Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Israeli Government Contradicts its Own Self-Defense Argument

Information on the Israeli Government’s own web site shows that its
self-defense argument for its military operations in Gaza is flawed
Amazingly, the Israeli Government’s attack on the Goldstone Report and
its longstanding claim that it was acting in self-defense against
Hamas rocket fire is flatly contradicted by evidence provided by the
Israeli government itself on its own web site. The web site
dramatically shows that the Israeli government had already effectively
stopped rocket fire long before Israeli forces launched their initial
attack on Gaza on November 4, 2008.
Yet, Israeli government spokesmen endlessly repeat the self-defense
claim. In an article in the New Republic on 6 October, 2009, for
example, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael B. Oren,
stated that Israel's military action in Gaza was “an operation
launched in response to the firing of more than 7,000 Hamas missiles
at Israeli towns since Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Strip.” He
then states, “The Goldstone Report goes further than Ahmadinejad and
the Holocaust deniers by stripping the Jews not only of the ability
and the need but of the right to defend themselves.”
After years of such abject failure of military methods Israel finally
hit upon a technique that successfully ended Hamas rocket fire on June
19, 2008. Israel accomplished this feat without dropping a single bomb
on Gaza and without sending a single soldier into Gaza: Israel
announced an Egyptian brokered six month ceasefire that began on June
19, 2008. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
that ceasefire was so successful that it brought "calm" to towns near
Gaza. In an article titled, "One Month of Calm Along the Israel-Gaza
Border," posted on July 27, 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) website states:
More than one month has passed since the calm agreement went into
effect, with only sporadic violations by the terrorist organizations.
Signs of normal life can be seen in towns on both sides of the Israel-
Gaza Strip border.
The same site goes on to quote extensively from a report issued by a
pro-Israeli government research organization, the Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage &
Commemoration Center (IICC):
During its first month, the lull arrangement resulted in a significant
drop in rocket and mortar fire at Israel. A relative calm has settled
over Sderot and Israeli population centers near the Gaza Strip,
occasionally broken by rockets and mortar bombs fired by terrorist
organizations which oppose the lull (mostly local Fatah networks, with
the Palestinian Islamic Jihad violating the lull only on one
occasion).
The web site includes the following graph demonstrating the success of
the lull arrangement.
Rocket and mortar fire during the lull compared to the months
preceding it
Rocket and mortar fire during the lull compared to the months
preceding it
The graph reads from right to left and shows an average of 413 rockets
and mortars fired each month from January 1 to June 18. The number
fired declined to 8 for the rest of June and 12 for almost all of
July.
The IICC report continues:
The cessation of the intensive fighting which had been going on before
the lull has allowed the residents of Sderot and of western Negev
population centers, as well as Gaza Strip residents, to return to
normal life.
The IICC report then goes on to state,
Publicly, Hamas leaders have stated time and again that the lull is a
Palestinian national interest. On several occasions, Hamas members
have arrested Fatah operatives who were involved in firing at Israel
and confiscated their arms.
This authoritative report on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
website demonstrates Israeli government satisfaction after only 5
weeks that its ceasefire had substantially ended Hamas rocket fire--
and more than that: Hamas was working to eliminate rocket fire from
other groups, especially Fatah, the main group running the Palestinian
Authority in Ramallah.
The rocket and mortar fire from such dissident groups in the Gaza
strip declined further over the next few months--down to only 1 rocket
and 3 mortars in September and 1 rocket and 1 mortar in October, as
shown by the graph on page 10 of the December 2008 "Six Months of the
Lull Arrangement"  report from the IICC and in an independent report,
The War between Israel and Hamas, Facts & Data on Rocket Firing
before, during & after the Cease-Fire.
Rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel January 1 through
December 16, 2008
Rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel January 1 through
December 16, 2008
WHY ROCKET FIRE RESUMED ON NOVEMBER 5
Just as rocket fire steadily dropped to its lowest point in October,
the Israeli Government sent soldiers into Gaza and launched an
airstrike on Gaza on November 4, killing 6 Hamas members, as described
in the six month IICC report and in a New York Times article, "Israeli
Strike is First in Gaza Since Start of Cease Fire," by Isabel
Kershner, 4 November 2008. According to the Times article Israel
claimed that it attacked to destroy a tunnel Hamas was digging some
270 yards inside Gaza.
November 4 was a day the world's attention was focused on the
presidential elections in the US and the historic victory by Barack
Obama. November 4 was a day Israel's violation of the ceasefire would
very likely be crowded out of front page coverage.
After Israel's November 4 attack Hamas responded with a barrage of
rocket and mortar fire. According to the six month IICC report 46
rockets and 16 mortars were launched from Gaza on November 5. During
the rest of November and December Israeli forces invaded Gaza nine
more times, about once a week, according to the weekly reports of the
Palestine Center for Human Rights. Israel's incursions were each
accompanied by airstrikes on Gaza, killing dozens of residents. During
that same period Hamas and other Palestinian groups launched a total
of 193 rockets and mortars from Gaza in November and 98 in the first
two weeks of December according to the IICC report, an average of 194
rockets per month. No Israelis were killed during this period.
Israeli Defense Minister Barak admits Hamas rockets are result of
Israeli operations
