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Nations United Against Israel

World in high dudgeon as Israel hits Gaza terror


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 18, 2004

The international community worked itself into a state Monday, enraged by Israel’s decision to accelerate its war on Palestinian Arab terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

After massing armor near southern Gaza at the weekend, Israel launched a major anti-terrorism operation aimed at erecting a barrier between the terror-spawning and arms-smuggling town of Rafiah, and the rest of the Strip.

Having achieved separation from the outside world, Israel Defense Forces armor moved into Rafiah Tuesday to root out the infrastructure of death embedded there.

Led by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the European Union, the world pounced on Israel for its self-defensive actions against the Palestinian terrorist machine in the Gaza Strip.

Their primary gripe:Israel’s demolition of building used by the “Palestinians” as cover for shooting attacks, weapons smuggling efforts and the manufacture of terrorist bombs.

The destruction of such terror nests by Israel constituted “war crimes,” the world leaders insisted.

Ultra-leftist Israeli leader Yossi Sarid said Tuesday he was confident Israel would eventually bow to international pressure and halt its Gaza operations.

‘Distressed Annan’

Reports of Israeli Defense Force personnel going into the Arab population center of Rafiah near the Egyptian border in order to take effective measures against terrorism “distressed” Kofi Annan Monday.

"I am really distressed that the destruction of houses continues," he said.

“I appeal to the Israeli government to stop this destruction, which is against international humanitarian law,” Annan told reporters Monday. “It is causing a very difficult and painful situation for the people of Palestine.”

[ Ed note:Annan’s reference to the Palestinian Arabs as the people of a non-existent state further revealed his prejudice in favor of the Arab effort to steal the Jewish nation’s ancestral lands. ]

While sparing barely a nod for the reasons for the Israeli action, in time-honored UN fashion he suggested that Israel, rather than the Palestinian terrorist groups that proliferate in Gaza and wage terror war on the Jews, was mostly to blame.

Annan, who regularly has negative things to say against Israel, did not offer any suggestions as to how the Jews were to proceed with their military efforts against people determined to kill them and destroy the Jewish homeland.

Indignant Europe

Europe hastened to join its voice to the rising chorus of condemnation, demanding Israel immediately halt its military activity in Gaza.

In their resolution, the EU condemned Israel for acting against terrorism and called on the Palestinian Authority to do so instead.

[ Ed note:Despite signing numerous agreements in which it undertook to fight terror, Yasser Arafat’s official entity has resolutely refused to act against this scourge from its inception. The EU’s inclusion of the call on Arafat was seen by observers as attempt to ensure the passage of the anti-Israel resolution by introducing some “balance” into it. ]

Neither the United Nations nor the European Union – both of them members of the so-called Quartet – have passed resolutions condemning the recent “Palestinian” acts of cold-blooded murder against Jewish women and children.

US Double standards

On Monday, the US State Department released its annual human rights reports, which leveled heavy criticism at Israel.

According to the Americans, Israel uses “excessive force” against the Palestinian Arabs, leading to “numerous deaths.”

Washington also accused Israel of unnecessarily detaining “Palestinians” at roadblocks throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and of allowing interaction between soldiers and international activists to deteriorate.

Ironically, the State Department chose to censure Israel for many of the same things the international community is blasting the US over in Iraq.

Washington, however, maintains its military efforts in Iraq are being carried out in accordance with international law.

Amnesty on the war path

The “human rights” organization Amnesty International was far more vociferous in its attack.

Israel’s demolition of buildings utilized by terrorists constituted "grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes.”

Since the start of the “Palestinian” terror offensive in September 2000, Israel had destroyed some 3,000 Arab homes in a “wanton…unnecessary, disproportionate, unjustified, and deliberate” manner, according to Amnesty.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the Amnesty dossier Tuesday by noting it only destroyed those structures used by terrorists as sniper nests or as cover for weapons smuggling and explosive manufacturing.

"When terrorists fire from within civilian structures or activate roadside charges from trees and fields, military necessity dictates the demolition of these locations," Ha’aretz quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.

The Foreign Ministry also took Amnesty to task over its “war crimes” accusation.

"Under international law, these structures are considered legitimate military targets. Therefore, in the midst of combat, when dictated by operational necessity, Israeli security forces may lawfully destroy structures used by terrorists.”

Arab hysteria

In a hysteric reaction to the Rafiah operation, the Arab world claimed Israel was carrying out the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinian Arabs from Gaza.

Arab governments vowed to take the necessary steps to bring those Israelis responsible to stand trial for “war crimes,” Reuters reported.

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