Human Rights Watch Says Hamas Rocket Attacks Are War Crime

Human Rights Watch Says Hamas Rocket Attacks Are War Crime By VOA News
06 August 2009
 

 A prominent human rights group says Hamas militants committed war crimes when they launched rocket attacks against Israel.

A Human Rights Watch spokesman said Hamas rocket attacks that targeted Israeli citizens were "unlawful and unjustifiable".  

A new report released by the group says Hamas militants fired rockets that placed about 800,000 Israeli civilians at risk and killed two Israeli girls.    

It also says militants that launched rockets from densely populated areas placed Gaza civilians at risk of Israeli counter strikes.

The report focuses on Hamas tactics used just before and during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza, from last November to mid-January.

What Israelis have had to deal with the past number of years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_and_mortar_attacks_in_Israel_in_2001_through_2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_and_mortar_attacks_in_Israel_in_2008

@otooziki:

Sorry, but I've been busy with life lately (like all of us no doubt) and never got towards answering you.

'right' according to the twisted logic of a selfish minority in this world  .....

Your idea that rightwingers are a bunch of rich fatcats exploiting everyone is extremely outdated. If it were so that these were the only people on 'right' side of things, the left would win every election easily.

Are the right wing right to invade Iraq on a lie,

Mrs. Human Rights. What regime was in place there before it was toppled? Was it a fuzzy peace-loving democractically government? Or was it something else?

The toppling of Saddam Hussein's vile regime and the whining by people like you afterwards is an additional reason why I'm a Conservative.

are they right to bully poorer countries into selling off their resources and public services at a snip,

Do you subscribe to the view that the poor countries of this world are only poor because of supposed exploitation by richer countries?

I'm sorry to tell you that the 'International Dependance; model of International Development is also outdated. The reasons for their poverty is far more complicated than that. Much of it is their own doing that keeps it perpetual.

are they right to sell weapons of mass destruction to the worst human rights abusers

Examples please?

From the outset, I would say no.

were they right to sponsor terrorism in Latin America to force out legitimately democratically elected Left wing governments

No. But as you should well know, 'terrorism' was equally a tactic of communist governments against opposition. Look up the Sandistas and groups like FARC. Look up Cuba and the USSR funding foreign guerilla groups while we're at it. 

The Cold War was on and times were simply different.

are they right to slash public services and benefits for the weakest in their own countries while allowing tax havens for the rich?

No. 

Hamas are a democratically elected Government

Hamas was not elected to rule Gaza, they took it over by force. 

Yes, Hamas was elected to lead the PA. They refused to recognize Israel and kept advocating armed struggle to achieve their aims. The EU and USA decided that they couldn't deal with them.

Should the West cave into any sort of unreasonable demand of a government just because they're elected?

Peace – how many countries have right wing Western governments invaded in the last 50 years, and how many have left wing or Muslim countries invaded?

Examples?

Putting blanket labels on complicated issues by saying: The West invaded other countries, without naming particular conflicts and their reasons is silly.

How many countries have left wing countries invaded? Look up the entire history of the USSR. Ask the Poles, Ukrainians, Finns, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Afghans, Slovaks, Chechs, Latvians …

How many countries have Muslim countries invaded? Generally themselves given that they haven't a chance against anyone else.

Otherwise, the aggressive attacks of Arab countries against the State of Israel should count for something.

For the record, I don't think far left-wingers like you are bad, just naive.

Everyone has the right to

BOMB everyone,

But some have the capacity to bomb others & some don't have.

Strenth is the law,

Or law is

What a stronger says!!!!!!!!!!

Had the palestinion people got strenth,

Won't they Bomb their enemies ?

Surely they will,

We are animals ,rather worse than animals &s o we fight in worse way than animals.

Humanity has to grow to be a Real Human yet.

But it may take a long time,

It is the real development we need,we need to develop ourself to be a human.

WWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW devinderna …. thanx for what u wrote up there….

GGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGSS will never change

look at this fabs gaags …acting like a jew from israel

Otherwise, the aggressive attacks of Arab countries against the State of Israel should count for something.

hehehehehehehe

heheheheheheheh…. sooooooooorrryyyyy GGGAAAAGGGGSS

hehehehehehe

Dear, dear Fabs….

thanks for your reply (sorry I didn't mean to rush you, by the way) and you deserve a response .... (sorry everyone I have a lot to say this time) ....

Your idea that rightwingers are a bunch of rich fatcats exploiting everyone is extremely outdated. If it were so that these were the only people on 'right' side of things, the left would win every election easily.

Not all fatcats no. But it is the rich and powerful who ‘manufacture consent’ (Noam Chomsky) – the media in the west is owned by a small monopoly who control the information that the masses can consume to fit their corporate interests. Knowledge is power and it is in the hands of the few.  The ‘right wing’ that you refer to naturally have the most money behind them and can afford bigger election campaigns. Outdated? That is your opinion. It is still current in the literature.

The toppling of Saddam Hussein's vile regime and the whining by people like you afterwards is an additional reason why I'm a Conservative.

The regime in Iraq before the invasion is irrelevant. So Neo-con Kid, you support the invasion of Iraq because you didn’t agree with the way Saddam Hussein governed his country? No it wasn’t peace loving, it invaded Iran with the support and assistance of Thatcher and Reagan, while ‘left-wing whiners’ (including George Galloway) were condemning it. No, Saddam wasn’t democratically elected, and he committed human rights abuses against his own people. You’ll never hear me say otherwise. And yes he did have chemical weapons, just not at the time of the 2003 invasion, how do we know he had chemical weapons? Because he bought them from the UK! But does all this make it right to invade Iraq then? So why not invade Zimbabwe, Burma, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, China, Libya, Israel, USA and the UK – all of these democratic and undemocratic (debatable term, not always as clear cut as that of course) countries and more have been accused of human rights abuse! I’ll tell you why not, because 1) You cannot IMPOSE democracy through invasion (check what the word democracy actually means!!!) and 2) Well isn’t it a coincidence that Iraq has oil and Afghanistan is that vital piece of land between the Oil of Central Asia and the Pakistani ports!!!

And what a revelation you are a Conservative with a capital C – no surprise there! are they right to slash public services and benefits for the weakest in their own countries while allowing tax havens for the rich?

No.   BUT YOU’RE A CONSERVATIVE … IT’S WHAT YOU DO!!! Hahahaha … well you’re obviously one of Boy George Osborne’s new progressives aren’t you? hahahahahahaha …. that’s why I like you my friend you make me laugh so much!

Do you subscribe to the view that the poor countries of this world are only poor because of supposed exploitation by richer countries?

I'm sorry to tell you that the 'International Dependance; model of International Development is also outdated. The reasons for their poverty is far more complicated than that. Much of it is their own doing that keeps it perpetual.

Who mentioned that or any other theory? Well you want to know about theories of International Relations then take a look at post-colonial theory, economic imperialism, and the core-periphery model. Wealth is created in the periphery and flows to the core. The core is the richer nations, and the rich elite within those nations, and the periphery is the South, the less developed nations. The source of wealth is the land (and what comes out of it) and the labour of the people. All the main raw materials come from Africa, South America, Asia, and are consumed in the North (what you would call the west). Africa has diamonds, gold, bauxite, manganese, oil, tantalite, tungsten and tin (these last 3 are essential for your mobile phones and other electronics) and many other minerals. Why are so many of our clothes, toys, and consumables made in China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, etc? Because labour is cheap. Why are people working from dawn till dusk, including all the children in the family, but still they are hungry and barely able to survive? Why is the DRC rich in so many of these essential minerals but still poor? And Israel for example, with hardly any natural resources, their people are not working so hard, children go to school not working, but they are richer. Think about it! Look at IMF structural adjustment programmes that are pushed on these countries. Look at the interest paid on loans, much more in a day than the charitable aid given to them.

are they right to sell weapons of mass destruction to the worst human rights abusers

Examples please? From the outset, I would say no.

Good, I’m glad you say no, then maybe you are becoming a ‘left-winger’!!! hehe

WMD are weapons that can kill large numbers of people or destroy man-made or natural structures. The USA is the biggest supplier of arms with 38%, Britain is not far behind. Certainly I can give you examples that I have read about of British and American arms sales to countries accused of human rights abuses.  

