Mar. 19, 2019

Framing Israel: The UN Commission of Inquiry on the Spring 2018 Gaza Border Confrontations – Geoffrey S. Corn and Peter Margulies

The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry (COI) published its full report on March 18 on the border confrontation that occurred last spring between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and tens of thousands of Gaza residents who sought to force their way into Israel by breaching the security barrier.

The COI framed these events as a series of demonstrations that were “civilian in nature.” Israel and its Supreme Court framed the same events quite differently: as a new evolution in Israel’s ongoing armed conflict with the terrorist organization Hamas. Consistency and common sense suggest that the Israeli High Court of Justice’s framing is a more rational explanation of what occurred.

Geoffrey S. Corn is a Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law in Houston. Peter Margulies is a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law. (Lawfare)

UNHRC Should Condemn the PA and Hamas for Abuse of Palestinian Children – Maurice Hirsch, Itamar Marcus, and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

On Monday, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) condemned Israel for its treatment of Palestinian children. The reality is that while Palestinian children are indeed suffering, the ones responsible are the Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaders who have systematically stolen the childhood from Palestinian youth by raising them to see violence and martyrdom-death as ideals to strive for. Palestinian children and teenagers have been taking an active part in violence and murderous terrorism for years and have paid the price with both their lives and as prisoners in Israeli jails.

While the UNHRC is always quick to condemn Israel for the deaths of Palestinian teen terrorists and for the imposition of prison terms on arrested teen terrorists, it should instead be condemning the PA for using children as combatants in violation of international law and morality. Israel cannot be blamed for arresting or shooting anyone while defending itself against Palestinian terror, even if the terrorist is a teenager. The bottom line is that if the PA would stop using children as terror combatants, there would be no Palestinian child terrorist prisoners and potentially no or many less child casualties. (Palestinian Media Watch)

In testimony delivered on Monday at the UN, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Geoffrey S. Corn (ret.) and British commander Col. Richard Kemp refuted a UN Human Rights Council report that accuses Israeli soldiers of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” on the Gaza border.

Corn said, “By omitting from the UNHRC inquiry reports of the use of human shields by Hamas, the report incentivizes these terror tactics in the future, and the risk posed to the civilian population of Gaza is exacerbated. If we are really concerned about mitigating harm done to civilians, we should be condemning Hamas’ actions and this report.”

Kemp said, “The United Nations has played directly into Hamas’ hands and the UNHRC is but an instrument of Hamas terrorism. This report, as well as countries that vote for it, encourage Hamas towards further terrorism in the future.” He added that his personal testimony to the Commission of Inquiry was completely ignored in the production of the report.

Dr. Einat Wilf, a former member of Israel’s Knesset, explained that “Those who come to the border marching in the name of the so-called ‘right of return’ are not rioting against Israel’s blockade, but rather, are coming to destroy Israel. This needs to be understood clearly as a declaration of war and nothing less than that. The Israeli response cannot be understood if this is not understood.”