I’ve been away from the news for a while, but what glad to hear about the report that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights put out regarding the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla that left 8 Turkish and 1 American citizen dead.
And yes, people were indeed “summarily executed” in this attack.
Glenn Greenwald’s analysis, as usual, is worth reading:
The report has been largely ignored in the American media despite the fact (or, more accurately: because) it found that much of the Israeli force used “was unnecessary, disproportionate, excessive and inappropriate and resulted in the wholly avoidable killing and maiming of a large number of civilian passengers”; that “at least six of the killings can be characterized as extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions“; and that Israel violated numerous international human rights conventions, including the Fourth Geneva Conventions (see p. 38, para. 172).
Perhaps most illustrative of all is how inconceivable it is to imagine the U.S. Congress doing anything at all in the face of this report . . . . except passing a Resolution condemning the investigators themselves while defending Israeli actions, including the actions that resulted in the death of an American teenager. Is there any doubt that such a Resolution would pass with overwhelming bipartisan support, approaching unanimity — as happens each and every time there is a controversy involving Israel?
Filed under: Israel/Palestine
