \u2018<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"humiliate and terrorize a civilian population.\" href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2014\/07\/23\/un-rights-council-to-investigate-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/israelgaza-conflict-israel-may-have-committed-war-crimes-says-uns-human-rights-chief-9624205.html?printService=print\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>humiliate and terrorize a civilian population<\/strong>.<\/a>\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The several page HRW report also includes two paragraphs on the crime, by Palestinian forces, of using unguided projectiles, as Palestinians have no guided projectiles. \u00a0This is a fair balance of reporting on the two sides, because:<\/p>\n<p>Israel is the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"aggressor\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/facts-us-citizens-need-know-israel-palestine.html\" target=\"_blank\">aggressor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Israel is illegally\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"occupying and colonizing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/facts-us-citizens-need-know-israel-palestine.html\" target=\"_blank\">occupying and colonizing<\/a>\u00a0Palestine.<\/p>\n<p>The overwhelming amount of violence and crimes are being committed by Israel.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">The UN vote every year in favor of the legally required end to Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestine usually goes about 165 to 2, the world against the US and Israel.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Thus, we must keep in mind that shows such as\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"this one on RT\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=URIzjnD8zXY\" target=\"_blank\">this one on RT<\/a>\u00a0that offer one or two voices defending Palestine and counter it with one or two voices defending Israel\u2019s presence in the OPT are\u00a0imbalanced, and present a false depiction of reality. \u00a0To correctly portray the actual balance on the issue, one would have to have 165 defenders\u00a0of the world consensus for every two defenders (such as\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"this&amp;nbsp;\" href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2014\/07\/22\/israeli-envoy-our-military-deserves-nobel-peace-prize-for-not-killing-more-gazans\/\" target=\"_blank\">this\u00a0<\/a>crackpot)\u00a0of the Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestine.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">This is similar to the issue of reporting on climate change. \u00a0Since 1991, there have been about\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"13,950\" href=\"http:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/the-most-devastatingly-convincing-pie-chart-youve-ever-seen?g=3&amp;c=upw3\" target=\"_blank\">13,950<\/a>\u00a0peer-reviewed articles published that affirmed human-caused climate change, and only about 24 that tried to deny it.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Thus, the BBC was\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"recently criticized\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2014\/apr\/02\/mps-criticise-bbc-false-balance-climate-change-coverage\" target=\"_blank\">recently criticized<\/a>\u00a0by British MPs for presenting a fifty-fifty balance on the issue, which is, as in the case of the Israel\/Palestine conflict, an incorrect portrayal of reality, both in terms of the global consensus on resolving the Israel\/Palestine issue and the amount of violence perpetrated, which is disproportionately and overwhelmingly carried out against Palestine by Israel.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u2026<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Please\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"sign this petition\" href=\"http:\/\/act.amnestyusa.org\/ea-action\/action?ea.client.id=1839&amp;ea.campaign.id=30408&amp;ea.tracking.id=MessagingCategory_PrisonersandPeopleatRisk~MessagingCategory_ChildrensRights~MessagingCategory_InternationalJustice~W1407EAIAR1&amp;ac=W1407EAIAR1&amp;forwarded=true\" target=\"_blank\">sign this petition<\/a>\u00a0to help Amnesty International bring about a UN-imposed, comprehensive arms embargo on Israel\u00a0and\u00a0Palestine. \u00a0Dr. Norman Finkelstein also\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"supports&amp;nbsp;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yC2s6eMU3IA\" target=\"_blank\">supports\u00a0<\/a>the comprehensive embargo against both sides.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><em>This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At this point\u00a0in Israel\u2019s\u00a0massacre\u00a0in Gaza, almost 800\u00a0Palestinians\u00a0have been slaughtered, overwhelmingly civilians, including 24% children. \u00a034 Israelis have been killed, all but 2 of them soldiers. Today, Israel\u00a0bombed\u00a0a marked UN school, for which it had the GPS coordinates, killing 15 and wounding at least 150 people. \u00a0This is a repeat of Israeli terrorism against UN humanitarian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-133195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}