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Michael Ben-Yair: The Six-Day War ...
[T]he war’s seventh day, which began on June 12, 1967 and has continued to this day, is the product of our choice.
We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities.
Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one — progressive, liberal — in Israel; and the other — cruel, injurious — in the occupied territories.
In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture.
That oppressive regime exists to this day.
Portions of this video interview of Ilan Pappé are included in Occupation 101 (Triple Eye Films, 90 minutes, first film festival screening: March 2 2006, DVD released: May 15 2007), a film by Sufyan Omeish, Abdallah Omeish (producers, directors), winner of 7 film awards, this being one of 34 interviews in the film (“Award-winning documentary film on the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film depicts life in occupied Palestine under Israeli military rule.”).
Subsequently, Ilan Pappé, author, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld Publications, Oxford England, published October 12-19 2006, U.S. November 20) {U.K., U.S., Germany}, forthcoming, Ilan Pappé, The Bureaucracy of Evil: The History of the Israeli Occupation (Oneworld, July 1 2010) {U.K., U.S.}.
_______________
Ilan Pappé: Every other means, in the last 38 years, have failed.
Mearsheimer, Walt. The United States has become the de facto enabler of Israeli expansion in the Occupied Territories, making it complicit in the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians.
New York Penal Code, § 115.05, accord, Arizona, § 13-1004 (“knowingly provides the other person with means or opportunity for the commission of the offense”); Kentucky, § 506.080 (“knowingly provides such person with means or opportunity for the commission of the crime”); North Dakota, § 12.1-06-02 (“knowingly provides substantial assistance to a person intending to commit a felony”); Tennessee, § 39-11-403 (“knowingly furnishes substantial assistance in the commission of the felony”); Guam, § 9-4.65 (“knowingly furnishes substantial assistance to him”); United States, 18 U.S.C. 18 U.S.C. § 2339A (“provides material support or resources ... knowing or intending that they are to be used in preparation for, or in carrying out ...” 35 different crimes), and see, Model Penal Code § 206, commentary (American Law Institute) {LCClass: KF9219, ditto, ditto, LCCNs: 80050699, 84051700}.
18 U.S.C. § 2339A. And see, 18 U.S.C. § 956 (“Conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons or damage property in a foreign country”). Query: Does this include armed robbery? of Palestinian land and water?
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Part 2. Jurisdiction, Admissibility and Applicable Law
Article 8
War crimes
1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.
2. For the purpose of this Statute, "war crimes" means:
(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention: ...
(iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; ...
(vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
(viii) Taking of hostages.
(b) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts: ...
(viii) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory; ...
(xiii) Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war; ...
(xxv) Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions;
Part 3. General Principles of Criminal Law
3. In accordance with this Statute, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that person: ...
(c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, aids, abets or otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted commission, including providing the means for its commission;
(d) In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose. Such contribution shall be intentional and shall either:
(i) Be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or criminal purpose of the group, where such activity or purpose involves the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; or
(ii) Be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the crime; ...
* * *
1. Unless otherwise provided, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court only if the material elements are committed with intent and knowledge.
2. For the purposes of this article, a person has intent where:
(a) In relation to conduct, that person means to engage in the conduct;
(b) In relation to a consequence, that person means to cause that consequence or is aware that it will occur in the ordinary course of events.
3. For the purposes of this article, "knowledge" means awareness that a circumstance exists or a consequence will occur in the ordinary course of events. "Know" and "knowingly" shall be construed accordingly.
It still reverberated in 1990, when I and other Jewish doves lobbied legislators to support a Sense of Congress resolution. The resolution called on Israel to reopen the Palestinian universities that it had recently closed in response to the (first) intifadah.
Among the offices I stopped at was that of Joseph Kennedy, then my own representative. I did hesitantly recall that a Palestinian had taken the life of his father. Kennedy was not in, so I explained my purpose to his legislative aide for foreign affairs. She immediately responded: "We can't support that." When I asked why, she said: "Because of Chuck Percy and the Lobby."
