Mike Whitney – The Unz Review Sept 11, 2024
Are Washington’s Voting Rights on the UN Security Council at Risk? “…a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.”
The main obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza is not Israel or Hamas. It’s the United States. Here’s what you need to know: The Security Council approved the Biden-authored ceasefire deal on June 10, 2024. (Three months ago) US diplomats assured the other members of the Security Council that Israel supported the agreement. That claim turned out to be false. Israel does not back the deal and refuses to implement its provisions. Even so, the so-called Biden Plan passed the Council in the form of Resolution 2735. Here’s a summary of the agreement:
By resolution 2735 … the 15-member organ noted that the implementation of this proposal would enable the following outcomes to spread over three phases, the first of which would include an immediate, full and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages; the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed; the exchange of Palestinian prisoners; withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza; the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes; and the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout Gaza. Adopting Resolution 273 5, United Nations
There’s no ambiguity here, the Council’s demands are clear. Both parties to the conflict are required to implement the provisions of the resolution that are “binding” under international law.
Hamas has agreed to comply with resolution 2735 while Israel has refused. In short, the United States and Hamas are on the same side of the ceasefire issue.
In order to confuse the public about Israel’s refusal, the Biden administration has continued to oversee negotiations in Cairo and Doha (with Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the US) to create the impression that negotiations are ongoing. But they’re not ongoing. This is a farce that is being used to conceal Israel’s rejection of the UN-backed ceasefire. The US is an accomplice in that deception.
Presently, the public is convinced that if Israel and Hamas could hammer out a compromise on the Philedephi corridor, then a settlement would be possible. But this too is misleading because the ceasefire resolution has already been thoroughly debated and approved by the Council. Besides, the Philedephi corridor appears nowhere in the text of resolution 2735 which makes it a moot point. Russia’s envoy to the UN Security Council summed it up like this last week:
the Israeli leadership, unfortunately, continues to regard the negotiations merely as a “smoke screen”, which helps to distract the attention of the international community from Israel’s military solution to the Palestinian issue. This is evidenced not only by West Jerusalem’s actions on the ground, but also by the recent remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who stated that he would not stop the military action in the Strip. We still see no indication that Israel’s military cabinet has any intention to change this policy Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN
This is an accurate account of what is currently taking place. The US is assisting Israel in pulling the wool over the eyes of the public to escape accountability for the ongoing rampage and to make it appear as though they have a genuine interest in resolving the 10-month-long dispute. But there is no interest in resolving the dispute, in fact, Netanyahu has stated repeatedly that Israel will not stop the hostilities and will not withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza. There is no gray area here. It is a blunt refusal to comply with the UN mandate.
Naturally, members of the Security Council have responded to these developments with frustration and anger. They can see now that they were misled by the Biden administration which hoped to put pressure on Israel by pushing their deal through the UNSC. Now that the plan has blown up in their faces, the US is back to its old tricks of providing cover for Israel regardless of the offense. Here’s more from the Russian envoy Dmitri Polyanskiy:
Colleagues, how much longer are we going to remain idle, while American would-be mediators continue putting on a show and feeding us empty promises that their diplomatic efforts “on the ground” will bring speedy results? The reality is that f or 10 months now, Washington has basically held the entire Council hostage, threatening to use their veto and preventing us from taking tough and unambiguous decisions either on the Palestinian issue and a ceasefire in Gaza, or on advancing the Middle East peace process as a whole…
If Resolution 2735 is not being implemented, let’s pass a new document, which would send an unequivocal message to the “spoilers” that they will definitely bear the consequences of what they are doing. And let us provide our resolution with a toolbox that would help stop violence, regardless of the whims of any party to the conflict. It is also of critical importance that Washington finally ceases its multi-billion-dollar military assistance to Israel, which is being used to annihilate Palestinian civilians. How many more victims are needed for the Council to act in line with its mandate and stop following blindly the lead of the United States and Israel? Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN
US ‘held UNSC hostage for 10 months’ threatening to use the veto and preventing Council from taking action on Palestine issue – Russian rep to UN#Russia #UN #UNSC #Palestine #Gaza #Israel #Hamas #22agosto #22ago #news #video pic.twitter.com/5mZQcamfzu
— Viory Video (@vioryvideo) August 22, 2024
Dmitri Polyanskiy addresses the UN Security Council
So, you can see that the temperature is rising at the Security Council and that many of the members are at wit’s-end with Washington’s antics. Polyanskiy spoke for many of the members when he closed his statement with this blistering rebuke:
Everyone in this chamber is perfectly aware of the fact that it is the United States that bears the main responsibility for what is happening now in Gaza.
