The United Nations organisation has made a statement on the slaughter of around sixty unarmed demonstrators, with thousands of others badly injured according to Doctors Without Borders, in Gaza yesterday by Israeli forces.
In a voice that seemed almost breaking with emotion, UN spokesman Rupert Colville emphasised that no conditions under international law had been met in yesterday’s circumstances to provide legal justification for the decision to open fire with live ammunition on crowds of unarmed protesters – along with children, journalists and emergency responders:
Anyone claiming that Israel was legitimately defending itself under international law yesterday is simply wrong, according to the UN.
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Can’t help wondering whether known individuals were being targeted based on criteria other than their actions on that particular day.
Suspicion of previous activity they’ve been unable to prove comes to mind.
Children have been murdered fgs don’t look for excuses and aplogia for these atrocities.
Murder is never legal, moral or excusable..
Maria, how you read my post as making excuses for the shootings is a mystery to me.
Shooting people for suspected previous “bad acts” would be more heinous, not less – cold-blooded murder with no possibility of claiming self-defence.
The protesters would certainly have been watched by the IDF’s security service for targets showing signs of leadership potential.
Well you would, wouldn’t you if you saw Palestinians as something to be crushed without mercy for daring to resist God’s chosen people?
David, the point is it makes no difference what is in IDF/IOF minds or reasoning when they aim and shoot unarmed civilians. Palestinians have an inalienable right to protest the illegal occupation, illegal corralling in Gaza, ongoing colonisation and brutal repression. That is why I object to speculating why IDF/IOF does what it does or if it is using this to settle scores. it is an occupation force. they are all the same. There is no excuse or reasoning that is moral, legal or humanitarian, it is just wrong on every level full stop.
You may not have intended to read like apologia but I have read so much pro Israel colonization and occupation arguments over the years it rang bells. If I offended you, I apologise.
Maria, my speculation could in no way have been taken for an apologia and I’ll continue to speculate as I wish.
No offence taken.
Unless the UN General Assembly work together to invoke UNGA 377A then Israel, protected by the US, will be let off the hook yet again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_377
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 377 A,[1] the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, states that in any cases where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity amongst its five permanent members, fails to act as required to maintain international peace and security, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue any recommendations it deems necessary in order to restore international peace and security.
There are things closer to home (like the systematic abuse of disabled people’s rights, or the bedroom tax/housing crisis) that the UN have been critical of the UK govt. for.
When are our opposition going to prioritise those things; seeing as our own govt not only ignore the UN, but ‘take offence’ to UN criticism? Or are they just gonna continue to make it all about semitism/antisemitism?
Palestine’s been going on for decades and will continue to do so, despite the *ahem* ”Best efforts” of a certain former freeloading british PM in his sick joke of a role as ‘Middle east peace envoy’
If things stay as they are on the domestic issues I’ve mentioned there’ll be nobody left here to constitute or vote for an opposition.
Oppression, blatant abuses of inalienable human rights and breaking of international laws must be fought on all fronts at home and abroad. The imperialist elite constructs push divide and rule to weaken push back from below. It works a treat to maintain their lucrative oppression and has done for centuries.
PS: How come there’s no Comments section in your previous post? (@13:42)
My CLP will be demanding our local MP unreservedly condemns the slaughter of innocent protestors and immediately disassociates themselves from the Labour Friends of Israel organisation which sought to justify the slaughter.
We will also demand that all links between the Labour Party and LFI be immediately severed.
I call on all members of the Labour Party to take the same action through your own CLP.
While we’re doing house-cleaning, let’s sever all links with the Co-Op party, too!
French ‘Resistance’ fighters were hero’s who took the fight to the invading Nazi troops occupying their country during WW2. Similarities to today’s ‘terrorists’ fighting against the invading forces who are occupying their country?
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/nnmadw/israeli-soldiers-are-allegedly-committing-war-crimes-in-palestine Is this true?
