A Law Whose Time Has Come

 

Imagine for a moment that a group of nations in Europe and the European Union itself had decided, more or less as a loosely defined group, that they were going to finance and direct a group of NGOs in Israel with the intent of besmirching the image of Jordan throughout the world and work to degrade the Israeli military and drag its military and civilian leadership and soldiers before the world courts on charges of crimes against humanity. Imagine they also worked to collapse Israel as a nation and replace it with an Arab nation using spurious claims that there exists a group who have a deeper and more legitimate claim on the land and whose history was the exact history the Jews were claiming only older and thus more valid than the Jewish claims despite known facts to the contrary. Finally, imagine these same NGOs claiming to be indigenous and demanding government funding from the Israeli government and were influencing the courts and attempting to assist candidates in elections who would be more in line with the designs of the European financed NGOs in granting the Arab claims on the land and might even cripple their own nation before the spurious claims and yet lobbied the government to prevent a law making it that NGOs who received over half their financing from outside Israel to have to report all of their financing while still allowing their right to operate and claim to be actual representatives of the majority of Israelis despite all evidence to the contrary. If you were able of imagining such a ridiculous plot against Israel, then you have just successfully reached an understanding of exactly what is occurring in Israel right now.

 

This is not even a new issue as it has been going on for well over a decade by groups such as Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Adalah, Yesh Din, Machsom Watch, Hamoked, Rabbis for Human Rights and far too many others. All of these groups support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which singles Israel out claiming their laws make Israel an Apartheid state. One spurious claim made constantly despite full knowledge that the complaint is unwarranted is that Israel has not permitted the Arab Palestinians to hold an election for over a decade. Is it true that the Arabs living in the semiautonomous regions under the administration of the Palestinian Authority headed by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas who was elevated to the position after the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 have yet to vote since 2005; yes, that is a valid statement which is what makes the charge appear to be valid. The fly in that ointment is the fact that the Palestinian Authority is semiautonomous and thus has political control and governs the area in question and Mahmoud Abbas has refused to permit election where he would necessarily stand for reelection and knows he would most likely lose such an election, thus, no elections. Israel has no power to force elections in the areas under Palestinian Authority political control any more than any government in Europe can force elections in another country. Such a claim is like so many others, containing a kernel of truth which makes it believable and appear valid but the rest of the charge is false and known to be using false links and logic. The election libel is similar to the libel that the IDF (Israeli Defense Force, the Israeli military) is guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocidal crimes against the Arab Palestinians and other atrocities. Has the IDF ever had a soldier or commander of a unit commit war crimes? Unfortunately that is true as it is of any army which fights in a combat area and for proof one need not look any further than at the case against Colonel West formerly of the United States Military. His case was covered by the New York Times in an article titled THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: INTERROGATIONS; How Colonel Risked His Career by Menacing Detainee and Lost which gives the essentials and the situation facing commanders in the combat zones.

 