That sums it up perfectly.
It’s worth noting, that US diplomats that have participated in recent negotiations in Cairo and Doha have not even kept Security Council members up-to-date on the details of those meetings. It’s a rogue operation headed by American officials who have no authority to modify the existing ceasefire agreement and who (shockingly) are conducting these gatherings without representatives from Hamas. The whole thing is a cynical fraud that bears a striking resemblance to Zelensky’s Peace confab in Switzerland that excluded Russia. One fake peace conference begets another.
Dmitri Polyanskiy again—While initially we discussed the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, Israel now insists on maintaining its presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors. The Security Council gave its consent to completely different parameters of the agreements, which means that these demands are a direct violation of the provisions of the aforementioned Security Council resolution. The American mediators, unfortunately, are openly playing along with their ally in its consistent violation of UNSC resolutions
This is how the Biden administration is helping Israel dodge its obligations under the terms of the current UNSC-backed ceasefire. Blinken is conducting a masterclass in deception.
(To the broader issue) Israel’s 10-month-long bloodbath in Gaza has left many people wondering why the world needs a Security Council if it cannot provide security for the people who are most in need?
It’s a good question and one that challenges the credibility of an institution that aspires to be “the guarantor of global security” but is incapable of taking action even when a genocide is unfolding right under its nose.
Of course, the source of the problem is not hard to identify. It’s the same permanent member that repeatedly vetoed ceasefire proposals one-after-another until it pushed through its own hybrid version that had no chance of being implemented. We’re talking about the United States of Obstruction, the lone member of the Council that acts exclusively in the interest of its genocidal ally in Tel Aviv. The other members of the Council are faced with the daunting task of either removing the US from the Security Council altogether (so they can enforce their ceasefire resolution through sanctions, peacekeepers or other punitive measures) or finding a way to force the US to abstain from voting on issues related to the current conflict. But are either of these even possible?
Yes, they are, but they won’t be achieved easily. Even so, the Council cannot simply ignore its special role in international relations because one member consistently abuses the system by preventing the UN doing its job of preserving peace and security around the world.
The rules for expelling a member of the Security Council make it almost impossible to do so. So, while Chapter 18 of United Nation’s Charter says a member can be removed from UN Security Council if two thirds of the General Assembly vote against that member; the Security Council can prevent the matter from ever reaching the General Assembly. It’s a Catch 22.
Article 108
Amendments to the present Charter shall come into force for all Members of the United Nations when they have been adopted by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two thirds of the Members of the United Nations, including all the permanent members of the Security Council. United Nations Charter, Chapter XVIII: Amendments
Legal scholars have also argued that Article 6 of the UN Charter could be interpreted in a way that would allow a member to be removed, but, so far, it has not been used successfully in that regard.
Article 6—A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
The only member of the UN to ever be successfully removed was Taiwan in 1971, which ” was formally expelled from the United Nations by a vote of the General Assembly and replaced by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which had taken power in Beijing at the end of the country’s civil war in 1949.
The ROC government had fled to the island of Taiwan with millions of refugees as the communists took power but continued to hold the seat of “China” at the UN and was a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power. Despite being exiled, officials in Taipei had the support of the US thanks to fears in the West that communism might sweep through Asia….