Probably, I see no reason to distrust these reports particularly as the Israeli state’s response was so ambiguous.
The State of Israel will continue to act with impunity whilst they are protected by the US or until the UNGE gets its act together and says enough is enough.
sorry ‘UNGE’ should read UNGA – United Nations General Assembly
If Israel is going to act like a rogue state then it should be treated like one, UN sanctions would be a good start but I’m sure the US will veto everything because neither of them actually care about Palestinians nor the fact Israel has a free hand to indiscriminately murder them.
High time the world reacted to Israel’s crimes
See my post above at 4:27pm ref UNGA 377a
High time the world reacted to the crimes of all nations. This is bad but definitely not worse than the invasion of Iraq.
And more recently the ethnic “cleansing” of the Rohingya by the Myanmar government where an estimated 700,000 were made homeless and about 10,000 killed. Not to mention all those killed and made homeless in Syria by Assad, the Russians, the Western backed rebels and the medieval Daesh
Will they be taken to the Hague???
So May said… “There is an urgent need to establish the facts of what happened yesterday through an independent and transparent investigation, including why such a volume of live fire was used and what role Hamas played in events.”
But just a minute, isn’t that almost identical to Corbyn’s thoughts on chemical weapon’s use Syria.
1. Laila Anwar Al-Ghandoor, 8 months old
2. Ezz el-din Musa Mohamed Alsamaak, 14 years old
3. Wisaal Fadl Ezzat Alsheikh Khalil, 15 years old
4. Ahmed Adel Musa Alshaer, 16 years old
5. Saeed Mohamed Abu Alkheir, 16 years old
6. Ibrahim Ahmed Alzarqa, 18 years old
7. Eman Ali Sadiq Alsheikh, 19 years old
8. Zayid Mohamed Hasan Omar, 19 years old
9. Motassem Fawzy Abu Louley, 20 years old
10. Anas Hamdan Salim Qadeeh, 21 years old
11. Mohamed Abd Alsalam Harz, 21 years old
12. Yehia Ismail Rajab Aldaqoor, 22 years old
13. Mustafa Mohamed Samir Mahmoud Almasry, 22 years old
14. Ezz Eldeen Nahid Aloyutey, 23 years old
15. Mahmoud Mustafa Ahmed Assaf, 23 years old
16. Ahmed Fayez Harb Shahadah, 23 years old
17. Ahmed Awad Allah, 24 years old
18. Khalil Ismail Khalil Mansor, 25 years old
19. Mohamed Ashraf Abu Sitta, 26 years old
20. Bilal Ahmed Abu Diqah, 26 years old
21. Ahmed Majed Qaasim Ata Allah, 27 years old
22. Mahmoud Rabah Abu Maamar, 28 years old
23. Musab Yousef Abu Leilah, 28 years old
24. Ahmed Fawzy Altetr, 28 years old
25. Mohamed Abdelrahman Meqdad, 28 years old
26. Obaidah Salim Farhan, 30 years old
27. Jihad Mufid Al-Farra, 30 years old
28. Fadi Hassan Abu Salah, 30 years old
29. Motaz Bassam Kamil Al-Nunu, 31 years old
30. Mohammed Riyad Abdulrahman Alamudi, 31 years old
31. Jihad Mohammed Othman Mousa, 31 years old
32. Shahir Mahmoud Mohammed Almadhoon, 32 years old
33. Mousa Jabr Abdulsalam Abu Hasnayn, 35 years old
34. Mohammed Mahmoud Abdulmoti Abdal’al, 39 years old
35. Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Hamdan, 27 years old
36. Ismail Khalil Ramadhan Aldaahuk, 30 years old
37. Ahmed Mahmoud Mohammed Alrantisi, 27 years old
38. Alaa Alnoor Ahmed Alkhatib, 28 years old
39. Mahmoud Yahya Abdawahab Hussain, 24 years old
40. Ahmed Abdullah Aladini, 30 years old
41. Saadi Said Fahmi Abu Salah, 16 years old
42. Ahmed Zahir Hamid Alshawa, 24 years old
43. Mohammed Hani Hosni Alnajjar, 33 years old
44. Fadl Mohamed Ata Habshy, 34 years old
45. Mokhtar Kaamil Salim Abu Khamash, 23 years old