Two weeks after Israel’s first strike that broke the ceasefire, the
largest circulation daily Israeli newspaper reported in its web
edition:
Defense Minister Ehud Barak addressed the current situation in the
region, saying “the recent waves of rocket attacks are a result of our
operations, which have resulted in the killing of 20 Hamas
gunmen" (Ynet News November 20, 2008).
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is a former Israeli Prime Minister. Thus,
one of the highest officials of the Israeli government admitted that
its military operations were responsible for the rocket fire. This
admission is consistent with the facts about the Israeli government’s
lethal attack that broke the otherwise successful cease fire sixteen
days earlier, on November 4, and its continuing military operations
after that date. This means that the statement quoted above from
Israel’s ambassador to the UN that Israel was acting in self-defense
is untrue.
It wasn’t just the Israeli ambassador being easy with the facts. In
his speech at the United Nations on 24 September 2009, Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu referred to the Goldstone report, saying:
The jury’s still out on the United Nations and recent signs are not
encouraging. Rather than condemning the terrorists and their Iranian
patrons, some here in the United Nations have condemned their victims.
This is exactly what a recent U.N. report on Gaza did, falsely
equating terrorists with those they targeted.
Netanyahu further said:
The same UN that cheered Israel as it left Gaza and promised to back
our right of self-defense now accuses us –my people, my country - of
war crimes? And for what? For acting responsibly in self-defense. What
a travesty! Israel justly defended itself against terror. This biased
and unjust report is a clear-cut test for all governments. Will you
stand with Israel or will you stand with the terrorists?”
Contrary to Netanyahu’s assertions, the Goldstone Report did not
challenge Israel’s right to defend itself. In fact, as Professor
Richard Falk points out in a 23 September 2009 article, “The Goldstone
Report and the Battle for Legitimacy,”
the [Goldstone] report takes for granted the dubious proposition that
Israel was entitled to act against Gaza in self-defense, thereby
excluding inquiry into whether crimes against the peace in the form of
aggression had taken place by the launching of the attack. In this
respect, although the report takes notice of the temporary ceasefire
that had cut the rocket fire directed at Israel practically to zero in
the months preceding the attacks, it seems to avoid drawing any legal
conclusions as to the bearing of this context in which the Gaza war
was initiated. The report also ignores Hamas' repeated efforts to
extend the ceasefire indefinitely provided Israel lifted its unlawful
blockade of Gaza. Israel disregarded this seemingly available
diplomatic alternative to war to achieve security on its borders.
Recourse to war, even if the facts were to justify self-defense, is
according to international law, a last resort. By ignoring Israel's
initiation of a one-sided war the Goldstone report implicitly accepts
the dubious central premise of Operation Cast Lead, and avoids making
a finding of aggression.
Thus, Israeli government officials have twice incorrectly used the
self-defense argument. First, as their central justification for their
military operations--in contradiction to the evidence the Israeli
government itself provides on its own web site showing that Israel had
a successful ceasefire in place and initiated a lethal attack anyway.
And now self-defense is their central line of attack on the Goldstone
Report--even though that report takes Israel’s self-defense argument
for granted.
Rocket Fire Increased when Israel Escalated its Attack
Rather than “defending” Israel from the rockets, the Israeli military
operations that began on November 4 actually resulted in an increase
in rocket fire. When Israeli officials vastly escalated their attack
on December 27 the number of rockets fired from Gaza vastly escalated
too. According to the Israeli Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs
website, 571 rockets and 205 mortar shells landed on Israeli territory
during the period of Israel’s assault from December 27 to January 18,
a rate of 1046 per month. It was during this period that three
Israelis were killed by rocket fire.
Thus, during the 23 days of Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead,” rockets
and mortars were fired from Gaza at more than twice the rate they were
fired during the peak period in 2008 and five hundred times the rate
they were fired during October, just before Israel’s first attack. The
new cease fire on January 18 again sharply reduced the rocket and
mortar fire, to an average of 21 per month during the 9 months since
the assault ended, according to data provided by the IICC, while
Israeli forces continued bombing tunnels and other targets and
continued its illegal blockade of Gaza.
Conclusion
Based on facts from Israel’s own web site, the assertion by Israeli
government officials that Israel was acting in furtherance of its
right of self-defense or that Israel was responding to rocket fire
when it launched its initial attack on Gaza is flawed. Israel had an
effective and satisfactory ceasefire in place and launched a lethal
attack on November 4 anyway, provoking rocket fire. The facts also
show that Israeli military action not only did not work to stop
rockets, it actually increased the number of rockets fired. The facts
also show that when Israel stopped military action and observed a
cease fire with Hamas in June, rocket fire from Hamas stopped and
Hamas policed the other groups to get them to stop too. And perhaps
most damaging of all to Israel’s self-defense claim is the admission
by Defense Minister Ehud Barak on November 20, 2008 that Hamas rocket
fire was “a result of our operations.”
As Israeli government officials actually do not have a credible self-
defense argument for their attack on Gaza, in addition to liability
for war crimes and crimes against humanity described in the Goldstone
Report, Israeli military and political officials should also be held
liable for the crime of aggression for initiating the attack on
November 4 and then escalating on December 27.
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/33738/26/