The “Resolution on Admitting Peking,” also known as Resolution 2758, called for member states to “restore” the rights of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing as the “only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations.” After years of trying at the behest of Chinese ally Albania, the resolution finally passed in the General Assembly Taiwan taps on United Nations’ door, 50 years after departure, Aljazeera
The removal of Taiwan is not at all comparable to the situation with the United States today. Besides, expulsion might not even be the preferred tool for dealing with the US problem. If the objective is simply to allow the Council the flexibility it needs to perform the tasks for which it was created, then the focus should be on ways to prevent US obstruction. It is US obstructionism that prevents the Security Council from doing its job, enforcing its resolutions, putting an end to this senseless war, and bringing justice to the Palestinian people. If that can be achieved while retaining Washington’s place on the Council, then that would be a desirable outcome. But is possible?
It is, according to board member of the UN Association-San Francisco chapter, Dan Becker. Here’s what he says:
In the United Nations Charter, the very sentence that establishes the Security Council’s permanent-five veto power ends — surprisingly — in these nine words: “. . . a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.”
Let’s allow the phrase to sink in for a moment before acknowledging that there is indeed a host of conditions, requirements, litmus tests and hoops to jump through before the phrase can be invoked and applied to a resolution.
But at the same time, it’s also crucial and a bit remarkable to remember that the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — are not exempt. They must abstain as well. So, there it is, this little-known mechanism hiding in plain sight in Article 27 (3)….
An abridged history, according to Security Council Report, an independent publication, explains the requirements needed to invoke this clause:
“Abstentions under Article 27 (3) are mandatory only if all of the following conditions apply: the decision falls under Chapter VI or Article 52 (3) of Chapter VIII; the issue is considered a dispute; a Council member is considered a party to the dispute; and the decision is not procedural in nature.”
…
Second is the claim that the U.S. is a “party to the dispute” in Gaza. This is usually invoked because of the sheer mass of arms provided to Israel by Washington… The issue is hotly debated. But some of the many studies regarding this topic are quite exhaustive and keep the claim quite reasonable….
it’s not an academic exercise. Any ability to force a P5 member to abstain should be examined carefully. All eyes are on the U.S. right now, and the suspense is palpable. …
The principle behind this mechanism is clear to any school child. It appeals to our ultimate common sense. If you’re involved in a dispute, under certain situations you should be required to abstain from voting for resolutions about the dispute….
It’s not as if the clause hasn’t been used in the past, most often in the early years of the U.N.
Further examination of the Security Council Report document above clearly shows 12 times that the mandate has been successfully invoked, and 14 times where it was raised or considered but failed. Nevertheless, at one time it was alive and kicking….
The power of digging into this issue has the potential to reap large rewards now and down the line. It could change the calculus in the Council. ….So let’s dust off this phrase in Article 27(3): ” . . . a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting,” carefully study its limits and restrictions, and then make a noise sooner rather than later. Gaza & UN Veto Power, Dan Becker, Consortium News
Let us acknowledge that no “knight in shining armor” is going to sweep into Gaza and save the Palestinians from Israel’s sadistic rampage. That’s not going to happen. The only way this conflict can be brought to a close is if the international community aggressively pursues a strategy in which Washington is sidelined while Israel is isolated, sanctioned and gradually coerced into compliance. UN Security Council Resolution 2735 has already been approved. Now it must be enforced.
Addendum: Extraordinary testimony by human rights activist Yuli Novak to the UN Security Council
Listen to the full speech of our executive director, Yuli Novak, yesterday at the UNSC.
“During this week, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets. They feel angry, desperate and betrayed by their government. They have understood, perhaps for the first time,… pic.twitter.com/aMRf9rTOD9
— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) September 5, 2024
“Since Israel was founded, its guiding logic has been to promote Jewish supremacy over the entire territory under its control. Yuli Novak, executive Director of B’Tselem
It is an honor to address the Security Council today …. on the state of human rights in Israel-Palestine.
During this week, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets. They feel angry, desperate and betrayed by their government. They have understood, perhaps for the first time, that the Israeli government does not want to return the hostages in a deal, but to continue the war indefinitely.
To understand the Israeli government’s criminal conduct over the last 11 months, you have to understand the overall goal of this regime. Since Israel was founded, its guiding logic has been to promote Jewish supremacy over the entire territory under its control. The current government guidelines state: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all parts of the land of Israel. In the criminal Hamas led attack on October 7, 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 were taken hostages. Since that day all Israelis have been living in great fear. Our government is cynically exploiting our collective trauma to violently advance its project of cementing Israeli control over the entire land. To do that, it is waging war on the entire Palestinian people – committing war crimes almost daily”.
