Israel's Incursion to Gaza: The Official Report
Here's the synopsis that opens my reading of Israel's official report on the Gaza operation.
Synopsis: Self anointed human rights organizations, followed by much of the media, have
cast Israel as a serial transgressor against international law. The most recent case of this was
Israel's incursion into Hamas-controlled Gaza in January 2009, which was widely portrayed
as criminal from inception to smallest detail. Defenders of Israel's actions, generally not well
versed in the minutiae of international law, have allowed themselves to be wrong footed,
claiming that facts are wrong, or mooting the unacceptability of international law itself if it
forbids Israel to defend its citizens.
The State of Israel has now published its legal and factual rebuttal. The authors of the report
emphatically embrace international law and insist that its principles guide the IDF as it trains,
plans, executes and investigate; they demonstrate all these actions on the case of the Gaza
incursion.
The report is serious and learned, which means it is open to discussion and disagreement.
Yet such a discussion must be informed and reasoned – precisely as much of the criticism
leveled at Israel isn't.
The full report, at 164 pages, is here. I urge anyone who feels the need to express an
opinion, to read it. This 20-page summary and commentary is a service for the hasty; it's here.
Synopsis: Self anointed human rights organizations, followed by much of the media, have
cast Israel as a serial transgressor against international law. The most recent case of this was
Israel's incursion into Hamas-controlled Gaza in January 2009, which was widely portrayed
as criminal from inception to smallest detail. Defenders of Israel's actions, generally not well
versed in the minutiae of international law, have allowed themselves to be wrong footed,
claiming that facts are wrong, or mooting the unacceptability of international law itself if it
forbids Israel to defend its citizens.
The State of Israel has now published its legal and factual rebuttal. The authors of the report
emphatically embrace international law and insist that its principles guide the IDF as it trains,
plans, executes and investigate; they demonstrate all these actions on the case of the Gaza
incursion.
The report is serious and learned, which means it is open to discussion and disagreement.
Yet such a discussion must be informed and reasoned – precisely as much of the criticism
leveled at Israel isn't.
The full report, at 164 pages, is here. I urge anyone who feels the need to express an
opinion, to read it. This 20-page summary and commentary is a service for the hasty; it's here.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
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