Palestinian War Crimes

The Hague Convention on PLO terrorists who dress as civilians
The Qualifications of Belligerents

Article 1. The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:
1. To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance;
3. To carry arms openly; and
4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favor or impede military operations. The Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations.

The Geneva Convention on the PLO's practice of recruiting young teenagers to attack the Israelis

The Parties to the conflict shall take all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities and, in particular, they shall refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces.

A recent item in the Wall Street Journal said that the UN had condemned Israeli air attacks on PLO terrorists. The UN remains silent when PLO terrorists kill Israeli women and children; it is obvious where the UN stands.

More war crimes and atrocities (thanks to Deborah Nyob, soc.culture.israel, for the information. Bracketed remarks are mine.)

Mar 28, 2001 Eliran Rosenberg-Zayat, 15, of Givat Shmuel and Naftali Lanzkorn, 13, of Petah Tikva were killed in a suicide bombing at the Mifgash Hashalom ("peace stop") gas station several hundred meters from an IDF roadblock near the entrance to Kalkilya, east of Kfar Saba. Four people were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.	Apr 22, 2001 - Dr. Mario Goldin, 53, of Kfar Sava, was killed when a terrorist detonated a powerful bomb he was carrying near a group of people waiting at a bus stop on the corner of Weizman and Tchernichovsky streets. About 60 people were injured in the blast. Hamas claimed responsibility. [It takes more than 20 years of training to create a doctor. How long did it take Hamas to kill one? This is consistent with the difference between Western Civilization and militant "Islam." The former turns deserts into gardens, e.g. through irrigation, the latter turns gardens into deserts.]
Apr 1, 2001 - Dina Guetta, 42, of Haifa, was stabbed to death on Ha'atzmaut Street. Her murder was the initiation rite into a terrorist cell apprehended in July. [The typical courage of the Palestinian terrorist: stab a helpless woman instead of an armed man.]	May 9, 2001 - Yossi Ish-Ran, 14, and Kobi Mandell, 14, both of Tekoa, were found stoned to death in a cave about 200 meters from the small community south of Jerusalem where they lived. [Palestinian courage: stoning teenage boys to death!]
May 29, 2001 [Brave Fatah terrorists shoot unarmed women] - Sarah Blaustein, 53, and Esther Alvan, 20, of Efrat, were killed in a drive-by shooting near Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem. The Fatah Tanzim claimed responsibility for the attack. June 11, 2001 [Brave Palestinians stone newborn to death.] - Yehuda Shoham, aged 5 months, of Shilo, died of injuries incurred in a fatal stoning on June 5. He was critically injured by a rock thrown at the family's car near Shilo in Samaria.	June 1, 2001 - Marina Berkovizki, 17, of Tel Aviv; Roman Dezanshvili, 21, of Bat Yam; Ilya Gutman, 19, of Bat Yam; Anya Kazachkov, 16, of Holon; Katherine Kastaniyada-Talkir, 15, of Ramat Gan; Aleksei Lupalu, 16, of the Ukraine; Mariana Medvedenko, 16, of Tel Aviv; Irina Nepomneschi, 16, of Bat Yam; Yelena Nelimov, 18, of Tel Aviv; Yulia Nelimov, 16, of Tel Aviv; Raisa Nimrovsky, 15, of Netanya; Pvt. Diez (Dani) Normanov, 21, of Tel Aviv; Simona Rodin, 18, of Holon; Ori Shahar, 32, of Ramat Gan; Liana Sakiyan, 16, of Tel Aviv; Maria Tagilchev, 14, of Netanya; and Irena Usdachi, 18, of Holon were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself outside a disco near Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium along the seafront promenade just before midnight on Friday. Sergei Pancheskov, 20, of the Ukraine; Yael-Yulia Sklianik, 15, of Holon; Jan Bloom, 25, of Ramat Gan; and Yevgenia Dorfman, 15, of Bat Yam died subsequently from their injuries. 120 people were wounded in the bombing.
June 12, 2001 [Palestinian terrorists murder Christian monk] - Father Georgios Tsibouktzakis, 34, a Greek Orthodox monk from the St. George Monastery in Wadi Kelt in the Judean desert, was shot and killed while driving on the Jerusalem-Ma'ale Adumim road.	June 28, 2001 [Valiant "freedom fighters" ambush women] - Ekaterina (Katya) Weintraub, 27, of Ganim in northern Samaria was killed and another woman injured late Thursday afternoon by shots fired at the two-car convoy on the Jenin bypass road.