In Gaza, this has taken the form of expulsion, starvation, killing and destruction on an unprecedented scale. This goes beyond revenge. Israel is using the opportunity to promote an ideological agenda making Gaza uninhabitable as this council has found repeatedly, a vast part of Gaza’s homes and infrastructure has been completely destroyed by driving Palestinians out of entire areas and displacing millions Israel is laying the groundwork for long-term control of Gaza. This could lead to the reestablishment of Israeli settlements there.
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the government is exploiting the situation to make irreversible changes. Since October, Israel has killed 640 Palestinians including at least 140 minors. Settlers are attacking Palestinians and carrying out pogroms in broad daylight with the support of the government. …
Recently the military launched a huge operation aimed at damaging infrastructure that served hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank. The international community did not stop Israel’s policy of massive harm to civilians in Gaza. Now this cruel policy is spilling over to the West Bank. The war on Palestinians is also happening in prisons. Since October, Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians and held them in inhumane conditions. Last month we published a report called “Welcome to Hell” which shows the shocking pattern of abuse that amounts to torture. The government of Israel has used the war to turn Israeli prisons into a network of torture camps for Palestinians. This violence is possible because Israel has enjoyed impunity for decades. As long as this impunity continues, the killing and destruction will continue and expand. and fear will continue to rule the land.
The international community has failed its duty to protect civilians. 4 UN Security Council resolutions on the Gaza conflict did not lead to a lasting ceasefire or free the hostages. The risk of regional escalation has grown. Diplomatic efforts did not stop the mass killing of civilians or end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The Council must acknowledge this failure and take effective action to compel Israel and Hamas to immediately and permanently cease all hostilities. But de-escalation is only the first step. It is time for the Council to address the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of Israel’s entire occupation and settlement project. Every day that this Council does not act on the call to end the occupation and apartheid, is another day you are abandoning us, the people of this land who are suffering and dying in tens of thousands needlessly under a cruel and unjust apartheid regime.
Wales BANS new homes being built over fears English people might live there
Story by James Saunders
A Welsh council which wants to outlaw a new housing development over fears so-called “degenerative” English people would live there has voted to ban the new homes.
Botwnnog community council, part of Gwynedd council in northwest Wales, had expressed concern the plot of 18 affordable homes would be an “over-development” and end up with some English people – and now, the authority has ruled to cancel their construction. The council had blasted what it called a “substantial influx” of second home-owners tourists, and English people escaping UK cities full of immigrants and crime, which it said was a “degenerative force” undermining the growth of the Welsh language – echoing Welsh Government guidance to reach a million speakers by 2050.
The welsh language was almost dead but was brought back by hard left socialists, many millions was demanded for changing road signs, school books and all paperwork given a racist slant
And though would-be developer Robert Williams has called the homes “100 per cent affordable” and claimed they would be occupied mostly by locals, he’s had his plans cast down. Williams had said the impact on the Welsh language would be “small – if any at all”, and had talked up the 18 homes as presenting a “significant contribution to local housing need”.
But councillors had other ideas – with one, Gareth Williams, claiming he could “go on for an hour” against the plans, citing a widely-held “bad feeling” among locals, he claimed English people were the thin end of the wedge and if allowed in would be followed by Blacks homosexuals jews rent boys and migrant spongers
Israels war on Gaza
UN chief condemns ‘violations’ of humanitarian law after six more Unrwa staff killed in Israeli terrorist bombings António Guterres calls Israeli strike on Gaza school sheltering displaced people ‘unacceptable’, after local authorities report 18 killed in attack.
09:21
Reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera has said that the scene at the hospital there where people are sayign farewell to loved ones killed in an Israeli strike yesterday on the UN-operated al-Jaouni school is “chaotic”.
He writes:
People are bidding farewell to their relatives pronounced dead at the hospital. One person who is in critical condition was pulled from the hospital just to say goodbye to family members killed in the attack. It was a heartbreaking scene.
