The real Adam Werritty and Liam Fox scandal is the British government promoting arms sales to a government that ordered the massacre of civilians

Most media coverage and political debate over the Adam Werritty scandal is surreal and bizarre in treating Werrity’s status as the serious issue while not even mentioning that Werritty, Defence Minister Liam Fox and the British government are promoting arms sales to a Sri Lankan President who ordered war crimes including shelling civilians and hospitals with artillery after telling them they should move to what the Sri Lankan military and government had told civilians and aid agencies would be  “safe zones”, followed by massacres of Tamil Prisoners of War and of civilians, including children and aid workers. At least 7,000 civilians have been killed so far. (This is all recorded in multiple investigations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN, as well as by soldiers in the Sri Lankan military who were eye witnesses and heard the orders given.)

Channel 4 News in the UK is the only exception I’ve found so far – they have covered the war crimes issue.

British MPs found that the previous Labour government in Britain also approved arms sales to Sri Lanka during ceasefires in the war. In fact  that wasn’t the whole truth – the British government sold £13.6 million of arms including armoured cars, machinegun components and semi-automatic pistols to the Sri Lankan government at the height of the civil war. So British arms were almost certainly used to commit the massacres and more sold to them now may be used for future massacres and continuing disappearances. The bodies of the disappeared are being discovered constantly.

The almost total silence on it in most media reports and opinion columns is despite the video footage and photos of Adam Werrity, standing alongside Liam Fox, shaking hands with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa which have been taken to be important because they show Werrity had taken part in official meetings with members of other governments.

In December 2010 Channel 4 News reported that

‘The Defence Secretary made five trips to Sri Lanka in the past three years, all while in opposition. Each trip was paid for by the Sri Lankan government.

On 2nd December, the Defence Secretary held a private meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in London's Dorchester Hotel, while he was on a private visit to Britain. The visit was aborted when a Tamil pressure group sought the arrest of one his entourage on war crimes charges.

The meeting was portrayed by the Sri Lankan government as a diplomatic coup on its official websites, which displayed prominent pictures of the President and Dr Fox warmly shaking hands.

Among matters reportedly discussed between the two were investment opportunities in the north of the island, where many of the alleged atrocities took place.’

More recently they reported that :

‘Highly-placed souces in Sri Lanka have told Channel 4 News that Liam Fox and Adam Werritty have both visited Sri Lanka every year now for a decade. And every time Dr Fox has gone there, Mr Werritty’s been with him – even while on holiday….

….Three highly placed sources in Sri Lanka independently allege that Adam Werritty’s frequent visits to the island were to do with arms deals – and that he stayed there, it’s alleged, at Sri Lankan government expense….. The sources have claimed that Mr Werritty acted as an interlocutor for a senior figure in the regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This senior figure reportedly discussed with Mr Werritty whether he could lobby the British government over the supply of arms, security equipment and aviation parts.’

Rajapaksa arrested the General who headed the campaign, not for war crimes, but for standing against him in the subsequent Presidential elections and for revealing that the orders for the massacres came from Rajapaska’s Defence Minister.

Yet Fox and the British government are both promoting the sale of British arms to Rajapaska’s government and giving him political support by going on state visits to Sri Lanka.

Compared to all this I really couldn’t give a toss whether Werritty had security clearance ; and care even less about innuendo about whether he and Fox might be gay lovers or not.

On this issue much of the media and many politicians seem to have no moral compass, no sense of proportion and an amazing ability to fixate endlessly on trivia while ignoring the British government arming and supporting war criminals who ordered the deliberate killing of thousands of civilians and aid workers.

Labour Party MPs, many of whom were silent or stayed in cabinet as Ministers while the government armed Sri Lankan forces at the height of the massacres, make no mention of them when criticising Fox, Werritty and Cameron.

The new Labour Defence Spokesman, Jim Murphy MP, a typical Blairite and party hack, never mentions them because he knows he was part of a government that did the same. In his letter to Cameron he only mentions conflicts of interest and risks to ‘national security’ – not a word about arming war criminals with arms used to massacre civilians. It seems we can’t expect much improvement from the Labour party leadership under Milliband.

