Amnesty International Calls for the Destruction of Israel

There is no explicit call for the elimination of Israel in the July 12, 2007 Amnesty International press release, Israel/Lebanon: War crimes without accountability, but that would be the effect if the following recommendation were followed.

The Security Council should declare and enforce an arms embargo on both Israel and Hizbullah until effective mechanisms are in place to ensure that weapons will not be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Ignoring the fact that an arms embargo against Hizbullah would never be enforced (witness the arms flowing freely to Hizbullah now in violation of the United Nations resolution in conjunction with the cease fire in the first round of last summer's war) and the only effective way to ensure Hizbullah will not use weapons to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law is to eliminate that terrorist group, this recommendation would leave arms flowing freely to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Al-Aksa and the countless other terrorist groups attacking Israel citizens, not to mention Syria, Iran and dozens of other countries that would not hesitate to launch a war of elimination against Israel if they believed they would succeed.

That recommendation, which can only be the product of insanity or evil intent, comes near the end of a self-contradictory press release rife with subtle and not-so-subtle bias.

It criticizes "the patent unwillingness by all concerned parties to investigate the violations" despite the fact that, as acknowledged elsewhere in the same press release, Israel has conducted investigations. Amnesty International's real problem is that those investigations did not result in the conclusions AI wanted.

The press release did note "an inquiry appointed by the UN Human Rights Council was given a one-sided mandate, focusing only on evidence of violations by Israeli forces." Indeed, there has been no shortage of investigations relating to (generally unjustified) allegations against Israel.

It's unfortunate that many organizations such as Amnesty International which have, at face value, idealist and laudable goals have been hijacked into agendas which are not only anti-Israel but effectively undermine their own stated aims.

The press release concludes:

Amnesty International continues to urge Hizbullah to provide information about the two Israeli soldiers its fighters captured on 12 July 2006 and allow them immediate access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This really demonstrates the crux of the problem: Israel is facing enemies which have no concern for either human life or the standards of behavior groups such as Amnesty International was originally created to further. Hizbullah illegally crossed into Israel and abducted Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The first priority of the international community, especially those interested in making the illusion of international law a worthwhile reality, should be the immediate, long-overdue, unconditional release of those two young men along with Gilad Shalit, similarly abducted by Hamas terrorists at about the same time.

Trust the United Nations ... to Appease Terrorists

Back in 2000, when Israel unilaterally pulled completely out of Lebanon, a country it had no territorial dispute with and had entered only because the PLO had established a terrorist mini-state there and been using it as a base from which to attack Israeli civilians, it took no chances of there being any border disputes.

Rather than deciding where to pull back to unilaterally, it called upon the United Nations to demarcate the border. The United Nations called upon its experts and Israel pulled completely out of Lebanon.

Hezbollah, deprived of the pretext of occupation as an excuse for its attacks on Israelis, created a new pretext: the baseless claim that the area known as Shaba Farms, captured from Syria in 1967, was Lebanese territory.

Now, seven years after marking the border between Israel and Lebanon, a year after Hezbollah attacked Israel and launched thousands of Katyusha rockets at civilian areas in Israel, while Hezbollah is still holding Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser hostage, there are reports that the United Nations has suddenly discovered Shaba Farms is Lebanese territory.

On the other hand, the reports also said the United Nations proposed Israel withdraw from Shaba Farms and it would then be considered international territory and be administered by UNIFIL.

There may be few fish on the Golan Heights, but it all sounds a little fishy to me. If the UN really thought Shaba Farms was part of Lebanon, why didn't it so designate it back in 2000? If the UN really thought Shaba Farms was part of Lebanon, why would it propose it be considered international territory?

The only thing that's clear is that even when it's given what should be a totally technical task involving the Arab-Israeli conflict, the United Nations always manages to make things worse.

Reality Check

The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) on Saturday, July 7 held its first meeting in the Gaza Strip since Hamas' coup.

According to the Maan News Agency, the conveners "condemned Israeli policies such as creating facts on the ground and separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and Jerusalem."

They appear to be unaware that Hamas separated the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, affirming the reality that rather than being one country, the people living in those two areas are really very different.

They also "stressed that any conflict should solely be with the occupation, which concentrates its intensive military action in the northern provinces of the strip."

They appear to be unaware that Israel completely pulled out of the Gaza Strip about two years ago. It had been under the complete control of the Palestinian Authority until the Hamas coup. There is no occupation in the Gaza Strip.

The conveners also "urged Palestinians to remain united."

Finally, according to the Maan News Agency, "The PLO declared that it is the sole representative of the Palestinian people and that it represents Palestinians everywhere."

The Palestinian Arabs in the disputed territories rejected the PLO's main faction, Fatah, in free and democratic elections, overwhelmingly choosing Hamas, which is not part of the PLO.

It's somewhat ironic that for many years the PLO, with the backing of the Arab world and most of the world community, insisted the PLO was the sole representative of the Palestinian Arabs and pressured Israel to treat it as such, but once Israel finally did so the Palestinian Arabs themselves rejected the PLO.

The PLO clearly needs a reality check.

Give Hamas the Choice: Free Shalit or Lose Electricity

Hamas have "freed" British journalist Alan Johnston as part of a propaganda blitz to try to get accepted by the world as something other than the terrorist gang it is.

Meanwhile, its brother terrorists from the Army of Islam confirmed that Hamas itself continues to hold Gilad Shalit, kidnapped last year by the Army of Islam in a joint operation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade (part of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah) and Salah a-Din.

The Israel government should give Hamas, now in total control of its own mini-state of Hamastan (formerly Gaza) a simple choice: Release Gilad Shalit unharmed within one week or prepare to govern a mini-state without electricity.