1)      Suharto regime in Indonesia, British-made equipment including Hawk ground-attack aircraft and surface-to-air missiles, used against the innocent people of East Timor.

2)      Israel receives about $3 billion in military aid from the US to be spent on US made weapons. Ex-US President Jimmy Carter said in 2006 that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons.

3)      Burma

4)      Nigeria

5)      Hutu militia in the former Zaire.

6)      Pinochet regime in Chile.

7)      Saddam Hussein’s Iraq

8)      Saudi Arabia

I’m sure there are many others, and I’ve heard many arms are shipped to third countries and sold on to the intended country.

were they right to sponsor terrorism in Latin America to force out legitimately democratically elected Left wing governments

The Cold War was on and times were simply different.

I never claimed that communist governments didn’t do it. But of course you think all ‘left wingers’ as you refer to them, are communists – I’m sorry this just shows YOUR ignorance!

So are you admitting then that the US sponsored terrorism? Of course, and it still is, isn’t it Fabs? What is Israel doing if it is not terrorising the Palestinian population? Maybe your answer would be similar to this one – divert attention to the other side … yeah but no but… they started it, miss!!! Not me, sir, self-defence sir!!!

Hamas was not elected to rule Gaza, they took it over by force.  I just said they were democratically elected, in an election! That is all I said.

Should the West cave into any sort of unreasonable demand of a government just because they're elected? Depends how you define ‘unreasonable’! For instance would you say it is reasonable or unreasonable for a territory with 1.5 million to be able to freely trade with people beyond their borders? How about to access resources essential to life like water, food supplies, fuel, etc? Should the Middle Eastern countries cave in to any sort of unreasonable demand of a ‘western’ government just because they are elected? Like let us come in and overthrow your President and Government because we don’t like how he used the weapons he bought from us to attack his own people! Mind you was neo-con George W. Bush actually elected? or should it have been that other guy, Al Gore? Well with brother Jeb in Florida it was a problem easily fixed.

I was asking you a question, which I didn’t realise would be so difficult for you!

 Do you really need me to remind you of US invasions of Iraq (1991, 2003), Afghanistan (2001), Vietnam (1965), Dominican Republic (1965), Cambodia (1970), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989)! It seems to me they have invaded Pakistan the way they send drones in.

I notice you have to go back to WW2 for many of your examples. It doesn’t matter that you do, I just mean that to make comparisons in the most recent time frame of the last 50 years you would struggle to win this argument of who is the worst aggressor.

WAKE UP FABS, and you call me naive!!! Hahaha FABS IS SUCH A JOKER!!!

And I don’t particularly subscribe to this right wing/left wing labelling you insist on using. It is sooooo outdated and makes you look very 2 dimensional, like a limp piece of cardboard!!!!

Oh and I think you missed this one… or you can’t answer it?

But maybe they are the UNPEOPLE that John Pilger talks about.

Remember I have read the ‘right wing’ stuff, how could I miss it, it is everywhere, and I have also try to find some of the things they hide from us, and I make a balanced judgement and always keep it under review. You should try it. And just for the record I wouldn’t insult you by saying you are Naive. I don’t think you are. And I know that you know I am not naive. That is why you choose to discredit me with tactics such as mrs. Bla bla (ie. I’m just a woman, eh?) whiner, left wing, chumming with the arabs, siding with terrorists, etc etc. OK so you are Jewish so that will affect your outlook, like we all have a background that influences our thinking. But just because you’re Jewish doesn’t mean you have to defend Israel’s disproportionate aggression, but then you don’t need me to tell you that. The fundamental difference between us is that I seek to learn from people’s opinions here, including yours, but you just want to win over ‘opponents’ as you see them and you expect people to accept your narrow world view. It ain’t goina happen Tory Boy! I may pick up your tactics and I like to learn about the Jewish faith from you, but I will always be true to my principles which are centred on humanity and equality.

From your loving friend, Mrs. Human Rights, hehehehe

Sorry, that I'm breaking in your little dispute. I just couldn't go by not leaving a comment.