Just as colonel West came forth and faced military trial but took an early retirement from what had before one act to protect his troops by insinuating he was about to do the unthinkable to a detainee, IDF had soldiers who have crossed lines but Breaking the Silence has been found to be using testimonies from soldiers who were forced from the IDF and are bitter about their experience and even using known activists who were never in the IDF as witness or the ones who committed such war crimes to get false testimonies which they then market to a receptive media and other manner of shaming the IDF. If Breaking the Silence were really interested in policing and improving the morality and legal restrictions being obeyed they would not seek publicity and attempt to shame the IDF and besmirch their reputation in media around the world but would rather bring their evidence before the IDF and assist in the prosecution or fact finding such that these IDF soldiers could be brought before a trial and new guidelines could be made known within the IDF preventing another such disgrace which the IDF has proven time and again to investigate every accusation of wrongdoing and does so in complete view of the public. The IDF has had its actions in the last Gaza offensive and every military engagement under the scrutiny of a military panel made up of senior officers and experts on military and international laws of warfare wherever such inquiries were warranted. The United Nations report was largely assisted by Israeli NGOs who, without exception, rely on European funding largely from individual governments, the European Union itself with a guiding purpose of defaming and disrupting the IDF and its efforts to protect Israelis from Arab aggressors including numerous terror entities such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others operating in Gaza as well as Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Below are three videos of experts on the laws of war and International Law, the first two are separate testimonies before the United Nations as an individual expert and as part of the panel of review both emphasizing the good and deficits of their review by Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Corn, U. S. Army Law of War Expert, and the third is Colonel Kemp who was an observer during the Gaza War as is also an expert on the laws of war and International Law as well as the makeup and slanted objective of the United Nations panel looking to equate IDF actions with those of Hamas or possibly dirty the IDF sufficiently so as to exonerate all actions taken by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other terror actions in the Gaza war and before the war with the firing rockets by the hundreds and even thousands per day which was the real cause of the conflict. Please give each approximately two minutes of your time as they are worth hearing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The law being considered and about to be presented to the Knesset for actual debate and voting will be more revealing and honest than the efforts to make this legislation out to be an assault on the rights of individuals, minorities, all Palestinians and the free expression of NGOs and other elements which may at times appear critical of Israel, as the possible to be effected NGOs have claimed. The so-called “Transparency Bill” would require NGOs who receive over 50% of their funding from foreign states to reveal the precise sources of their funds. The aim is to curb the current practice of primarily European states who seek to undermine Israeli government policy by pouring millions into extreme-left and radical Arab Israeli NGOs, according to reports and comments of its supporters. European Union Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen said the Bill was more suited to a “despotic” country and added, “The Bill is explicitly intended to harm organizations critical of government policy. It will have a negative impact on the image of Israel and its standing in Europe as an open and democratic society.” Of course his comments that this legislation would impact Israeli relations with the very governments financing these foreign sourced NGOs and will now require the European busybodies who ignore the serious and potentially fatal economic and immigration positions of their own actions and spend inordinate amounts of their funds taken by taxation and other revenue sources such as tariffs and fees all to spend on financing NGOs in order to influence and destroy both politically and physically the state of Israel and only the state of Israel which just happened to be the only state of the Jews as well as the sole true democracy in the Middle East. These actions say more about these nations and the European Union and their resorting to their oldest hatreds which they have been and apparently always will be as a whole anti-Semites who firmly hold the identical view as the Arabs and too much of the Islamic world that the Jews and their state must be destroyed and brought down to be trodden on by their betters, which is defined as any bipedal lifeform free of feathers and warm blooded. These actions are claimed to be warranted as only by the destruction of Israel will peace and human rights break out in the Middle East; like the Syrian civil war turned Sunni-Shiite war will end if Israel ceases to exist, RIGHT, now tell me another European act so pathetic that even laughter gives more credence and attention than it deserves. Below is an example and translation of the fliers dropped on one location of concentrated terrorist resistance and rocket fire and these were dropped before any IDF action by approximately thirty minutes giving the Arab citizens time to relocate. The real and obvious side-effect of these warnings is it both reveals the next area targeted and allows the terrorists time to relocate as well. The advantage is that by relocating the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other terror units will be in the open and not surrounded by civilians and thus their choices from bad to worse are they can relocate and present easy targets for airstrikes free of civilian casualties or remain in place and be eradicated free of civilian casualties.