 Ashpe', che sono in colloqui strategici con i britannici
Giï¿œ. Incredibile che il governo di HMS The Queen non stia prendendo 
provvedimenti dopo le amare note di un ex suddito e gli strilli degli 
"avvocati per Gaza".
Ne sono sinceramente costernato.
Tb (bieco illuminista)
-- 
"A vote is like a rifle, it's usefulness depends upon the character of
the user."
~ Theodore Roosevelt

 decideranno...
ho letto da qualche parte che hanno deciso che siccome Gaza è
indifendibile si difenderanno con l'argomento del tu quoque, e
proporranno all'ONU una commissione d'inchiesta sui crimini britt in
Afghanistan. Poi la proposta arriverà in CdS e verrà fatta a pezzi da
britt e yankee...:D

 Giï¿œ. Incredibile che il governo di HMS 
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Scusa ma non resisto, ogni volta rido per cinque minuti...
-- 
Baci,
Mony

Mony Vibescu ha scritto:

Vabbï¿œ, capiamoci...
Non ho confidenza con queste sigle monarchiche.


 Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
TSM è meglio?

 TSM � meglio?
No


 No
sai cosa significa?

 sai cosa significa?
Fai le tue ricerchine per i cazzi tuoi


 Fai le tue ricerchine
guarda che sei tu che hai detto che non va bene, ergo dovresti
dimostrare tu di sapere cosa vuol dire, io lo so benissimo.

 dimostrare tu di sapere cosa vuol dire
Non sequitur.
Io so che non va bene, e tanto basta.
, io lo so benissimo.
Vorresti scommettere?
Tb (bieco illuminista=


 Io so che non va bene
il gentile pubblico constata che a domanda non rispondi.


ma ti propone una scommessa...
quanto sei sicuro che non sappia?
<:3)-

 il gentile pubblico constata che a domanda non rispondi.
Ho gi� risposto.
----------------
"E' quella giusta?"
"No"
-----------------
E tanto basta.
Tb (bieco illuminista)