46. Mahmoud Wael Mahmoud Jundeyah, 21 years old
47. Abdulrahman Sami Abu Mattar, 18 years old
48. Ahmed Salim Alyaan Aljarf, 26 years old
49. Mahmoud Sulayman Ibrahim Aql, 32 years old
50. Mohamed Hasan Mustafa Alabadilah, 25 years old
51. Kamil Jihad Kamil Mihna, 19 years old
52. Mahmoud Saber Hamad Abu Taeemah, 23 years old
53. Ali Mohamed Ahmed Khafajah, 21 years old
54. Abdelsalam Yousef Abdelwahab, 39 years old
55. Mohamed Samir Duwedar, 27 years old
56. Talal Adel Ibrahim Mattar, 16 years old
57. Omar Jomaa Abu Ful, 30 years old
58. Nasser Ahmed Mahmoud Ghrab, 51 years old
59. Bilal Badeer Hussein Al-Ashram, 18 years old
plus three as yet unidentified.
The overt age demographic of the casualty list leaves plenty to be desired from the arabs. One person over 50…And the youngest an EIGHT MONTH old baby.
F***ing savages. Allowing children – nay BABIES – to be put under mortal danger.
Where were all the palestinian ‘elders’? Oh, they’re alright talking to the cameras while they allow their kids to get shot at…
And kindly don’t bother with the: ‘But they were unarmed, and the Israelis are/were indiscriminate’.
If you put kids or allow them to put themselves in mortal peril, no matter what the circumstances, you’re vermin.
Likewise, if you shoot unarmed kids, you’re vermin.
No better. No worse. No winners. No excuses.
A plague on both houses on either side of the fence. I’m sick to bastard death of the lot of them. They can wipe each other out for all I care because they refuse to listen.
It’s a lost cause. Let others deal with it if they want. This country has it’s own oppressed; and we should concentrate on aiding THEM and their plight before screaming about affairs that aren’t anywhere near as much relevant to this country.
I’m dissapointed in you TOFFEE
The only vermin here are the IDF troops who shot them in cold blood
You’d allow your own kids to go somewhere you KNOW they’d be shot out of hand, regardless?
No?
Evidently the arabs do. That makes them the same savages as those israeli savages doing the shooting in my opinion. The lot of them can get to f**k, AFAIC.
Their mutual hatred has become blind to reason; risks dragging others into THEIR fight and ANYONE who thinks it can be resolved by a bit of finger wagging is kidding their-effing-selves; especially when bigger fish than us have taken sides.
No. Let them get on with. We’ve tried & failed and should have NO part in perpetuating the vicious cycle. About time we concentrated on those in this country being systematically eradicated by ‘more subtle’ (financial) means.
I don’t see as much passion for our own….
Britain gave away a country it didn’t own. I think we still owe a debt to both sides – all sides in the ME in fact – which we can never repay.
The least we can do is keep trying – AND STOP BUYING OIL AND INFLUENCE WITH ARMS SALES AND BRIBES.
So, if the conditions did not satisfy those allowed by international law, then it was MURDER, right? So what will the UN, UK etc do now?
The UK (In israeli fashion) will continue to cock a snook to the UN and carry out further draconian measures against the disenfranchised, the sick and the unemployed of this country, which will lead to more deaths as a direct result.
As for what the UK’ll do about the levantine issue(s) I have no idea, and frankly, rapidly diminishing interest. Getting involved in the problem in any way appears only to become part of the problem.
The thoroughly impotent UN will continue with it’s finger-wagging at the UK and Israel.