UN expert wants probe of Israel's " war crimes "
Jerusalem Post | 23.01.2009 03:01 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | Repression | Cambridge | Oxford
"There needs to be an investigation carried out under independent auspices as to whether these grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions ... should be treated as war crimes,"
UN expert wants probe of 'war crimes'
Jan. 22, 2009
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST
The UN expert on the Palestinian territories said Thursday an independent investigation should establish whether Israel committed war crimes in Gaza during its recent offensive.
Richard Falk, an independent UN rights expert, said there was compelling evidence that Israel breached basic humanitarian rules and the laws of war by conducting a large-scale military operation "against an essentially defenseless population."
"There needs to be an investigation carried out under independent auspices as to whether these grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions ... should be treated as war crimes," Falk said.
"I believe that there is the prima facie case for reaching that conclusion," he told reporters in a telephone briefing from California.
Israel's Ambassador in the US, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, said in response that "Professor Falk's bias against Israel is well known."
"He disqualified himself from being what he is supposed to be, a neutral, balanced and professional rapporteur," Leshno-Yaar told The Associated Press.
Falk, a retired American law professor, said the rockets fired from Hamas-ruled Gaza on southern Israel were also a violation of international law.
"This is the first time I know of where a civilian population has been essentially locked into the war zone, not allowed to leave it despite the dense population and the obvious risks that were entailed," Falk said. "The civilians in Gaza were denied the option of becoming a refugee."
Israel, which has an obligation to protect the civilian population under its occupation, did not even allow children, women or sick people to leave the besieged territory, he added.
Over half of Gaza's people are children, Falk said.
"In this sense, it almost has the appearance of being a war that is waged directly at the expense of children," he said.
The 78-year-old Falk is unpaid and without enforcement power in the UN post, which he has held since May.
He previously angered Israel by comparing the Jewish state to Nazi Germany and accusing it of crimes against humanity because of its treatment of Palestinians.
He was barred from entering Israel and sent back on a plane to the US in December.
Jan. 22, 2009
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST
The UN expert on the Palestinian territories said Thursday an independent investigation should establish whether Israel committed war crimes in Gaza during its recent offensive.
Richard Falk, an independent UN rights expert, said there was compelling evidence that Israel breached basic humanitarian rules and the laws of war by conducting a large-scale military operation "against an essentially defenseless population."
"There needs to be an investigation carried out under independent auspices as to whether these grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions ... should be treated as war crimes," Falk said.
"I believe that there is the prima facie case for reaching that conclusion," he told reporters in a telephone briefing from California.
Israel's Ambassador in the US, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, said in response that "Professor Falk's bias against Israel is well known."
"He disqualified himself from being what he is supposed to be, a neutral, balanced and professional rapporteur," Leshno-Yaar told The Associated Press.
Falk, a retired American law professor, said the rockets fired from Hamas-ruled Gaza on southern Israel were also a violation of international law.
"This is the first time I know of where a civilian population has been essentially locked into the war zone, not allowed to leave it despite the dense population and the obvious risks that were entailed," Falk said. "The civilians in Gaza were denied the option of becoming a refugee."
Israel, which has an obligation to protect the civilian population under its occupation, did not even allow children, women or sick people to leave the besieged territory, he added.
Over half of Gaza's people are children, Falk said.
"In this sense, it almost has the appearance of being a war that is waged directly at the expense of children," he said.
The 78-year-old Falk is unpaid and without enforcement power in the UN post, which he has held since May.
He previously angered Israel by comparing the Jewish state to Nazi Germany and accusing it of crimes against humanity because of its treatment of Palestinians.
He was barred from entering Israel and sent back on a plane to the US in December.
Jerusalem Post
Additions
Falk, who is Jewish, compared Israel's operation to the Warsaw Ghetto
23.01.2009 05:12
U.N. investigator: Evidence of Israeli war crimes
January 22, 2009
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- There is evidence that Israel committed war crimes during its operation in the Gaza Strip, a United Nations official said.
U.N. investigator Richard Falk, whose official title is U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, called for an independent inquiry into the issue on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Falk, who is Jewish, compared Israel's operation in civilian areas and its sealing of Gaza's borders to the Warsaw Ghetto.
"To lock people into a war zone is something that evokes the worst kind of international memories of the Warsaw Ghetto and sieges that occur unintentionally during a period of wartime," he said.
Falk added that the entire civilian population has likely been scarred for life by the operation and that all the residents of Gaza can be considered casualties of the Israeli assault.
January 22, 2009
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- There is evidence that Israel committed war crimes during its operation in the Gaza Strip, a United Nations official said.
U.N. investigator Richard Falk, whose official title is U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, called for an independent inquiry into the issue on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Falk, who is Jewish, compared Israel's operation in civilian areas and its sealing of Gaza's borders to the Warsaw Ghetto.
"To lock people into a war zone is something that evokes the worst kind of international memories of the Warsaw Ghetto and sieges that occur unintentionally during a period of wartime," he said.
Falk added that the entire civilian population has likely been scarred for life by the operation and that all the residents of Gaza can be considered casualties of the Israeli assault.
JTA
Homepage:
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/22/1002449/falk-evidence-of-israeli-war-crimes
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