 

 

Pamphlet and Translated Version of Pamphlet Dropped
by IDF Command Before Calling Airstrikes or Deploying
Ground Troops Whichever is Less Likely to Harm Civilian Lives

 

 

The reality is that these NGOs do not serve the majority or even a plurality of Israeli citizens almost all of whom realize their lives are dependent upon the skill and sacrifices of the IDF and know they are owed a debt of gratitude beyond anything we can offer other than our support, thanks and love. We Israelis cannot begin to find sufficient respect for our IDF young men and women as they are by leaps and bounds the most moral and honorable military in the world ever. What also sets them apart from all other militaries, the Islamic State fears any conflict and especially a front where they would be facing the IDF on their borders. The British and Americans they claim they would welcome, though we all know they really do not want to see the entire force which the United States and Britain to a somewhat lesser extent, but as the IDF has proven repeatedly that size or lack thereof does not mean less fierce or efficient on the battlefield. The Islamic State facing a determined NATO front would last about three hours after the civilians let loose the full force as was utilized during World War II or even a single front, either the Japanese or the European front’s forces. There is another problem on the ground in an area which presents such a plethora of such challenges and where we can be glad that Egypt is no longer in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood or that too would present some difficulties.

 

One has to wonder why Israel presents such an interest and desire to do harm where no such attitude exists on the Israeli side and only desires to run their nation free of foreign entangling and mischief working to their detriment. This “Transparency Bill” only seeks to present an honest assessment and accounting before the public and provide honesty and open examinations of any outside entities seeking to hide behind highly placed charges and other mischief all tailored to bring Israel down. This blood libel of Israel as presented by Breaking the Silence before the world is simply evidentiary proof that these NGOs are nothing more than appendages of European anti-Semitism seeking to destroy Israel by setting a completely different standard and though knowing of these NGOs perfidious acts and missions statements as they are funded by their European government and the European Union who direct them to provide the exact information and take whatever stand is required for the moment and dance for their masters in Europe. The Jews who work with these groups knowing their intent and origins are nothing more than the fools, and all too many were Jews, who assisted Lenin into power who never hid his hatred for Jews but that has never bothered the leftist Jews who will grease the wheels instead of the tracks at some crucial location as the train will not take them until they are the last or the war turns poorly but the one thing they are guaranteed, in the end they will be murdered as such is the way of the tyrants. In the meantime as Europe itself has chosen a slow suicide by allowing open immigration and are receiving largely untrained people seeking the European baskets of support and not opportunity which will pay off once the requirement of hard work has been met. These immigrants are setting up areas where their laws are applied and their nation and its laws are kept quite distant beyond the jagged line upon which Europe will be breaking themselves against these jagged edges long before Israel can come to their rescue; especially should these very same Europeans continue their pogroms attempting to tear Israel down before her enemies.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Of What Restraint Doth the UN Human Rights Office Call?

 

This past Friday Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights Office stated, “Clearly these boys need to be found, that’s totally understandable, but the scale of operations and the number of people they are affecting is deeply disturbing. We reiterate our call for strict adherence to international law by all relevant actors and join others in their call for restraint.” Referencing the mother of one of the abducted teens and her witness before the United Nations in Geneva Mr. Colville commented to reporters, “As a mother herself, she expressed her understanding of their deep anxiety about the fate of their sons. We are concerned that the three teenagers have still not been located, after being missing for 15 days. We hope for their immediate safe return. Our heartfelt sympathy also goes out to the mothers and loved ones of the six Palestinians, including two teenagers, who have been killed by Israeli forces, in addition to the many others who have been injured, during these past two weeks.” Returning again to his criticisms of the search tactics and expressing his alarm at the loss of life and reputed violence he continued commenting, “We call for prompt and thorough investigations, and prosecution of the perpetrators in cases where there has been excessive use of force. We are also concerned about reports of damage to property and theft during these operations, especially house-to-house searches, and their traumatic effect on children and families.” Mr. Colville’s contemptuous commentary was the third denunciation out of the United Nations calling out Israel for their actions operation in Judea and Samaria which begs a few questions.

