"Israeli forces appear to have deliberately targeted civilians"....

[Junkdrawer]

Human Rights Watch:

Israel/Lebanon: End Indiscriminate Strikes on Civilians

Some Israeli Attacks Amount to War Crimes

Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released today. The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes.

The 50-page report, “Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon,” analyzes almost two dozen cases of Israeli air and artillery attacks on civilian homes and vehicles. Of the 153 dead civilians named in the report, 63 are children. More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire since fighting began on July 12, most of them civilians.

“The pattern of attacks shows the Israeli military’s disturbing disregard for the lives of Lebanese civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Our research shows that Israel’s claim that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain, let alone justify, Israel’s indiscriminate warfare.”

The report is based on extensive interviews with victims and witnesses of attacks, visits to some blast sites, and information obtained from hospitals, humanitarian groups, security forces and government agencies. Human Rights Watch also conducted research in Israel, assessing the weapons used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Human Rights Watch researchers found numerous cases in which the IDF launched artillery and air attacks with limited or dubious military objectives but excessive civilian cost. In many cases, Israeli forces struck an area with no apparent military target. In some instances, Israeli forces appear to have deliberately targeted civilians.

...

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/02/lebano13902....

[leftchick]

1. interestingly...

I posted this earlier and no one seems to want to defend Israel's war crimes...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Junkdrawer]

2. They want to sidecar the debate into "Why can't we go after the...

rocket launch sites?" when the fact is that the target patterns are clearly not aimed at rocket launch sites. As Juan Cole points out:

...

One hope the Israeli hawks appear to entertain is that they can permanently depopulate strips Lebanon south of the Litani river. Since most Shiites vote Hizbullah and offer political support and cover to it, fewer people means fewer assets for the party-militia. This project would require the total destruction of large numbers of villages and the permanent displacement of their inhabitants north to Beirut.

That is why the massacre at Qana occurred. The Israelis had bombed Qana 80 times. They were destroying all of its buildings. Therefore, of course, they destroyed the building where dozens of children and families were hiding. This tactic is both collective punishment and ethnic cleansing all at once. It is not only a matter, as the Israelis claim, of hitting Hizbullah rocket launchers. They are destroying all of the buildings.

...


http://www.juancole.com /

[burythehatchet]

3. HRW clearly has an anti-Israel bias.

[Kingshakabobo]

4. Do you mean a pro-truth bias? Kinda like liberals eh? n/t

[NYCGirl]

6. But every time anyone posts HRW's reports on Venezuela, people here

say they're a right wing organization!

[madrchsod]

8. i`ve seen some people here say something to that effect..

some see any criticism of hugo as right wing. there are many who question hugo`s leadership as i do, but that is up to the people of his country to decide his leadership

[NYCGirl]

10. My gripe was not really about Chavez, but how many will take a source

at face value, unless they criticize someone you like.

[madrchsod]

11. yup- you are right about face value

since i have fell for that trap lately....

[ronnie624]

15. My problem with HRW

with regard to Venezuela isn't that I believe it to be a right-wing organization, but that their criticisms of Latin American countries are clearly influenced by political considerations.

José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch has made many public speeches over the years and he has stated unequivocally that he supports funding by the U.S. government of organizations in Venezuela that are dedicated to the overthrow of the Chavez government--a clear violation of Venezuelan law (and the laws of any other country as well). He has also stated publicly that he has no problem with the "drug war" prosecuted by the U.S. against Latin American countries. Anyone with any understanding of the "war on drugs" knows very well its purpose is to allow the U.S. government to more easily infiltrate other countries with spies and to make damned sure they get their cut of the drug trade. These activities, of course, amount to even further violations of the sovereignty of the countries of Latin America by the U.S. government so I feel I must question the impartiality of Mr. Vivanco.

Further, of all the countries in the Americas, the United States is by far the most egregious offender of human rights, yet there is a surprising lack of criticism by HRW for a country that occupies this position. The U.S. government has for many years followed policies designed to strip Latin American countries of their independence while enabling the corporatists to exploit their labor and pillage their economies. The U.S has gone to extreme and brutal lengths to ensure it continues thus, including the finance and organization of right-wing death squads and even outright invasions. Where are the reports by HRW addressing these overarching and ongoing crimes against the sovereignty of other nations?

After browsing through the HRW website on many occasions, it has become clear that the reports on the United States are all written within the context of acceptance of U.S. political, economic and even military dominance over other countries, including the invasion of Iraq. I could never take seriously the reports by a "human rights organization" that accepts as a given the dominance of one country over others.

[eFriendly]

5. Well, didn't take long. . .

for that stupid claim to be made. Thanks.

You wouldn't, by any chance, have a verifiable link to backup your claim, would you?

[ComerPerro]

12. LOL

[Junkdrawer]

7. .

[Junkdrawer]

9. .

[Junkdrawer]

13. .

[Scurrilous]

14. Claim: Half of Gaza fatalities in July – civilians

Human rights group B'Tselem reports almost half of Palestinians killed by IDF in Gaza Strip in July were civilians not taking part in fighting

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285907,00.ht...

<snip>

"Almost half of the Palestinians killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in July were civilians not taking part in the fighting, B'Tselem , The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported Thursday.

In July, the Israeli military killed 163 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 78 of whom (48 percent) were not taking part in the hostilities when they were killed, B'Tselem claimed.

According to the report, thirty-six of the fatalities were minors, and 20 were women. In the West Bank , 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in July. The number of Palestinian fatalities in July was the highest in any month since April 2002.

B'Tselem's report focuses on four Israeli strikes in the Strip that the organization claims involved "grave breaches of the laws of war."

Of the incidents B'Tselem investigated in Gaza over the past month, the organization has identified four cases in which Israel may have committed grave breaches of the laws of war. A total of 15 Palestinian civilians were killed in these incidents, including 7 minors, the details of which are as follows:"