Aug 5, 2001 [Palestinians murder pregnant woman] - Tehiya Bloomberg, 40, of Karnei Shomron, mother of five and 5 months pregnant, was killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the family vehicle between Alfei Menashe and Karnei Shomron. Three people were seriously wounded, including her husband, Shimon, and daughter, Tzippi, 14.	Oct 4, 2001 - Sgt. Tali Ben-Armon, 19, an off-duty woman soldier from Pardesia, Haim Ben-Ezra, 76, of Givat Hamoreh, and Sergei Freidin, 20, of Afula were killed when a Palestinian terrorist, dressed as an Israeli paratrooper, opened fire on Israeli civilians waiting at the central bus station in Afula. 13 other Israelis were wounded in the attack. Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack. [I recall that Germans dressed as Americans to misdirect American troops during the Battle of the Bulge. When they were caught, they were executed on the spot-- I'm not even sure if the Americans bothered to hold a court-martial. "German combatant in an American uniform" was good enough.]
Oct 28, 2001 - Ayala Levy, 39, of Elyachin; Smadar Levy, 23, of Hadera; Lydia Marko, 63, of Givat Ada; and Sima Menachem, 30, of Zichron Yaakov were killed when two Palestinian terrorists, members of the Palestinian police, armed with assault rifles and expanding bullets, opened fire from a vehicle on Israeli pedestrians at a crowded bus-stop in downtown Hadera. About 40 were wounded, three critically. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsiblity for the attack.	Dec 1, 2001 - Assaf Avitan, 15, of Jerusalem; Michael Moshe Dahan, 21, of Jerusalem; Israel Ya'akov Danino, 17, of Jerusalem; Yosef El-Ezra, 18, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Nir Haftzadi, 19, of Jerusalem; Yuri (Yoni) Korganov, 20, of Ma'alei Adumim; Golan Turgeman, 15, of Jerusalem; Guy Vaknin, 19, of Jerusalem; Adam Weinstein, 14, of Givon Hahadasha, and Moshe Yedid-Levy, 19, of Jerusalem were killed and about 180 injured - 17 seriously - when explosive devices were detonated by two suicide bombers close to 11:30 P.M. Saturday night on Ben Yehuda Street, the pedestrian mall in the center of Jerusalem. A car bomb exploded nearby 20 minutes later. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Ido Cohen, 17, of Jerusalem, fatally injured in the attack, died of his wounds on December 8.
Jan 15, 2002 - Avraham (Avi) Boaz, 71, of Ma'aleh Adumim, an American citizen, was kidnapped at a PA security checkpoint in Beit Jala. His bullet-riddled body was found in a car in Beit Sahur, in the Bethlehem area. The Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigade claimed responsibility for the murder.	Jan 17, 2002 - Edward Bakshayev, 48, of Or Akiva; Anatoly Bakshayev, 63, of Or Akiva; Aharon Ben Yisrael-Ellis, 32, of Ra'anana; Dina Binayev, 48, of Ashkelon; Boris Melikhov, 56, of Sderot; and Avi Yazdi, 25, of Hadera were killed and 35 injured, several seriously, when a terrorist burst into a bat mitzva reception in a banquet hall in Hadera shortly before 23:00, opening fire with an M-16 assault rifle. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
Feb 16, 2002 - Nehemia Amar, 15, and Keren Shatsky, 15, both of Ginot Shomron were killed and about 30 people were wounded, six seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday night at a pizzeria in the shopping mall in Karnei Shomron in Samaria. Rachel Theler, 16, of Ginot Shomron died of her wounds on February 27. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack.	Mar 2, 2002 - Ten people were killed and over 50 were injured, 4 critically, in a suicide bombing at 19:15 on Saturday evening near a yeshiva in the ultra-Orthodox Beit Yisrael neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem where people had gathered for a bar-mitzva celebration. The terrorist detonated the bomb next to a group of women waiting with their baby carriages for their husbands to leave the nearby synagogue. The victims: Shlomo Nehmad (40), his wife Gafnit (32), and their daughters Shiraz (7) and Liran (3), of Rishon Lezion; Shaul Nehmad (15), of Rishon Lezion; Lidor Ilan (12) and his sister Oriah (18 months), of Rishon Lezion; Tzofia Ya'arit Eliyahu (23) and her son Ya'akov Avraham (7 months), of Jerusalem. Avi Hazan, 37, of Moshav Adora, died of his injuries on Monday morning (Mar 4). The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for the attack.