 Just as rocket fire steadily dropped to its lowest point in October,
the Israeli Government sent soldiers into Gaza and launched an
airstrike on Gaza on November 4, killing 6 Hamas members, as described
in the six month IICC report and in a New York Times article, "Israeli
Strike is First in Gaza Since Start of Cease Fire," by Isabel
Kershner, 4 November 2008. According to the Times article Israel
claimed that it attacked to destroy a tunnel Hamas was digging some
270 yards inside Gaza.
Ma guarda, cosa stavano facendo i pistoleri di Hamas? Scavavano un tunnel. 
"270 yards inside Gaza" vorrebbe dare l'idea che non c'entrava nulla con il 
confine, immagino. Invece � proprio questo il punto. _Partiva_ almeno da 270 
yarde dal confine - e vi si dirigeva.
Hamas gi� ha rapito il caporale Shalit. Quello che stavano facendo, in un 
periodo durante il quale avrebbero dovuto sospendere tutte le attivit� 
ostili, era di scavare un altro tunnel per cercare di rapire altri soldati 
israeliani.
Gli � andata male.
Era questo, poi, l'unico tunnel di cui Hamas si serviva durante questo 
periodo di sospensione delle attivit� ostili?
No, ovviamente. Lo sappiamo tutti (tranne te, Bombacci, che hai il dono di 
non memorizzare le verit� sgradevoli), ma leggendo questa pappardella non si 
direbbe. Hamas aveva anche dei tunnel che utilizzava per importare i razzi 
che poi ha sparato su Israele prima di venir messa a tacere da quei mezzi 
militari che l'estensore dell'articolo sembrava presumere cos� inefficaci.
In altre parole, Hamas sfruttava il cessate il fuoco per importare armi. Se 
questo avesse fatto parte dell'accordo, se cio� il cessate il fuoco avesse 
comportato la libert� per Hamas di importare armi, non ci sarebbe stato 
bisogno dei tunnel, eh, Bombacci?
Cio�, Hamas stava violando il cessate il fuoco. In due modi: si preparava a 
rapire altri soldati israeliani, e si preparava a bombardare Israele di 
nuovo. Non potendo fare l'uno, ha fatto l'altro. Da cui le legnate che ha 
preso e fatto prendere ai civili i cui interessi dovrebbe tutelare.
Ecco che torna utile la frase di cui sopra dell'ambasciatore israeliano. 
Israele ha diritto a difendersi. Non sta scritto da nessuna parte che si 
possa difendere solo dal lancio di razzi e colpi di mortaio. Come qualunque 
altro stato, pu� difendersi da atti di terrorismo come il rapimento dei suoi 
soldati, nonch� dalla violazione del cessate il fuoco - una sospensione di 
tutte le ostilit� - da parte della controparte.
Il tutto, naturalmente, nel quadro del fatto di pi� ampio respiro che questo 
non era un accordo di pace. L'obiettivo a lungo termine di Hamas rimane lo 
sterminio degli ebrei, come da suo statuto. Il cessate il fuoco � finito 
prima del tempo a causa delle violazioni da parte di Hamas, ma se fosse 
giunto alla sua scadenza naturale, non � affatto detto che sarebbe stato 
rinnovato. E se fosse stato rinnovato, sarebbe solo stato sfruttato 
ulteriormente da Hamas per ulteriori violazioni, tra cui l'introduzione di 
soppiatto di razzi a gittata sempre pi� lunga.
Un ultimo interessante raffronto statistico. Non per te, Bombacci, ma per 
altri eventuali lettori.
Tra il 1 luglio 2008 e il 31 ottobre 2008, cio� nel periodo migliore del 
cessate il fuoco, comunque vennero lanciati un totale di 38 tra razzi e 
raffiche di colpi di mortaio, diciamo un totale di 39 attacchi considerando 
anche un fallito attacco suicida.
Il miglior periodo di 4 mesi nel 2009 si � avuto da maggio ad agosto. In 
questo periodo, si � avuto un totale di 8 tra razzi e raffiche di colpi di 
mortaio.
Per il momento si pu� quindi affermare che l'operazione Cast Lead � stata 
pi� efficace della tregua come deterrente agli attacchi palestinesi. Ne 
avevo l'impressione, ma non avevo controllato i dati esatti. Grazie a 
Bombacci l'ho fatto. 

 possa difendere solo dal lancio di razzi e colpi di mortaio.
 sterminando 400 bambini? SPUT, merdaccia

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:7c429303-7b9f-4779...@m11g2000yqf.googlegroups.com...

Povero Bombacci, non dubitavo che fosse una questione troppo difficile per 
te. Come confermi, trovandoti ridotto a dover ricorrere ad insulti e sputi, 
il pi� debole degli argomenti.
Ripeto per semplificarti la cosa, sperando che cos� tu ci arrivi: per il 
momento (un grosso caveat, certo), le statistiche indicano che l'operazione 
Cast Lead � stata pi� efficace della tregua, come deterrente agli attacchi 
contro civili israeliani. 


Non ne sarei cos� sicuro, visto che confondi il tema del rapporto Goldstone 
con la tesi fantasiosa che � oggetto di quest'altro thread. Non � segno di 
perfetta comprensione.

 Abbiamo capito,
Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:
non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa.

 Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
Bravo! Una dimostrazione di cultura, complimenti. Un passo avanti rispetto 
agli insulti e agli sputi, seppur virtuali.
Naturalmente � sempre un modo per svicolare dalla sgradevole realt� delle 
cifre.
A proposito, pessima profezia, visto che sappiamo a tutt'oggi di chi stavan 
parlando quei due.