 

Exactly how much effort and to what extents should one be limited to in searching for three abducted teen age boys taken as they were returning home from a long day of studies at their schools, their Yeshivas? What is the hope to find these youths alive from amongst a population whose government had deplored for them to obstruct the Israeli efforts in any possible manner? Should the finding of hidden storage areas filled with bombs and improvised explosive devices as well as arms and ammunitions in large quantities have any relevance in the search parameters? Does the United Nations have any words for the Palestinians who rioted in order to prevent searches from proceeding and who threw and slung stones and flung firebombs at the IDF troops with intent to cause as much harm and impede the searching for the kidnapped teens? Why is it that I doubt the United Nations has any real concern for the well-being and safety of these Jewish youths violently torn from their lives and families with malice aforethought? The only gladness I can feel is that the United Nations did not express the same warnings and attempt to pose any limitations on the efforts to rescue the young girls stolen from their families by Boko Haram in Nigeria. On the other side I have heard no denunciations of the subsequent and seemingly continuous abductions of youths in Nigeria. Obviously, the United Nations is slowly proving that it no longer has the moral authority of the nations as their mission but instead they have relented to echoing the seething hatreds reflecting their increase throughout our unfortunate planet. The United Nations has unfortunately chosen to showcase the ugly hatreds which are growing ever more prevalent throughout the seven continents (the current count appears to have grown from the old and traditional five to seven and probably with more to come as our world further fragments) with an ever growing swiftness shrugging off the lethargy the horrors of World War II had inflicted on the hatreds of old.

 

There is a little piece of news I would like to share with the United Nations and those who believe that Israel is the source of all evil and takes joy from their imposing inconvenience as they search with hope beyond hope that the three teens, Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’ar, remain alive and well without having suffered the deprivations and any possible tortures which have befallen previous youths so abducted; there is no joy and those in the IDF will show all the respect and more to any acceptance and cooperation they receive and try and minimize any discomforts despite that which they are most certainly having thrown upon them as they are professional and their leadership accepts nothing less. Do not take my words for this assessment, search and read the opinion of former British commander Colonel Richard Kemp who spoke commending the Israeli Defense Force as most professional in handling suicide attacks stating before the Goldstone committee, “During its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” This is the military the United Nations simply believes on face value any degradation and derogatory claim levied against them. The United Nations false recriminations are something which had become perfunctory for their many agencies with a special mention for the Human Rights Council which begins every session with a discussion of what denunciation they will pass against Israel as the bylaws make this a requirement. Then there is the series of anti-Israel hate-fests which are disguised as honorable debate on racism and xenophobia under the title of the Durban Conference. There is one thing which can be said for the United Nations, they are consistent if nothing else. One might wonder what would happen if the honorable representatives from the United Nations were to actually pursue peace and positive relations between nations without bias or preconceived and judged situations by how they could possibly assist to enforce justice and calm the chop and tidal waves of injustices and enforce the rule of law with blindness and a degree of equality without prejudice. Perhaps I ask too much of the single world body established as a place where nations could discuss and settle differences in an atmosphere of mutual respect and free of the animosities and prejudices which plague the society outside of its halls. Instead the United Nations has become an amplifier of the hatreds and animosities it was presumably formed to relegate to the ashbin of history. Perhaps expecting such from anything made by mankind and the nations they populate is beyond reasonable expectations. Still, ask yourself how much effort and how far would you go to gain the return of your own child unharmed should they, G0d forbid, be abducted. What would you leave unturned and what doors would remain locked? None, right?

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Ultimate Syrian Atrocity Against Their Children

