Saturday, January 10, 2009



It's a war crime II

Is Israel's calculated murder of civilians in Gaza a war crime? Right wing bloggers say its not. The UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Territories says it is. And now, to that, we can add another voice to the chorus: the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, singled out the killing this week of up to 30 Palestinians in Zeitoun, south-east of Gaza City, when Israel shelled a house where its troops had told about 110 civilians to take shelter.

Pillay, a former international criminal court judge from South Africa, told the BBC the incident "appears to have all the elements of war crimes". She called for "credible, independent and transparent" investigations into possible violations of humanitarian law.

So again, which do you believe: random ranters, or internationally renowned legal experts, tasked by the UN with assessing exactly these sorts of incidents?

(I am now waiting for the post from DPF where he says we should ignore her opinion because she fought apartheid in South Africa and opposed torture...)