What the hell?
Israel used boy as human shield, says UN report
BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
The Associated Press
March 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM EDT
GENEVA - Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN human rights experts said Monday. The Israeli Defence force ordered the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa and enter buildings before them, said the UN Secretary-General's envoy for protecting children in armed conflict. The boy also was told to open the bags of Palestinians - presumably to protect the soldiers from possible explosives - before being released at the entrance to a hospital, Radhika Coomaraswamy said. She said the Jan. 15 incident, after Israeli tanks had rolled into the neighbourhood and during “intense operations,” was a violation of Israeli and international law.
It was included in a 43-page report published Monday, and was just one of many verified human rights atrocities during the three-week war between Israel and Hamas that ended Jan. 18, she said. Ms. Coomaraswamy accused Israeli soldiers of shooting Palestinian children, bulldozing a home with a woman and child still inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians into a day earlier. “Violations were reported on a daily basis, too numerous to list,” said Ms. Coomaraswamy, who visited Gaza and Israel for five days in February. Ms. Coomaraswamy said there also have been allegations that Hamas used human shields or fired from heavily populated areas, and that UN officials are investigating.
Now, the article mentions that Hamas did abuses too, but that's not the point... Israel should be taking the moral high ground, not saying 'well, the other guys are doing bad things too'. We know they're doing bad stuff, what about what you are doing?
BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
The Associated Press
March 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM EDT
GENEVA - Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN human rights experts said Monday. The Israeli Defence force ordered the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa and enter buildings before them, said the UN Secretary-General's envoy for protecting children in armed conflict. The boy also was told to open the bags of Palestinians - presumably to protect the soldiers from possible explosives - before being released at the entrance to a hospital, Radhika Coomaraswamy said. She said the Jan. 15 incident, after Israeli tanks had rolled into the neighbourhood and during “intense operations,” was a violation of Israeli and international law.
It was included in a 43-page report published Monday, and was just one of many verified human rights atrocities during the three-week war between Israel and Hamas that ended Jan. 18, she said. Ms. Coomaraswamy accused Israeli soldiers of shooting Palestinian children, bulldozing a home with a woman and child still inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians into a day earlier. “Violations were reported on a daily basis, too numerous to list,” said Ms. Coomaraswamy, who visited Gaza and Israel for five days in February. Ms. Coomaraswamy said there also have been allegations that Hamas used human shields or fired from heavily populated areas, and that UN officials are investigating.
Now, the article mentions that Hamas did abuses too, but that's not the point... Israel should be taking the moral high ground, not saying 'well, the other guys are doing bad things too'. We know they're doing bad stuff, what about what you are doing?