In many wars the most heart-wrenching realities are the often unintentional pains and suffering inflicted on the children. Where unintentional deaths and injuries of children are awful and distressing enough leaving observers to wonder how anybody can permit such heartless acts, in Syria Bashir Assad’s snipers have taken it beyond acceptable disaster into intentionally aiming at the children. Making this reality even worse is that the Syrian snipers are not aiming at the children to kill them, they are aiming for their spines in order to leave them alive and permanently paralyzed causing the most horrific injury possible and intentionally inflicting permanent misery and disabilities. These crimes are monstrous and inhuman and beyond contempt. These youngest victims of the inhuman side of the Syrian civil war are brought to Nahariya, Israel to the West Galilee Regional Hospital, the same hospital I would be admitted to in case of any emergency, where they are treated under the careful eye of Dr. Yoav Hoffman, a senior physician at the pediatric intensive care unit. Dr. Yoav Hoffman has described the injuries he has treated stating, “The injuries are very specific: gunshot wounds from a single bullet to the lumbar spine, near vertebrates 2 and 3.These shootings are not intended to kill, but to cause misery. They result in paralysis or slow death in Syria’s conditions.” His description is evidence that Syrian snipers precisely target children’s spines to maximize their injuries and suffering intending to leave these innocents with permanent misery beyond imagination. Dr. Hoffman has seen 25 children come into his unit for treatment for these exact injuries and the children are treated and sent back to Syria in donated wheelchairs and are paralyzed for life.

 

The Syrian civil war has surpassed three years and over 150,000 deaths and near countless injured and many millions forced to flee to neighboring countries as refugees with no hope of ever returning to a normal life. Even should the Syrian civil war end in the near future, it would make little difference as whichever side wins the battle stands to inherit a nation suffering near complete destruction of its infrastructure and absolutely no discernable economy. The refugees would be returning to their home cities where their homes no longer exist and virtually everything will need to be rebuilt once the rubble has been cleared. The recovery will take decades and during the rebuilding process there will be little economic production outside of the rebuilding. Farms will need to be completely reestablished from scratch. On top of these difficulties will be the other residue of the conflict, the permanently disabled children and people resulting from the wounds of war. At the head of the ever increasing list of disabled victims of the Syrian civil war will be the young victims from this revolting practice of Bashir Assad’s forces which include Syrian military soldiers, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops (IRGC), and Hezballah terrorists from Lebanon. Where reports are vague as to which soldiers are responsible for this horrific practice of using snipers to shatter the spines of children leaving them alive and permanently disabled as paraplegics, it really does not make much different whether the snipers are members of IRGC or Hezballah as their actions are still reprehensible; but if the snipers are Syrian military, these acts of inflicting inhuman suffering of the most innocent victims, it would present us with evidence of the most horrific monsters imaginable, people willing and intentionally causing such misery on their own fellow citizens of Syria. This practice needs to be revealed worldwide and condemnation should be heaped on its perpetrators. There needs to be war crime tribunals to bring the perpetrators and those responsible for their orders to account for their inhuman atrocities.

 

What is beyond my ability to fathom is how people can be so cruel and inhuman and act with such malicious and horrific callousness against children, especially the youngest who pose absolutely no threat to them. Such cold-blooded, hard-hearted sadism is reminiscent of barbarism from ancient history and has been attributed almost exclusively to some of the most vile and despised forces from history. Many had believed that such horrific acts were something beyond possibility in the modern world. The evidence which has been brought to light from the treatment rooms of Nahariya’s West Galilee Regional Hospital should shake consciences throughout the world and result in a hue and cry that is heard universally bring this situation to light. I would hope that shining the light of world scrutiny would shame the perpetrators of such horrific practices ending their evil endeavors, but the monsters capable of such inhumanity probably would find any condemnation as honoring and recognition of their accomplishments and the precision of their shooting abilities. The perpetrators of this practice are lacking in conscience or any ability to feel compassion and must be completely dead inside placing them beyond the effects of decent civilization pressures. This is simply the latest injustice and treachery exhibited by all sides in Syria, a civil war where it resembles all sides against each other. All of the violent, malevolent hostilities which are generated in Syria and the fact that the war exists between the forces of Bashir Assad against the various rebel forces and secondarily violence and mayhem exists between the different factions such that in any battle it is possible for bullets to fire in multiple direction as there exists the possibility for any one battle to contain numerous sub-battles with rebel force against rebel force while they both also fight Abbas’s military and allies. Still, the worst horrors are those that strike at the children, the innocents.

 

Beyond the Cusp