Israel has no obligation to supply utilities to a hostile state which continually launches Kassam missiles at its cities and holds one of its citizens hostage.

Hamas Oppressing Palestinian Arabs

Palestinian Arabs forced the closing of the Rafah crossing, between Hamastan and Egypt, by shelling it. This stranded six thousand of their own brethren in Egypt.

Trying to ease their plight, Israel offered to let the stranded civilians use the Kerem Shalom crossing, which connects Israel, Hamastan and Egypt, but Hamas responded to that offer by saying if the Kerem Shalom crossing was opened they would attack it with mortars and gunfire, even if it meant killing thousands of Palestinian Arabs.

At last word, Israel is waiting to see whether Hamas can be convinced to let the stranded Palestinian Arabs into Hamastan without murdering them.

On the Anniversary of the Entebbe Rescue

Our American Independence Day also marks the anniversary of the miraculous rescue at Entebbe. It serves as a reminder that Arab terrorism directed at Israel is not a minor aspect of their struggle to destroy that bastion of Western democracy in the generally anti-democratic Middle East, but has always been a major part of their strategy.

Terrorism is not a reaction to anything Israel has done other than exist.

On this Independence Day, Gilad Shalid, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are still held by Arab terrorists, from Hamas and Hezbollah, with the support of the rogue regimes in Iran and Syria.

The international community must demand their unconditional release, without any rewards for the terrorists who have brazenly violated not only the nebulous entity called international law but all standards of basic human decency.

Palestinian Arab Hypocrisy

According to the New York Times, with the release of funds to the Palestinian Authority now that it has been separated from Hamas, "more than 150,000 Palestinian Authority civil servants and security force members loyal to the new emergency government appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah will receive a full monthly salary on Wednesday from Palestinian money for the first time in 17 months."

On the other hand, "about 20,000 public sector employees allied with the Hamas-led government of Ismail Haniya, whom Mr. Abbas fired as prime minister, will not be paid from the authority coffers."

When Israel refused to give the Palestinian Authority money with which it would have paid Hamas terrorists, Abbas was harshly critical, as he was of others in the international community who refused to directly fund a Hamas-led government. Now Abbas is essentially doing the same thing.

This hypocrisy is not really surprising; Israel's enemies have never been shy about accusing Israel of actions they themselves are guilty of.

Equal Access to the Temple Mount

Because of possible damage to an archeological garden, Israel has scrapped its plan for a new bridge to the Mugrabi Gate, which provides access to the Temple Mount from the Kotel. New plans for a bridge will have to be made.

Unmentioned in the entire discussion has been the fact that Jews have been denied routine access to their most holy spot, the Temple Mount, for most of the last two decades.

Imagine the worldwide outcry if Muslims had similarly been denied access to Mecca or Medina, or even a shrine whose importance to them pales in comparison to Meccca and Medina - the Temple Mount.

To even consider the outcry that would ensue is to recognize how unacceptable the current situation is.

It's long past time - two decades past time - for Israel to stop caving in to Arab and Muslim extremism when it comes to the Temple Mount. The principle of equal access should prevail and if Jews cannot routinely and safely visit the Temple Mount, neither should anyone else.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged intelligence information received from Israel, obtained via surveillance flights, of massive violations by Hezbollah of the terms of United Nations Resolution 1701.

Ban stated in particular that the weapons smuggling has enabled "Hezbollah to rearm to the same levels as before last year's war or beyond."

He also expressed concern for the lives of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose unconditional release was one of the provisions in the resolution. Goldwasser and Regev were kidnapped by Hezbollah terrorists. Not only was that kidnapping, within Israeli territory, illegal and an act of war, but they have been held incommunicado, even denied visits from the Red Cross.

According to a senior diplomatic official commenting on the report, "If Iran and Syria continue their subversive activities, they will be the downfall of Resolution 1701."

Lest one be lulled into believing the United Nations was having an outbreak of rationality, Ban said UNIFIL reported "a significant increase in Israeli air violations, through jet and unmanned aerial vehicle overflights of Lebanese territory."

Apparently, he'd be happier if Israel wasn't able to report on terrorist violations, so he wouldn't feel any need to notice them.

He should concentrate on the implementation of the important parts of the United Nations resolution: the freeing of Ehud Goldwassr and Eldad Regev (along with Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists about the same time) and eliminating Hezbollah's terrorist mini-state within Lebanon. If he did that, there would be no need for Israeli reconnaissance flights.

An article about Ban Ki-moon's report may be found in the online edition of Haaretz, among other locations.

How About a Terrorism Freeze?

According to the July 1 New York Times editorial Let Blair Be Blair, the Palestinian Arabs "desperately need economic development and better institutions. But these goals cannot be realistically separated from the larger challenge of restoring their belief in a livable future in a viable Palestinian state."

It has always been up to the Palestinian Arabs to decide whether they are interested in their own state (in addition to the existing Palestinian states of Israel and Jordan); thus far they have been far more interested in destroying and killing than creating or living.

Outsiders may have a positive role in impressing upon the Palestinian Arabs the self-destructive nature of their past and present courses, but The Times doesn't have that in mind. Rather, it has in mind pressuring Israel to make even more counterproductive concessions.

The only specific step The Times calls on anyone to take is for Israel to institute "a full settlement freeze," as if having a handful of Jews living in the disputed territories would be a problem if the Palestinian Arabs had a sincere interest in peace.

If there are to be any settlement freezes, they should be implemented in an even-handed fashion, with any settlement freezes by Israel matched by settlement freezes by the Palestinian Arabs.

To even suggest that demonstrates how absurd and bigoted the entire idea of a settlement freeze is.

If there are to be any freezes, they should consist of freezing the arming of terrorists and freezing terrorist activity.