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I heard an interesting interview with Professor Paul Rogers which was spoilt towards the end when he complained that it was 'appalling' that refugees fleeing oppression to the UK (presumably oppression by France) are called 'invaders'.
So his politics are wrong, but he might be right about Gaza. He says that Israel is pursuing the Dahiya doctrine or a scorched earth tactics - what the Israelis call a 'disproportionate response'- as it did in Beirut in 2008.
He does not say this but, of course, disproportionate killing of civilians is a war crime.
So his politics are wrong, but he might be right about Gaza. He says that Israel is pursuing the Dahiya doctrine or a scorched earth tactics - what the Israelis call a 'disproportionate response'- as it did in Beirut in 2008.
He does not say this but, of course, disproportionate killing of civilians is a war crime.
Here is an article ('Israel is losing the war against Hamas – but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it') he has written for the Guardian.
He says the IDF know that Hamas or its ideas cannot be defeated.
Obviously. Surely everyone does. But actually that used not to be true. Before October 7 it seemed Netanyahu had succeeded in sidelining the Palestinian Question. Now we see how wrong that was.
I saw from October 7 that it was impossible to defeat Hamas unless Israel deports the entire Gazan population, as Netanyahu would like to do, and not even then.
Obviously. Surely everyone does. But actually that used not to be true. Before October 7 it seemed Netanyahu had succeeded in sidelining the Palestinian Question. Now we see how wrong that was.
I saw from October 7 that it was impossible to defeat Hamas unless Israel deports the entire Gazan population, as Netanyahu would like to do, and not even then.
Professor Rogers hinted in the interview that the worst atrocities on October 7 might have been committed by random Gazan men who burst through the wall. Who knows?
I start to wonder whether eventually all the Arabs will be swept out of Gaza and the West Bank or one day all the Jews will be forced out of Israel. Neither of these thoughts ever crossed my mind until this so called war (it's not a war really) began.
I am writing to flag a truly important document that should be widely circulated and read carefully by anyone interested in the ongoing Gaza War.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, I am referring to the 84-page “application” that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 29 December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.¹ It maintains that Israel’s actions since the war began on 7 October 2023 “are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic … group in the Gaza Strip.” (1) That charge fits clearly under the definition of genocide in the Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.²
The application is a superb description of what Israel is doing in Gaza. It is comprehensive, well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly documented.
Genocide in Gaza
JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER
https://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/genocide-in-gaza
'even though the South African application focuses on Israel, it has huge implications for the United States, especially President Biden and his principal lieutenants. Why? Because there is little doubt that the Biden administration is complicitous in Israel’s genocide, which is also a punishable act according to the Genocide Convention'
ReplyDeletehttps://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/genocide-in-gaza
That seems a valid point, though it's along time since in studied international public law..
Delete'I never imagined I would see the day when Israel, a country filled with Holocaust survivors and their descendants, would face a serious charge of genocide. Regardless of how this case plays out in the ICJ – and here I am fully aware of the maneuvers that the United States and Israel will employ to avoid a fair trial – in the future Israel will be widely regarded as principally responsible for one of the canonical cases of genocide'
ReplyDeletehttps://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/genocide-in-gaza
Genocide is a word misused by polemicists but yes he is right - I foresee the younger generation becoming even more opposed to Israel than they are. The question is can Israel survive without American support? I think yes.
Delete'can Israel survive without American support? '
DeleteHell, no.
They have the bomb and they won in 1967 without American help - but they might have lost in 1973 had it not been for Nixon.
DeleteWhy is it not a war?
ReplyDeleteChas Freeman, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1743865744218358216?s=20
No armed attack on a State’s territory no matter how serious — even an attack involving atrocity crimes — can provide any possible justification for, or defence to, breaches of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, whether as a matter of law or morality.
ReplyDeleteThe acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa
are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group, that being the part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.
The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing
them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about
their physical destruction. The acts are all attributable to Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide
and is committing genocide in manifest violation of the Genocide Convention, and which has also
violated and is continuing to violate its other fundamental obligations under the Genocide Convention,
including by failing to prevent or punish the direct and public incitement to genocide by senior Israeli
officials and others.
Application instituting proceedings in the name of the Republic of South Africa against the State of Israel
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf
This is the Israeli strategy of 'disproportionate response' whereas killing civilians is a war crime if disproportionate. It may be genocide - someone told me it was scurrilous to say of Israelis that they might be committing genocide but things are as they are, whether they are done by Israelis, Arabs, Saudis or Russians. Netanyahu would like to remove all Arabs from Gaza. In the 1970s he wanted one country 'from the river to the sea' (a phrase which in the UK is considered hate speech if spoken by pro-Arabs) and no doubt has not changed his mind.
Delete