Not all fatcats no. But it is the rich and powerful who ‘manufacture consent’ (Noam Chomsky) – the media in the west is owned by a small monopoly who control the information that the masses can consume to fit their corporate interests. Knowledge is power and it is in the hands of the few.

It's so strange to read this in XXI century. Television, press, radio,internet, satellite connection etc. You are free to chose any source of information of any country and in any language. Read, watch, listen, think, analize, form your own opinion.. Or are all of them controlled by imperialistic fatcats?? Limited access to information is spotted only in totally totalitarian countries, and I guess USA and GB are not among them…

Wealth is created in the periphery and flows to the core. The core is the richer nations, and the rich elite within those nations, and the periphery is the South, the less developed nations. The source of wealth is the land (and what comes out of it) and the labour of the people.

And again…XXI century. Name, at least, one colony in the world. All British, French, Spanish, Portugese colonies were left back in 60-70s.

..diamonds, gold, bauxite, manganese, oil, tantalite, tungsten and tin (these last 3 are essential for your mobile phones and other electronics) and many other minerals.

I've read a schoolar encyclopedia too.

Why are so many of our clothes, toys, and consumables made in China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, etc?

Perhabs, because you cannot afford Gucci, Versace and D&G ?

Because labour is cheap.

Correct. But you don't take into account one thing. "Rich nations" are not agree to consume shitty products. So "fatcats" who bring their manufacturing facilities into the third world countries, also bring new technologies, experience and give "the poor nations" jobs. I've never heard how Asians were complainig about blood money they get from Americans on their manufacturing facilities. Besides, sometimes it's more economicaly profitable to remove productions intothird countries not because just the labour is cheap, but to make them closer to potential markets, for example. And there are dozens of other economical reasons…

Why are people working from dawn till dusk, including all the children in the family, but still they are hungry and barely able to survive? Why is the DRC rich in so many of these essential minerals but still poor?

Maybe, it's because their own goverments are all corrupted or stupid and they do not know how to do good for their people and everybody they think of is themselves?? Oh, again I did not guessed… Sure, it's a fault of USA…

And Israel for example, with hardly any natural resources, their people are not working so hard, children go to school not working, but they are richer.

Sounds like a shame… How can they? How can they be rich when there is so many evils in the world??! You must remember about hungry children of Ethiopia every time you bite a piece of steak. But, let's revert to Israel and find out reasons of its wealth. First of all. it is a very small country and it's easier to feed less people, logicaly. Second, for such a small country its tourism, agriculture and industry are very developed. Israel is the fourth exporter of weapon in the world (I'm surprised you are not aware of that yet). Third, they invest in new technologies.

40O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me. 41And believe in what I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be not the first to reject Faith therein, nor sell My Signs for a small price; and fear Me, and Me alone. 42And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is). 43And be steadfast in prayer; practise regular charity; and bow down your heads with those who bow down (in worship). 44Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand? 45Nay, seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit,- 46Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord, and that they are to return to Him. 47Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for My Message). 48Then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped (from outside). 49And remember, We delivered you from the people of Pharaoh: They set you hard tasks and punishments, slaughtered your sons and let your women-folk live; therein was a tremendous trial from your Lord. 50And remember We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh's people within your very sight. 51And remember We appointed forty nights for Moses, and in his absence ye took the calf (for worship), and ye did grievous wrong. 52Even then We did forgive you; there was a chance for you to be grateful. 53And remember We gave Moses the Scripture and the Criterion (Between right and wrong): There was a chance for you to be guided aright. 54And remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf: So turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He turned towards you (in forgiveness): For He is Oft- Returning, Most Merciful. 55And remember ye said: "O Moses! We shall never believe in thee until we see Allah manifestly," but ye were dazed with thunder and lighting even as ye looked on. 5655And remember ye said: "O Moses! We shall never believe in thee until we see Allah manifestly," but ye were dazed with thunder and lighting even as ye looked on. 56Then We raised you up after your death: Ye had the chance to be grateful. 57And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you Manna and quails, saying: "Eat of the good things We have provided for you:" (But they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls. THW WHOLY QURAN SURAT ALBAGARA