I found that ironic. My own father, a Zionist leader in Chicago, had organized the significant Jewish support that helped elect Percy to the Senate in 1966, because Israeli officials told him the incumbent was too sympathetic to Palestinians. In 1984, my father worked again to defeat the incumbent—this time Percy himself—for the same reason.”
• Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2004 I.C.J. 136 (U.N. I.C.J.: International Court of Justice, The Hague, Advisory Opinion, July 9 2004) {8.1mb.pdf, source}, ICJ summary {128.5kb.pdf, source}, U.N. Doc. A/ES-10/273 (July 16 2004) {469kb.pdf, UNBISnet, browse}.
John Dugard (special rapporteur):
Instead, I shall speak only about Israeli actions against ordinary, non-militant, non-activist, Palestinians.
Who simply want to lead a good life, with their families and friends, who wish to educate their children for a better life, and who wish to enjoy the basic amenities of life.
I hope that my portrayal of the hardships experienced by such people will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye, and a deaf ear, to the suffering of the Palestinian people.
From a human rights perspective, the situation has deteriorated each year until the present time, which is intolerable, appalling, tragic — call it what you will — for the ordinary Palestinian.
To illustrate this, let me describe some of the Israeli actions, practices and laws which the ordinary Palestinian faces.
What Israel chooses to describe as “collateral damage” to the civilian population is in fact indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law.
Then there are regular sonic booms, which terrorize the population at night.
Many essential drugs are unavailable.
Hospital staff cannot come to work as their salaries are unpaid and they cannot afford transport to their workplace.
Patients cannot travel abroad for better treatment because of the closure of the Rafah crossing.
Schools have likewise been damaged.
Citrus trees and olive trees have been uprooted.
Agricultural land flattened by bulldozers.
Food prices have inflated.
Fish is no longer available because of Israel’s naval blockade which forbids fishing.
Perishable food is lost because of the lack of electricity.
Not for security reasons.
But to bring pressure on the Palestinians, to release Corporal Shalit.
Gaza is a prison.
And Israel seems to have thrown away the key.
Which is no longer justified by Israel as a security measure.
Instead, it is openly acknowledged, that it serves a political purpose:—
The annexation of settlements and settlement land.
The humanitarian impact of the Wall is severe.
Palestinians living between the Green Line and the Wall, in the so-called closed zone {maps, copy}, cannot freely access schools, hospitals, and places of employment in the West Bank.
Those living along the Wall, in the West Bank, cannot access their farms, in the closed zone, without a permit.
And permits are frequently refused, for specious reasons, by Israeli bureaucrats, determined to humiliate Palestinian farmers.
In despair, many Palestinian farmers have abandoned their lands.
This has resulted in a new category of internally displaced persons.
In other countries, this process might be described as “ethnic cleansing.”
But political correctness forbids such language, where Israel is concerned.
The West Bank is fragmented, into Bantustans, by checkpoints, and roadblocks.
Cities are cut off from each other.
Goods cannot be transported freely within the West Bank.
And individuals with permits to cross checkpoints are harassed, and humiliated, by IDF soldiers, who seem to regard all Palestinians as terrorists.
In most cases, checkpoints serve no security purpose.
Rather they are intended to make Palestinians continually aware of Israeli power.
The Caterpillar® bulldozer has become a symbol of the occupation.
Some are relegated to the West Bank while others retain their privileges as East Jerusalemites.
Crossing the Wall has become a nightmare.
Families have been separated.
A low Wall is being built between Palestinian homes and grazing and agricultural lands — designed, as usual, to facilitate the travel of settlers.
Non-Jordan Valley residents may no longer enter the area without permits.
Checkpoints isolate the Valley.
And settlements expand.
Some 40 per cent are below the poverty line, dependent on food aid.
Unemployment stands at about 40 per cent while civil servants, numbering 23 per cent of the Palestinian population, are employed, but unpaid.
Israel is unlawfully withholding VAT duties and customs revenue amounting to 50-60 million dollars per month.
And the United States, Canada, and the European Union have discontinued funding of projects associated with the Palestinian Authority.