Michael Rubin, "The UN's Refugees," Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2002, page A12.

"Israel's raids did damage the camps [Jenin and Balata]. But as a result of the operation, Israel uncovered illegal arms caches, bomb factories, and a plant manufacturing the new Kassam-2 rocket... Confronted with evidence of illegal Palestinian mines, mortars, and missiles, no U.N. official questioned how it was that bomb factories could exist in U.N.-managed refugee camps. Either the U.N. officials were unaware of the bomb factories-- a fact which would suggest utter incompetence--- or, more likely, the U.N. officials simply turned a blind eye."

"The fact that U.N. observers protected and defended guerilas who crossed a U.N.-certified border, using cars with U.N. license plates while under the cover of U.N. flags, was apparently of no consequence to UNIFIL."

Palestinian sympathizers are trotting out the tired "One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" argument to justify atrocities. The Geneva and Hague Conventions, however, explicitly define Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen as war criminals. The Hague Convention requires combatants to (1) "have a fixed distinctive emblem [e.g. a uniform] recognizable at a distance," (2) "carry arms openly," and (3) "conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war." They don't even need to bomb a Passover seder to deserve death; violation of the first provision alone is a capital war crime.

Why has death been the traditional punishment for combatants who masquerade as civilians? In the police training program known as "Hogan's Alley," officers must make split-second decisions to shoot or not shoot at targets that represent armed criminals and innocent bystanders respectively. The Geneva and Hague Conventions protect both soldiers and noncombatants by making a clear difference between "shoot" and "don't shoot" targets in war.

As an example, the laws of war immunize the Red Cross and its Muslim equivalent, the Red Crescent, from military action. The same laws assure combatants that anything that displays these emblems is harmless. A Palestinian ambulance driver was recently caught carrying 20 pounds of explosives underneath a seven-year-old boy. Israel failed in its duty not only to itself, but also to every legitimate medical aid worker in the region, by not executing him for misusing the Red Crescent to conceal munitions.

Terrorists have deliberately chosen to make "Pallie Alley" a deadly game in which the "shoot" and "don't shoot" targets look exactly alike. This causes the deaths of many innocent Palestinians when Israelis must make split-second shoot/don't shoot decisions. This is why any terrorist who masquerades as a civilian should, upon conviction by court-martial, be put to death.

Let's play "Pallie Alley"

You are an Israeli soldier or an armed Israeli civilian, and you are presented with the targets shown at right. You must make a split-second decision to shoot or not shoot. A wrong decision (either way) will cost innocent lives.