Sources

Channel 4 News 11 Oct 2011 ‘Liam Fox friend Adam Werritty accused over Sri Lanka arms deal’, http://www.channel4.com/news/liam-fox-friend-accused-over-sri-lanka-arms-deal

Channel 4 News 15 Jun 2011 ‘Killing fields video evidence ‘builds case for war crimes’’, http://www.channel4.com/news/killing-fields-video-evidence-builds-case-for-war-crimes

Channel 4 News 27 Jul 2011 ‘Sri Lanka ‘war crimes’ soldiers ordered to ‘finish the job’, http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-war-crimes-soldiers-ordered-to-finish-the-job

Channel 4 News 04 Oct 2011 ‘Liam Fox quizzed about friend’s access to MoD’, http://www.channel4.com/news/liam-fox-quizzed-about-friends-access-to-mod

HRW / The Guardian 21 Jan 2010 ‘Uncovering Sri Lanka's war crimes’, http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/01/22/uncovering-sri-lankas-war-crimes and http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/21/sri-lanka-war-crimes-investigation

Guardian 30 March 2010 ‘MPs call for review of arms exports after Israeli assault on Gaza’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/30/arms-british-gaza-assault (also covers sales to Sri Lanka)

Times 02 Jun 2009 ‘Britain sold weapons to help Sri Lankan army defeat Tamil Tigers ’, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article2610539.ece

HRW 08 May 2009 ‘Sri Lanka: Repeated Shelling of Hospitals Evidence of War Crimes’,http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/05/08/sri-lanka-repeated-shelling-hospitals-evidence-war-crimes

HRW 03 Aug 2011 ‘Sri Lanka : No Justice in massacre of aid workers’, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/03/sri-lanka-no-justice-massacre-aid-workers

HRW 23 May 2011 ‘Sri Lanka: Military Conference to Whitewash War Crimes’, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/05/23/sri-lanka-military-conference-whitewash-war-crimes

Human Rights Annual Report 2010 – Country Report – Sri Lanka,http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/Sri%20Lanka.pdf

Amnesty International 26 Apr 2011 ‘UN must act now on Sri Lanka war crimes report’,http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/un-must-act-now-investigate-war-crimes-sri-lanka-2011-04-21

Guardian.co.uk 09 Oct 2011 ‘Liam Fox allegations: Letter from Jim Murphy to David Cameron’,http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/09/liam-fox-jim-murphy-letter?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

A tale of two charters : Netanyahu's Likud party's charter refuses Palestinians a state

Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - his Likud party's 1999 Charter rules out any soveriegn, independent Palestinian state in the West Bank or Gaza, yet simultaneously refuses to talk to Hamas on the grounds that it's charter does not recognise the Israeli state

Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist is the number one reason given for the refusal of the Israeli government and it’s allies to negotiate with the Hamas government which Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza elected in January 2006.

This claim is based on Hamas’ founding charter, which, as Palestinian scholar Khaled Hroub has pointed out, was written decades ago and does not reflect Hamas’ current positions (1).

It also makes the Charter of the Israeli Likud party, whose leader Benjamin Netanyahu is now Israeli Prime Minister, interesting reading.

It states that:

“The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river. The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. (2)”

Also “The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria [i.e the West Bank] and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values... Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting. (2)”

(The charter was written in 1999 which explains the reference to settlements in Gaza which no longer exist – though Likud opposed the withdrawal, leading to the split in the party which led to serial war criminal Ariel Sharon forming the “centrist” Kadima – which shows you just how extreme the remaining Likud members must be)

Strangely Likud's charter has not led to any other governments refusing to recognise the Israeli government until it changes it to recognise the right of a Palestinian state to exist, nor any sanctions being placed on Israelis for electing Likud.

Likud’s charter is much more blunt than most Israeli political statements on a Palestinian state are, but doesn’t differ greatly even from the Oslo agreement offered by Yitzakh Rabin’s Labor government in 1993 , which involved a Palestinian Authority in which Israeli forces could summarily arrest any Palestinian, but no Israeli could be arrested by Palestinian forces no matter what they had done. The West Bank and Gaza would continue to be occupied by Israeli forces. Israeli settlements and Israeli military posts would continue to separate Palestinian enclaves from each other. The best West Bank land and water would be reserved for Israeli settlers.