The EU’s Temporary International Mechanism, designed to provide relief to the health sector and to provide basic allowances for the poorest segment of the community, has provided some relief, but is inadequate to restore basic amenities to the bulk of the population.
Since 1994, the OPT has become heavily dependent on foreign funding.
The discontinuation of this funding has impacted severely on Palestinian society.
Israel violates international law, as expounded by both the Security Council and the International Court of Justice, and goes unpunished.
But the Palestinian people are punished for having democratically elected a regime unacceptable to Israel, the US, and the EU.
As security measures, they are grossly disproportionate and indiscriminate.
They constitute collective punishment, not of a government, but of a people — in clear violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Its actions, practices, and laws deal harshly with Palestinians.
But other states and institutions are not blameless.
The United States, Canada, and the EU have contributed substantially to the humanitarian crisis, by withdrawing funding, not only from the Palestinian Authority but also from the Palestinian people.
In effect, it has made itself a party to the imposition of economic sanctions against the Palestinian people.
All Member States of this Council are members of the United Nations and accordingly bear some responsibility for the present situation.
If the states and institutions comprising the international community cannot recognize what is happening in the OPT, and take some action, they must not be surprised, if the people of the planet disbelieve, that they are seriously committed to the promotion of human rights and the protection of an endangered people.
Warren W. Tichenor (U.S. UNHRC ambassador): We thank the Special Rapporteur for his work.
We must, however, disagree with his suggestion, that the Roadmap is “hopelessly out of date.”
The Roadmap calls for a two-state solution — Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security — and remains the only international peace plan endorsed by the parties themselves.
It imposes obligations on both Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel must dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001 and freeze settlement activity.
The Palestinians must renounce violence and terror, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, and prevent terror attacks. This includes the countless Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel following Israel’s Gaza withdrawal.
We have also joined with our Quartet partners, to call on the parties to fully implement their respective obligations under the Agreement on Movement and Access.
The Report also discusses the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion.
In our view, this advisory opinion was not a useful contribution to parties’ efforts to resolve their differences.
Nevertheless, we have constantly called on Israel, in determining the route of the separation barrier, to take into account the humanitarian and economic impact on Palestinians.
As we continue to urge both parties to consider the broader implications of their actions on the ground, and to avoid actions that could prejudice final status issues, that should be decided through negotiations.
Mr. President, in a Council which seeks to reduce selectivity and double-standards, the United States strongly urges our colleagues to consider this issue in its proper context.
Not from a one-sided perspective, which may satisfy the political exigencies of the moment, but does nothing to improve the lives of Palestinians, or Israelis.
What is the “proper context” of armed robbery?
That the criminal gang, the violent criminal state enterprise, it’s leaders and promoters:—
They are helpless victims?
Addicts?
Addicted to greed?
Addicted to power?
Addicted to abuse?
(The infliction thereof).
Not responsible for their actions?
And we should “consider this issue”?
Take pity on them?
Feed their addiction?
With ever more, and more, powerless victims?
Victims we actively, continuously, disempower?
Groom?
As a ready meal?
The next fix?
A storehouse of fixes?
For the addicts?
To feed their hunger?
Be gentle with their victims?
Temper their avarice?
With a little humanity?
And how do they do that?
Exactly?
My neighbor, he got robbed at the bus stop.
And the robber took pity on him, gave him back some of the money, enough for his bus fare, so he could get to work.
Something like that?
A little humanity?
The robber, he took “into account the humanitarian and economic impact” of his violent crime.
And he ameliorated it.
Softened the impact of it.
I guess Warren W. Tichenor would pat him on the back, the robber.
The Israelis, could they please Warren W. Tichenor?
Too?
Like this, maybe?:
When they send in their Caterpillar® bulldozers, made in the U.S.A., instead of the 200 meter wide swath they usually confiscate (their neighbor’s land) as a buffer, for their “separation barrier,” they could make it 190 meters instead? Leave an extra row of olive trees? Now and again?
Something like that?
A little humanity?
“Take into account the humanitarian and economic impact” of their violent crime?
Their armed robbery?