Is he a father with a baby, or is he a suicide bomber with a doll's head on his package of explosives? He's walking into a pizza parlor or a Passover Seder; you have about a second to make up your mind.
Is this Palestinian businessman looking at his watch to see if he's on time for his appointment with his client as he walks into an Israeli office building, or is this terrorist checking to see when the bomb in his briefcase will explode?
Is this ambulance carrying medical personnel and patients, or explosives?
A house of worship or a gun emplacement?

What's the matter? You don't like this game because you can't tell the "shoot" targets from the "don't-shoot" targets? Guess what: Israel doesn't like it either, but it's the Palestinians who choose to play it this way.

According to the report, Syria dispatched a number of planes to Iran last week posing as humanitarian aid transports for Iranian earthquake victims.
When the flights returned to Syria, they were filled with weaponry which was unloaded in Damascus and transferred to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Retired Army officer Ralph Peters, author of Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World, "Civilian Casualties: No Apology Needed," Wall Street Journal, 25 July 2002

Saudi Arabia and Iran: two poster children for "Western Civilization's Burden."
(Source): "Infidels Forbidden" warn signs outside the city of Medina, where the prophet Muhammed once lived. This ominous message causes Western visitors to Saudi Arabia to shiver in fear. ...two Filipino Christians were beheaded for studying the Bible and praying in a Saudi prison. ...In Iran, four prominent Christian leaders have been killed in this decade. In Iraq, Pakistan and Syria—and likely others—family members who kill converts to Christianity experience no punishment.

How to handle Palestinian (and Al Qaida) war criminals: "Marwan Barghouti"
with due credit to Rudyard Kipling's "Danny Deever"

"What are the bugles blowin' for?" said Files-on-Parade.
"To turn you out, to turn you out", the Colour-Sergeant said.
"What makes you look so white, so white?" said Files-on-Parade.
"I'm dreadin' what I've got to watch", the Colour-Sergeant said.
For they're hangin' Marwan Barghouti, you can hear the Dead March play,
The regiment's in 'ollow square -- they're hangin' him to-day;
They've taken of his buttons off an' cut his stripes away,
An' they're hangin' Marwan Barghouti in the mornin'.

"What makes the rear-rank breathe so 'ard?" said Files-on-Parade.
"It's bitter cold, it's bitter cold", the Colour-Sergeant said.
"What makes that front-rank man fall down?" said Files-on-Parade.
"A touch o' sun, a touch o' sun", the Colour-Sergeant said.
They are hangin' Marwan Barghouti, they are marchin' of 'im round,
They 'ave 'alted Marwan Barghouti by 'is coffin on the ground;
An' 'e'll swing in 'arf a minute for a sneakin' murderin' hound --
O they're hangin' Marwan Barghouti in the mornin'!

"'E demanded 'land for peace'", said Files-on-Parade.
"'E'll 'ave all the land he needs to-night", the Colour-Sergeant said.
"'E murdered innocents a score o' times", said Files-on-Parade.
"'E'll murder no more", the Colour-Sergeant said.
They are hangin' Marwan Barghouti, you must mark 'im to 'is place,
For 'e bombed a Seder and slaughtered children -- you must look 'im in the face;
All of 'is people's an' Humanity's disgrace,
While they're hangin' Marwan Barghouti in the mornin'.

"What's that so black agin' the sun?" said Files-on-Parade.
"It's Marwan fightin' 'ard for life", the Colour-Sergeant said.
"What's that that whimpers over'ead?" said Files-on-Parade.
"It's Marwan's soul that's passin' now", the Colour-Sergeant said.
For they're done with Marwan Barghouti, you can 'ear the quickstep play,
The regiment's in column, an' they're marchin' us away;
Ho! the terrorists are shakin', an' they'll want their hashish* to-day,
After we hanged Marwan Barghouti in the mornin'.

* The hashisheen, or assassins, got hopped up on hashish and thought they were in Paradise. The "Old Man of the Mountains" told them they'd go to Paradise forever if they died on their missions. This should sound very familiar.