The headline of an AP article earlier today:
Israel prepares for battle over war crimes claims
The update this afternoon:
Israel trying to dodge overseas prosecution
The original lead:
Oct 1, 7:55 AM (ET)
By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM (AP) – The Israeli government and military have retained high-powered international lawyers and set up a joint task force to fend off attempts by Palestinians and their supporters to try Israeli officials on war crimes charges abroad.For nearly a decade, activists have turned to courts outside Israel in an effort to try Israeli political and military officials outside the jurisdiction of their own courts. While none of the attempts has succeeded, they could intensify further after a U.N. report accusing the Israeli military of committing war crimes during its devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip in December and January.
In a sign of what could lie ahead, British activists this week attempted to have Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrested on war crimes charges for his role in the Gaza war. A court rejected the request.
Concerned that government officials and military officers traveling abroad could face war crimes charges, an interministerial team joined by legal experts from the military is in place to protect officials and officers involved in Israeli military operations, a government official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The U.N. report accused Israel of using excessive force and endangering civilians. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the offensive, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian officials and human rights groups. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. The report also said Palestinian militants had committed war crimes by targeting civilians.
The update:
Oct 1, 4:10 PM (ET)
By AMY TEIBEL and PAISLEY DODDS
JERUSALEM (AP) – Stung by a damning U.N. report alleging war crimes in Gaza, Israel is taking extraordinary steps to fend off potential international prosecution of its political and military leaders, hiring high-powered attorneys, lobbying Western governments and launching a public relations blitz.Israel has dismissed the U.N. investigation into its winter offensive in the Gaza strip as biased, but its latest moves show it is clearly concerned.
The U.N. report appears to have energized pro-Palestinian groups that have hoped for years to bring Israelis before courts in countries that recognize the concept of “universal jurisdiction” – trying people for crimes unrelated to their own territory or nationals.
Most recently, British activists attempted this week to have Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrested during a trip to Britain for war crimes connected to his role in the Gaza war. Barak was untouched – but only because the court that considered the request ruled that he enjoyed immunity as a Cabinet minister.
But the incident raised the prospect that Israelis might find it increasingly difficult to travel to European countries that recognize universal jurisdiction.
Just look at the differences in the first five paragraphs. It’s absolutely a hit piece on Israel, and it’s obviously Paisley Dodds’ work. I can’t find any other stories by her about Israel, but it seems like she’s being eased into the spot by her editors.
Nice. She’s off to a great start.
I find that it’s useful to actually ask people “Which law are you talking about”? They rarely know. Some will mention the Geneva Conventions but it turns out that Israel knows these Conventions very well and acts accordingly.
War is horrible, it’s the worst thing that people do; I’ve also found that if I acknowledge that, then it’s easier for people to understand that actual violations of “Law” did not happen in the recent operation in Gaza.
Many people do not know that “International Law” consists of treaties between sovereign nations, and that if a nation does not consent by signing a treaty, such as the Geneva Conventions, then they are not subject to the treaty.
Interestingly, Hamas and Fatah have signed no treaties about the laws of war, nor are they eligible to. This seems to mean they can’t be found in violation. They certainly are not shy about claiming immunity. This leaves the anti-Israel folks arguing that one side is bound by the law and the other isn’t. They usually don’t argue that point for long…
Most of the Gazan fatalities were civilians, according to Palestinian and NGO groups, says the article. Note they don’t even bother pro forma to add an Israeli denial. Suggesting that Palestinian sources haven’t always proved to be especially reliable, e.g. the hundreds of people massacred in Jenin in 2002, doesn’t stop them at all.
It’s a feature of the left that I am not sure I understand that leftists will happily quote as, you’ll excuse the expression, gospel truth from authoritarian and totalitarian sources, but simply disbelieve whatever comes out from an open society, much less express skepticism.
A possible conclusion is that many leftists themselves are authoritarians and essentially power worshippers. I’m probably being uncharitable, probably.
The Fourth Geneva Conventions hold that non-state actors can gain the protections of the treaties by acting in accordance with the provisions that state actors are required to meet. For example, their troops must wear uniforms or other identifying clothing easily distinguished at a distance from civilian clothes. Hamas, of course, does not act in accordance with the Conventions. Nor do the other Palestinian or other Arab terrorist groups. Israel does.
It is depressingly sad and positively irritating how boring these world-without-end attacks on Israel have become. For pity’s sake find another target for your spleen or you will certainly join the LIST of PERPETUAL IDIOTS, outranking all the others from any era. It’s just so UNCOOL, chaps!!!
Paisley Dodds is the AP’s bureau chief in London.
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Dodds_Paisley_128311527.aspx
Another version credits Dodds and Frank Jordans. I suspect that someone involved in the anti-Israel activist community approached the AP, found a favourable writer in Dodds or a stringer working for Dodds, and supplied enough of the story to set the framing.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/israel-trying-to-dodge-151629.html
The lawyer trying to prosecute Barak was Tayab Ali, who has previously defended convicted al-Qaeda operatives.
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/lawyer-in-the-news/tayab-ali-acts-two-terrorists-claiming-torture
The whole Barak prosecution story seems to be that this one guy filed one baseless lawsuit that bounced off the first judge it saw. The deeper story might be how the lawsuit got as much press as it did. Then again, Orly Taitz and Jack Thompson got a lot of press without having much to back up their lawsuits. There must be a talent to it.