(This was still enough of a concession in Netanyahu's eyes for him to label Rabin a traitor and for his supporters to call Rabin a Nazi in a campaign of vilification which ended with Rabin being assassinated by an Israeli extremist.)

This is largely still the situation today, although Israeli governments have broken even the modest commitments they made under the Oslo agreements by continuing to annexe more land by force and build more settlements. The Gaza settlements were given up by Sharon under pressure from Bush, who wanted an apparent peace-making success to distract from his massive unpopularity in polls in the US due to Iraq and Enron, but Gaza remains under constant siege and regular military assault by Israeli forces. In return for the withdrawal from Gaza, the US gave Israel a free hand to annexe more of the West Bank (3) – (4).

Prime Minister Netanyahu has talked of a Palestinian “state” since, but each time makes clear that in fact he would not allow a state that was a state in anything but name. It would not have it’s own military or control of it’s own borders or airspace. Since the US and Israeli governments continue to demand Hamas sign up to “existing peace agreements” – i.e Oslo -  Israeli forces would also be able to enter this Palestinian “state” at will and arrest anyone they liked at will and be beyond the control of this “state”’s courts. Meanwhile the Israeli government continues to expand settlements and annexe land in the West Bank, in breach of Oslo (5) – (8).

Netanyahu’s calls for negotiations to begin were with Fatah only, not Hamas. Since Hamas won legislative elections in 2006and the only elected Palestinian Prime Minister is the leader of Hamas, this is a bit like offering to negotiate with a US President who’s a Democrat but refusing to accept the US congress’ inevitable (and constitutional) involvement in the process because the Republicans won control of congress in the last elections. President Abbas of Fatah cannot make agreements without parliamentary approval under the Palestinian constitution – and if he does, they won’t hold.

Fatah rejected this deal as categorically as Hamas did. Israeli historian Avi Shlaim points out that “The problem with Israel's concept of security is that it denies even the most elementary security to the other community.” – i.e the Palestinians (9) – (10).

There has never been an Israeli government which recognised the right of a Palestinian state to exist, making it more than a bit hypocritical for them to demand that Palestinian negotiators accept Israel’s right to exist before negotiations begin.

It also seems unlikely that they would accept recognition of an Israeli state which would not be allowed it’s own military or control of it’s own borders, would not have legal sovereignty over crimes committed in it’s territory ; and would have to allow Palestinian forces and settlers the right to control large parts of it and arrest Israelis under military laws. Yet this is what they demand Palestinian negotiators, including Hamas, accept, before negotiations even begin, when they demand recognition of Israel’s right to exist and that Hamas accept the terms of the Oslo agreement before negotiations can begin.

Despite Israeli government propaganda about rational, secular Israelis facing crazy fundamentalist Hamas the view that God gave Israelis Israel, including the West Bank and Hamas, is mainstream in Israeli politics. The use of the biblical term “Judea and Samaria” for the West Bank in Likud’s charter is one example. Netanyahu in his speech said Israelis’ right to the land – including the West Bank - was based on the presence of Abraham and others there 3,500 years before. It was also used in briefings by Israeli intelligence to the cabinet under the “centrist” Kadima and “left-wing” Labor party coalition government during Operation Cast Lead. Even some Israeli military judges, who oversee military law applied to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, have used the same language on the land having been given to the Jewish people by God (11).

Ehud Barak, the Labor Defence Minister during Operation Cast Lead remains Defence Minister under Netanyahu in coalition with Likud.

Unlike Likud in 2009, with it’s platform of preventing a Palestinian state, Hamas in 2006 did not campaign on a platform of destroying Israel. If they had campaigned on a platform of destroying Israel, Palestinians would have laughed at them. How could a few thousand militants with automatic weapons and home made rockets destroy the Israeli military with  its thousands of state of the art tanks, aircraft, helicopters, artillery pieces and drones?

