UPDATES
8:00 am Israel time, Tuesday, June 23 2015
**The Border Guard who was stabbed in the neck, chest, and heart two days ago by a Palestinian terrorist from the Hebron area has awakened and even received several visitors in his room.
From left to right: a doctor at the hospital, the Border Guard (do you see him giving the thumbs up?), and Rabbi Yehuda Glick who was shot four times last year in an assassination attempt by a terrorist.
Doctors say that he has staged a nearly miraculous recovery so far but still remains in “very serious” condition. Israelstreet’s prayers go out to him this morning.
**An ambulance ferrying wounded Syrians to a hospital in Israel was attacked last night in Majdal Shams (at the base of Mt. Hermon). The military ambulance was being escorted by IDF soldiers following a similar attack yesterday morning outside the Israeli-Druze town of Hurfeish.
The smashed front windshield of the IDF ambulance in Majdal Shams last night.
The attackers were a group of some 150 Druze who were convinced that the ambulance was carrying wounded members of Jubhat al-Nucera, the IS affiliated group that has the Druze village of Khader surrounded just across the border with Syria.
In the ensuing melee, two IDF soldiers were wounded, and one of the people being transported was killed.
In a somewhat cryptic statement this morning, the IDF states that it has never helped wounded fighters from Jubhat al-Nucera; however, it does not “filter” the wounded to find out their allegiances.
Perhaps it should.
TODAY’S BLOG:
*Definition of “apologia”: a formal written defense of opinions or conduct.
Your humble servant had intended to ignore yesterday’s UNHRC report on last summer’s Israel-Hamas war altogether. After all, we all knew from the outset that the United Nations is rabidly biased against Israel, the UNHRC is even more rabidly biased, and that the committee chosen to write the report is even more rabidly biased still.
However after reading the report last night, something should be written because it sets new standards of slimy, disgusting, pro-PLO and pro-Hamas apologia.
We are going to begin our review today with the section III which states from the outset its prejudgment that there is such a thing as “Palestinian territory”, and that it is “occupied”:
22. The mandate of the commission is to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in the occupied Palestinian territory, and to establish facts and circumstances of such violations and examine whether crimes were perpetrated.
[What is “the occupied Palestinian territory” you may ask? We find the answer down in Paragraph 26].
26. The Occupied Palestinian Territory is comprised of the West Bank, including East-Jerusalem and the Gaza strip.
[The West Bank–which has never been recognized as Palestinian territory, East Jerusalem which has never been recognized as Palestinian territory, and the Gaza strip which was never recognized as Palestinian territory and from which Israel withdrew every soldier and civilian back in 2005. As for Gaza, how can it be considered “occupied”?]
27. International law does not require the continuous presence of troops of the occupying forces in all areas of a territory, in order for it to be considered as being occupied. In the Naletelic case, the ICTY held that the law of occupation also applies in areas where a state possesses the “capacity to send troops within a reasonable time to make its power felt.” The size of Gaza and the fact that it is almost completely surrounded by Israel facilitates the ability for Israel to make its presence felt.
[What does this gibberish mean? Does this mean that South Africa occupies Lesotho? that Spain and France occupy Andorra? that Italy occupies Vatican City? or that Belgium, France, and Germany occupy Luxembourg?
And what about the fact that Israel does not completely surround Gaza–does this mean that Egypt still “occupies” Gaza?
Never mind all of this, according to the apologia, the fact that the “occupied Palestinian territory” including Gaza is “occupied” means that Israel has obligations to the people there. But what about Palestinian obligations?]
32. The commission takes note that the State of Palestine, on 2 April 2014, acceded to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the Additional Protocols I and II . . .
[Wait a minute. Hasn’t the Commission just spent uncounted verbiage telling us that there is “occupied Palestinian territory”? Now that “occupied Palestinian territory” has suddenly morphed into “the State of Palestine.”
But more than this, the apologia would have us believe that both the PLO and Hamas have always been committed to international human rights law.]
44. In the past, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises its powers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory pursuant to the various Israeli-Palestinian agreements,[1] has declared its commitment to respect international human rights law in a number of public undertakings.[1]
[1] PLO chairman Yasser Arafat repeatedly stated that he and his Government were committed to respecting to all international human rights standards, for instance, to representatives of Amnesty International on 2 Oct 1993 and 7 Feb 1996.
45. . . . Moreover, Hamas has indicated that it “is determined (…) to promote the rule of law, the respect for the judiciary, the separation of powers, the respect for human rights, the equality among citizens; to fight all forms of discrimination; to protect public liberties, including the freedom of the press and opinion …”.[1] Hamas has also confirmed its commitment to “respect (…) public liberties; to strengthen the establishment of democracy; to protect human rights (…); and its respect for international law and international humanitarian law insofar as they conform with our character, customs and original traditions”.
[1] Speech delivered by Prime Minister Isma’il Haniya at the conference organized by the PCHR on “The New Government and the Agenda for Human Rights”. Gaza, June 2006.
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[Can you believe any of this? Yasser Arafat and Ismail Haniya are now portrayed as champions of international human rights? Black is white, and bad is good–this is 1984 all over again.]
Perhaps this is as far as we should go with quoted passages because nausea is setting in. Successive paragraphs detail:
–how the war started because of the “protracted occupation.”
–how “militant groups” in Gaza tried to warn Israeli civilians of impending rocket and mortar attacks.
–how the tunnels that Hamas dug under the border to spots under Israeli kindergartens were legitimate because they targeted soldiers.
–and, and, and.
What else can your humble servant say except that the way that the United Nations has bought into the Palestinian myth is abominable, and the paper on which this report is written is only fit for use as a toilet accessory.
We live in a world gone mad.
Addendum: Well, perhaps, not completely mad. It was interesting to see yesterday how the UNHRC Commission delivered its report to a largely nonexistent audience. In a room set up for perhaps 100-150 people, only about 20 “journalists” showed up. You won’t see any pictures of that debacle this morning.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.