UN chief condemns ‘violations’ of humanitarian law after six more Unrwa staff killed in Israeli airstrike
Read the whole thing. It can be concluded America is not and probably has never been an honest broker in the Palestine/Israel conflict.
Yuli Novak claims Hamas executed the six hostages. And mentions nothing about the Hannibal Directive. Bit of a liar really.
I’ve heard from George Galloway and ‘Open Minded Thinker’ YT channel that an Australian journalist working for the ABC mentioned the Hannibal Directive. I have found it, read it and I’ll post below.
____________________________________________
Israeli forces accused of killing their own citizens under the ‘Hannibal Directive’ during October 7 chaos
By Middle East correspondents Eric Tlozek, Orly Halpern and Allyson Horn
“Hannibal at Erez, dispatch a Zik [attack drone],” came the command on October 7.
Those words, reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz in July, confirm what many Israelis have feared since the Hamas attacks on October 7 in southern Israel.
Israeli forces have killed their own citizens.
Israeli authorities say more than 800 civilians and around 300 soldiers were killed on October 7.
A number of Israeli hostages have since died in Gaza.
Israelis are still reeling from the horror and pain of the Hamas-led terror attack, which was the bloodiest single day in Israel’s history.
But the Israeli military is coming under increasing pressure to reveal just how many of their own citizens were killed by Israeli soldiers, pilots and police in the confusion of the Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities.
Survivors and relatives have been asking not just “what went wrong”, but whether the military invoked the controversial — and supposedly rescinded — “Hannibal Directive”.
What is the Hannibal Directive?
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the directive was named at random by a computer program, but Hannibal was the famous Carthaginian general who took poison rather than be captured by the Romans.
The doctrine, written in 1986 in response to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, gave permission for Israeli forces to fire on enemies holding their comrades hostage — even at risk to those hostages.
Its authors said the directive did not allow captives to be killed, but critics say that over time an interpretation spread through the military that it was better to kill comrades than to allow their capture.
“They interpreted it as if they are [meant] to intentionally, deliberately kill the soldier in order to foil the attempted abduction, and that was wrong,” Israeli philosopher Asa Kasher, who wrote the IDF code of ethics, told the ABC.
“That is legally wrong and morally wrong and ethically wrong, it’s wrong on all accounts.”
In 2011, Hamas successfully used an Israeli hostage to secure a major prisoner exchange, swapping one Israeli soldier, tank gunner Gilad Shalit, for more than 1,000 prisoners, including the current Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.
After October 7, there were some testimonies from Israeli civilians and military personnel that Israeli forces responding to the Hamas attack killed their own citizens.
Nevertheless, many Israelis and supporters of Israel condemned anyone who suggested it had occurred, before more testimonies and Israeli media reports confirmed it was true.
The IDF has not confirmed or denied a version of the Hannibal directive was applied on October 7, only saying it is one of many things from that day under investigation.
In response to questions from the ABC, the Israeli military provided a statement saying: “The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organisation Hamas.”
“Questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage.”
‘This was a mass Hannibal’
In July, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed commanders in the IDF gave the order to fire on troops who had been captured by Hamas at three separate locations, explicitly referencing the Hannibal Directive.
One former Israeli officer, Air Force Colonel Nof Erez, told a Haaretz podcast the directive was not specifically ordered but was “apparently applied” by responding aircrews.
Panicked, operating without their normal command structure and unable to coordinate with ground forces, they fired on vehicles returning to Gaza, knowing they were likely carrying hostages.
“This was a mass Hannibal. It was tons and tons of openings in the fence, and thousands of people in every type of vehicle, some with hostages and some without,” Colonel Erez said.
Air force pilots described to Yedioth Ahronot newspaper the firing of “tremendous” amounts of ammunition on October 7 at people attempting to cross the border between Gaza and Israel.
“Twenty-eight fighter helicopters shot over the course of the day all of the ammunition in their bellies, in renewed runs to rearm. We are talking about hundreds of 30-millimetre cannon mortars and Hellfire missiles,” reporter Yoav Zeitoun said.
“The frequency of fire at the thousands of terrorists was enormous at the start, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow their attacks and carefully choose the targets.”