Here. This should placate Warren W. Tichenor, his token, feigned, sensibilities {293kb.pdf, source, 436kb.pdf, 547kb.pdf, barriers}:
Did they “take into account the humanitarian and economic impact” of their violent crime?
Or were they merely making life easier for themselves?
Placating a few noisy victims? To shut-up their annoying cries? A minor sacrifice by the criminal gang? For a little peace and quiet?
So.
Some winners and some losers, then.
At this godfather council.
On the next routine step.
In their ethnic cleansing.
Of the West Bank.
A violent war crime of occupation.
A violent crime against humanity.
Defending, improving, the spoils of their state-sponsored armed robbery.
At Wannsee? Was it? This meeting?
Or at Jerusalem, I suppose it was.
A violent, criminal, terrorist, state, which decided to change course, and terminate their conspiracy, their aiding and abetting, their facilitating, their incitement, of the violent crimes of another state:—
Such a state — the United States of America in this example — would not make a tepid call for vague humanity.
If the U.S. wishes to withdraw from the violent criminal enterprise it has carefully crafted, it must do so dramatically, and unequivocally.
Like this:
The United States condemns Israel.
Calls on all nations of the world to take immediate action against Israel, a blockade.
Until Israel withdraws its armed forces, and its colonizers, from all land outside its recognized borders.
Until Israel pays just compensation, for 40 years of abuse.
Until Israel tears down every last inch of that wall which sits outside Israel’s boundaries.
Exactly, as the United Nations International Court of Justice has decreed.
And humanity has decreed, since time out of mind.
You cannot lawfully build a wall.
On your neighbor’s land.
And.
You cannot lawfully use that wall,
To rob your neighbor, of his land.
Period.
Full stop.
And if you do it anyway, you’re committing a violent crime.
“Violent,” because I don’t suppose your neighbor acquiesced in this wall.
You menaced him.
With your violent, criminal, army.
An army willfully obeying orders.
Criminal on their face.
If you want to build a wall,
Build it on your own land.
Renounce your violent, criminal, way of life.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council:—
That is what he would say.
Were he not a mouthpiece.
For a violent, state-sponsored, criminal enterprise.
Is Warren W. Tichenor a mere mouthpiece?
Following orders?
Reading words imposed on him to read?
Or, is he taking a willing, active, part in this criminal enterprise.
Does he exercise free moral will, and chose, to advance the criminal aims of the enterprise.
By what he does.
And by what he does not do.
An inquiry for another day.
The prima facie violent crimes of Warren W. Tichenor.
And many, many, other U.S. government officials, contractors, agents, operators.
Their material support, for:—
Terrorism.
War crimes.
State-sponsored violent crime.
Will Warren W. Tichenor, and others, one day in the future, continue to provide a service to their country?
Convicted violent criminals?
Salutary examples to onlookers?
What violent criminal government officials can expect?
Down the road?
If, and when, and if ever, the U.S. government changes direction?
If the U.S. voters will it, at the ballot box.
A simple cross on the ballot paper.
A simple click, a button on a voting machine.
A simple, resolute, decision.
Criminal trials, court TV, popcorn, frog-marching.
Some action.
Some righteous action.
For a change
A welcome change.
Let the sword of justice be unsheathed.
From Nashville:
Woodmont Grammar School (1948-1956)
Montgomery Bell Academy (1956-1960)
Vanderbilt University (1960-1964 BA)
Vanderbilt Law School (1964-1967 JD)
Tennessee Bar No. 005483 (August 12 1967)
Jimmy Carter: The attempt to coerce Hamas leaders, by starving the Palestinian people, has failed, and it is time for the international community to alleviate their suffering and resort to diplomacy.
By CJHjr: Transcribing TV/radio audio (paragraphed/punctuated for speech, the speaker’s rhythm, stress, pace), bold-face, text {in braces}, quotes from printed sources: some added paragraphing, commas.
This document is not copyrighted and may be freely copied.
CJHjrCharles Judson Harwood Jr.
Posted Dec. 1 2006. Updated May 30 2009.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jksonc/docs/palestine-peace-not-apartheid-200601.html
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