Comments on: Hamas ‘disciplines’ army officers over Gaza

By: Joel Lazar

Joel Lazar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:06:01 +0000

I recently read an article by our lovely Jason Katsousis in The Age that dealt almost entirely with Israel’s seemingly inneffectual investigation into human rights accusations post Goldstone, but contanted a mere footnote regarding the PA’s intention to investigate warcrime accusations against Hamas. And it is of no surprise. Katsousis is justified when he targets Israel with his moral magnifying glass because Israel’s moral obligation is clear to all. Israel is obligated to implement the democratic systems of justice it holds in such high regard. It is obligated, as are all democratic states, to constantly engage in moral self-reflection and uphold humane war activity.
Not so with Hamas. No one expects such standards from Hamas. They don’t even expect it from themselves. They make no apologies for their murderous charter that openly advocates the destruction of Israel, together with its Zionist inhabitants. They make no apologies for indiscriminately firing rockets from school buildings and hospitals, using children and the sick as human shields. They publically applaud such ‘innovation’.
If Hamas’ professed ideology is to annihilate Israel and indeed all Zionists, whilst deliberately endangering the lives of the citizens it governs – what merit could possibly arise from an investigation into Hamas war crimes? They would be the last political group on earth to sign a document such as the Geneva Convention that imposes strict guidelines on wartime protocol and ethical levels of combat and interaction with the enemy. Conventions such as these are founded on universal moral and ethical values, the likes of which do not exist in an fundamentally idelgocal belief sysem such as Hamas’. When “right” means the just killing of those who do not support Islam and a new Caliphate in Palestine, an idea that is diametrically opposed to our perception (and indeed, I will claim, the objectively correct perception) of “right” – that is, not purposefully murdering and endangering the lives of innocent people, how can one expect such an organisation to be held accountable for acting in an unjust way? We’re not engaged in the same discourse. We’re speaking differnet moral languages. Try and get an Indian man and a Swedish man to speak to one another when neither speaks the language of the other. It’s laughable. The proposition borders on farcical – especially to Hamas.

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:15:17 +0000

Henry,

We are both guilty of generalizing and stereotyping. There are so many shades of both left & right that any label must be qualified down to near meaninglessness. Please replace “the Zionist left” with “some members of the Zionist left”. Equally, there are plenty (just not enough *sigh*) of ultra-Orthodox who do army service and staunchly support the state.

By: Henry Herzog

Henry Herzog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:19:50 +0000

David, you just lost me. Your labeling of the Zionist left is unjustified, narrow and simplistic. Who are you to judge that the Zionist left’s priority is beyond and above protecting Israel’s citizens and the state? There are many on the left side of politics, both here and in Israel, who have sacrificed much for the state, while the ultra-orthodox right, in Israel and the west bank, get exemptions from the army and live off welfare. Give me a break.

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:56:04 +0000

Problem with the likes of NIF is that their advocates seem to roughly fall into two categories: the Zionist left who are fighting for human rights and whose priority is to make Israel the best possible democracy in the world over and above protecting its own citizens (and its future as a Jewish state), and the anti-Zionists who see it (and perhaps use it, hijack it) as an excellent vehicle for Israel-bashing.

So for many, the NIF is categorized under “my enemy’s friend is also my enemy”

By: ariel

ariel — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:28:42 +0000

David, when you have groups like NIF siding with Hamas, the message is “see, even Israelis deny the legitimacy of their own country!”

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:40:10 +0000

Amazing to see Amnesty International investigating and speaking out against Hamas atrocities! I see that CNN & The Times Online (UK) picked up the story, but not too many others. Of course, The Age would never publish a story like this, would they?

By: ariel

ariel — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:46:45 +0000

How do they train the young to be suicide bombers?
I would like the heads of Hamas to gather all their disciples on top of a hill and have them all press the trigger simultaneously – teachers and students.
http://zionism-israel.com/suicide_bombing.gif

By: Chaim

Chaim — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:42:07 +0000

Or to save humility to the family they could also force them to be suicide bombers..

By: frosh

frosh — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:45:48 +0000

There are now 28 criminal investigations open in Hamas. Its judge advocate general is yet to decide whether to exile suspects to Egypt, make do with summary lynching, or close the cases.

...There's always knee-capping - or perhaps that is reserved only for political opponents.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3671573,00.html