Tank officers have also confirmed they applied their own interpretation of the directive when firing on vehicles returning to Gaza, potentially with Israelis on board.
“My gut feeling told me that they [soldiers from another tank] could be on them,” tank captain Bar Zonshein told Israel’s Channel 13.
Captain Zonshein is asked: “So you might be killing them with that action? They are your soldiers.”
“Right,” he replied, “but I decided that this is the right decision, that it’s better to stop the kidnapping, that they won’t be taken.”
Investigative journalist Ronen Bergman wrote for Yedioth Ahronot newspaper that the military had enacted the Hannibal Directive at midday on October 7.
“The IDF instructed all its fighting units in practice to follow the ‘Hannibal Directive’, although without clearly mentioning this explicit name,” he said.
“The instruction is to stop ‘at all costs’ any attempt by Hamas terrorists to return to Gaza, using language very similar to the original ‘Hannibal Directive’, despite repeated assurances by the security establishment that the procedure has been cancelled.”
Bergman’s investigation found 70 vehicles were destroyed by Israeli aircraft and tanks to prevent them being driven into Gaza, killing everyone inside.
“It is not clear at this point how many of the abductees were killed due to the activation of this [Hannibal] order on October 7,” he wrote.
The original Hannibal Directive, while confidential, reportedly recommends small arms and sniper fire towards enemies holding hostages — and not to use bombs, missiles or tank shells.
In 2015, Israel’s attorney-general said it specifically prohibited killing a hostage.
It wasn’t just soldiers under fire on October 7, though.
Tank ordered to fire on house
In two incidents, Israeli civilians survived Israeli forces firing on them and killing other hostages.
One survivor of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a Gaza border community, described being fired upon by the Israeli military as Hamas members tried to take her and other hostages across the border in an electric wagon.
“[An] IDF helicopter appeared above us. At some point the helicopter shot at the terrorists, the driver and the others. There was screaming in the wagon,” Neomit Dekel-Chen told Israeli news site Ynet.
Ms Dekel-Chen said one woman, her friend Efrat Katz, was shot and killed.
Six months later, an Israeli Air Force investigation acknowledged that it was likely an attack helicopter, which had targeted the wagon, had killed Efrat Katz.
The probe found that the hostages could not be distinguished from terrorists.
Nevertheless, Air Force chief Major General Tomer Bar said he “did not find fault in the operation by the helicopter crew, who operated in compliance with the orders in a complex reality of war”.
The military has also confirmed troops were ordered to fire at a home, despite knowing there were civilians being held hostage inside.
In Kibbutz Be’eri, where 101 Israeli civilians died, a tank was ordered to fire upon at least one house, after a prolonged firefight with around 40 Hamas gunmen who had been holding 15 hostages inside and outside.
The “Pessi’s house” incident has become notorious in Israel, named after the resident, Pessi Cohen, who was killed along with other hostages being held there.
It was the two survivors who revealed the Israeli military had fired on the house.
“We know that at least one hostage was killed by one of the shells,” relative and October 7 survivor Omri Shifroni told the ABC.
Three of Mr Shifroni’s relatives were killed in Pessi’s house while he was hiding on the other side of the kibbutz with his wife and children.
“There are a few others that we still don’t know and we may never know what exactly killed them,” he said.
Mr Shifroni’s aunt Ayala and her grand-niece Liel and grand-nephew Yanai were all killed at Pessi’s house — he believes by terrorists.
But he remains upset about the Israeli military’s decision to use heavy munitions on homes in Be’eri.
“I think the real question, the moral question, is whether it’s the right thing to do — to fire tank shells on a house with hostages — even though it’s selective shooting,” he said.
“I think it was not the right decision, not a good decision and not moral.
“But I can also understand there was great chaos in Be’eri and there was a lot of pressure to end the event there.
“I think they didn’t intend to shoot and to kill hostages, but when you shoot a tank shell on a house, you need to take into account that that is likely to happen.”
Israeli philosopher Asa Kasher told the ABC the directive did not apply to civilian hostages
“That’s a new situation, and all the considerations are different,” Professor Kasher said.
“Killing the civilian in order to foil the attempted abduction is really [wrong] … everyone understands that that’s way outside of what is allowed in a democracy.”
Professor Kasher said he was dismayed by reports soldiers had applied the Hannibal Directive on October 7.
“They acted on very low professional standards,” he said.
“That’s insane, it’s not the nature of a democracy, it’s not the nature of the IDF, it’s not the nature of the command.”
Military clears itself of wrongdoing
In response to repeated requests from Be’eri survivors and relatives of those killed there, the IDF has opened an investigation into its actions in the kibbutz.
In July, it released its operational review, but many in Be’eri were not satisfied.
The military cleared Israeli forces of any wrongdoing, finding that a tank only fired “near” the house when negotiations to release the hostages had failed.
“The team determined that, based on the information reviewed and to the best of their understanding, no civilians inside the building were harmed by tank shell fire, except for an isolated incident outside the building where two civilians were harmed by shrapnel,” the report stated.
“The team determined that most of the hostages were likely murdered by the terrorists, and further inquiries and reviews of additional findings are necessary.”
Sharon Cohen, the daughter-in-law of Pessi Cohen, told Israeli radio she did not accept the investigation’s conclusions.
“That’s not really true [that hostages were not harmed by tank shells],” she told Israel’s Radio Bet on July 14.
“Out of personal privacy issues, I can’t really get into the details. These are details that we were told would be investigated again.
“In addition, I’ll say that because the incidents in the kibbutz were so exceptional and strange and difficult, the whole issue of removing the bodies, and autopsies, and all those things — essentially were not done.”
The IDF review also contradicts testimony from one of the two survivors of Pessi’s house, Yasmin Porat, who told Israel’s Kan radio on October 15 that the Hamas gunmen had not threatened the hostages and had intended to negotiate with police for their safe return to Gaza.
She said an Israeli police special unit had started the gun battle by firing upon the house, catching “five or six” kibbutz residents outside in “very, very heavy crossfire”.
In the interview, she was asked: “So our forces may have shot them?”
“Undoubtedly,” she replied.
“They eliminated everyone [in the house], including the hostages.”
Editor’s note 10/09/2024: An original version of this story said the Hannibal directive was issued at midnight of October 7. This was a mistranslation of the original Hebrew. It has been amended to read midday.
Posted , updated
It makes me feel sick, reading about…. The Biden Administration. The United Nations. America, Israel. Governments. Politicians. They do not exist! We have to let go of these very old belief systems. The planet is in control of just a few people. And they do not see us as humans. We all know what comes next and is already happening!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-07/israel-hannibal-directive-kidnap-hamas-gaza-hostages-idf/104224430
Yep, America really has got itself really dirty defending Israel.
If America is becoming Israel I wonder if White Americans are going to become Palestinian?
God forbid.
Yep, America really has got itself filthy dirty defending Israel.
If America is becoming Israel I wonder if White Americans are going to become Palestinian?
God forbid.
Hyperbole…maybe not.
I really think America needs to address this problem.
One State Solution for the Palies
One Final Solution for the PennyChews
Simples
Since Oct 7 was a hoax staged by the IDF-Mossad, then the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely an elaborate psyop/hoax as well. One must be skeptical of everything about it: the supposed 1200 dead Yids on Oct 7; the 100 Yid hostages; the 44,000 dead Palestinians–all a scam.
the question is: is mike whitney a roman catholic too? if so this strongly supports nicos thesis that all these white columnists on these alternative news sites are roman catholics or were born catholics..personally i don’t trust any of these christians
I was out for a wander today in the Welsh countryside. What a beautiful day, me and Carl went potato picking, while discussing the various problems of the world. On the way back we spoke to a NAZI Milkman he was a Nazi fecking lunatic. Telling us that Joos and Zionists run the world, that’s a load of Nazi twoddle. I hope Putin hurries up and nukes the U.K. hasta la vista!
The “United States “ is a vassal state of Israel completely dominated by Jews at every level of government. Americans have absolutely no say in anything that America does on ANY issue foreign or domestic. The border invasion and the Palestinian Genocide confirm that.
Britain’s crime minister has purse stolen at meeting of police officers
Story by Reuters Britain’s police and crime minister had her purse stolen at a meeting of senior police officers on Tuesday when she spoke about the growing problem of migrant=muggings theft and shoplifting, a government official said on Thursday.
Diana Johnson attended the Police Superintendents’ Association in central England where a senior officer told her in a speech that the criminal justice system was broken. e government official said Johnson had her belongings stolen at the conference.
In her speech, Johnson said Britain had been “gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behaviour, theft and shoplifting”.
The Home Office, or interior ministry, declined to comment. but said she was lucky it was just her purse
had she been at the Notting Hill Stabbings festival she could have been knifed
Warwickshire Police said it was desperately short of man power but were investigating a report of a theft of a purse at the hotel where the conference took place.
watch vid of public anger with Starmer over his racist handling
of demonstrators, many were sent to prison while none of the offenders at the Notting hill Stabbings festival were
One lad arrested for shouting at Starmer ( you dirty little jewboy)
https://old.bitchute.com/video/mnfFIB3SXFRx/
LUCY LETBY TODAYS FINDINGS
‘Basic failures’ at Hospital let Lucy Letby give ‘fatal consequences’ on babies
The mass murdering former neonatal nurse , ” knicknamed the Tony Blair of Nursing”
was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between the summers of 2015 and 2016.
On the third day of the inquiry looking into how Letby, 34, was able to commit her crimes, Peter Skelton KC, representing seven of the families, detailed five “basic failures” by the hospital. He added: “There were major and catastrophic failures.”
Mr Skelton said it meant vital information was overlooked, with “fatal consequences” for other children.
‘Deaths should have been examined ”
Mr Skelton said the cluster of deaths and collapses should have been escalated to senior management within the hospital trust immediately, so they could have overseen investigations.
“It should have been in the minds of those conducting and overseeing the investigations that the cluster of unexpected and unexplained deaths might have been caused by the criminal acts of a member of hospital staff,” he said.
‘Staff should have kept minds open’
Israel’s leadership is losing on several fronts, already lost the mediawar and America is dealing with an in and external attempted coup and now has a sort of “government” that continually seems to expose their own crimes while extending the EO’s that send them to the gallows for it .. why would they give numbers or ops away unless it’s all twisted ..
much too long post by some geezer bibletard gasbag
good site, except for all the bibletards, commies, putintards and cass sunstein creeps infesting it
@dominic
the only person i trust is nico x and his disciples
I am focussing (again) on the dishonesty of Moslems, pretending Jesus is one of their prophets, but employing one of the best strategies against Christianity, i.e. making Jesus one prophet out of a couple of dozen so that he will blend out in the crowd and fade from memory. (A proselitysing(spell?) Moslem told me they recognise 27 prophets)
shooting bombs granades, mortars, hellfire missiles at
unarmed + civilians is a normal jewish AshkeNAZI way
like already against US navyship “Liberty” . no remorse .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsm99krHbvg
This is John McCarthy.s video series about the archaeology of Palestine. There wer never any Jews or Hebrews in ancient Israel. Not one.
What has become the most tiresome to hear in relation to the Middle East? Listening to the Jews of Israel label all Palestinian freedom fighters as “Terrorists”.
The photo of the black woman at the UN is the DEI hire, and shape shifted on camera:
https://i.imgur.com/nJvP6a1.png
https://i.imgur.com/57UXiNz.png
(from NBC nightly news)
https://leadstories.com/lester.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Thomas-Greenfield
Here is Greenfield’s face I blew up from the NBC nightly news broadcast:
https://i.imgur.com/2oStNGO.jpeg
Here is a link to NBC news 01 FEB 2022 broadcast, from the NBC site, watch it for yourself:
https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news-netcast/video/nightly-news-full-broadcast-february-1st-132225093792
@Astraea
yes everyone should watch that – superb journalism with western & even Israeli experts dismantling ALL the kike fairytales
Stephen–it may be, that, from a distance, Islam is generally terrorism, converting people with threats, not example, as in prison, where even Mike Tyson was intimidated into going Islamic