It’s not true that Hamas have refused to negotiate either. Hamas leaders including Khaled Meshal and elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh repeatedly offered negotiations with Israel; initially on condition it withdrew from the territory it annexed in the 1967 war and since, later without pre-conditions. They’ve also stated they accept any Palestinian state would have to exist alongside Israel (12) – (18).

This ended after Israel’s ‘Cast Lead’ offensive on Gaza in December 2008 to January 2009, in which around 1,400 Palestinians were killed, at least half civilians, many reported by Amnesty International to have been killed in war crimes, turning Palestinian public opinion against any deal with Israel (19) – (20).

The Israeli foreign ministry website shows the number of Israeli civilians killed by the rocket fire which was meant to be the reason for the Israeli offensive in the six months before ‘Operation Cast Lead’ began. One. It also shows that within a few weeks of the operation beginning , three Israeli civilians had been killed by rocket attacks (21).

That does not make the rocket fire or the killing of three civilians by Palestinian terrorist groups justified, but it does show that the Israeli offensive must have had some motive other than just stopping rocket fire, much of which was by factions other than Hamas.

It should come as no surprise that when you kill lots of the other sides’ civilians, more of them want revenge on you and kill more of yours.

The mindset that thinks you can always bomb any opponents into submission forgets that September 11^th and July 7^th did not make Americans or British foreign policy less extreme – so bombing Palestinians, Afghans or Iraqis is not going to make their politics less extreme or less violent towards us either. They are not some alien race, but humans who suffer much like us – and react similarly to us when attacked, with a minority calling for restraint and a majority for revenge on someone, anyone.

The Israeli government’s refusal to negotiate with Hamas even after it’s election victory led to Hamas’ political wing losing influence over some of it’s military wing – the Qassam Brigades. Factions other than Hamas were even harder for Hamas’ political leaders to control – and the Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza – for instance targeting police stations and police - while simultaneously holding Hamas responsible for every rocket fired out of Gaza.

Former heads of Mossad and Israel’s Shin Bet military intelligence have called for negotiations with Hamas without preconditions, along with former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami and many others.

(1) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A Beginners Guide’, Pluto Press, 2006

(2) = Likud – Platform, http://www.knesset.gov.il/elections/knesset15/elikud_m.htm

(3) = Tanya Reinhardt (2006) , ‘The Roadmap to Nowhere : Israel/Palestine since 2003’, Verso Books , Chapters 1 and 4 (the late Tanya Reinhardt, who died in 2006, was an Israeli Professor of Linguistics and former student of Noam Chomsky. Her book quotes Israeli media sources extensively.)

(4) = Guardian 07 Jan 2009 ‘How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe’ by Avi Shlaim , www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-palestine

(5) = Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 14 Jun 2010 ‘Address by PM Netanyahu at Bar-Ilan University, ’,http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2009/Address_PM_Netanyahu_Bar-Ilan_University_14-Jun-2009.htm

(6) = NYT 14 Jun 20010 ‘Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State, With Caveats’

(7) = guardian.co.uk 14 jun 2009 ‘Netanyahu backs an independent Palestinian state for first time’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/14/binyamin-netanyahu-israel-palestinian-state

(8) = Haaretz (Israel) 13 Oct 2009 ‘U.S. to Egypt: Fatah-Hamas deal undermines Israel-PA talks’,http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-to-egypt-fatah-hamas-deal-undermines-israel-pa-talks-1.6197 , ‘Sources told Haaretz that Mitchell made clear to the Egyptians on Saturday the United States expects any Palestinian government to follow the conditions of the Quartet, which include recognition of the State of Israel, acknowledging earlier agreements and renouncing terrorism.’

(9) = See (6) above

(10) = See (4) above

(11) = guardian.co.uk 26 oct 2009 ‘West Bank land belongs to Jews, says Israeli army judge’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/26/west-bank-jews-army-judge

(12) = Telegraph 09 Feb 2006 ‘Hamas offers deal if Israel pulls out’,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1510074/Hamas-offers-deal-if-Israel-pulls-out.html

(13) = Guardian 4 Mar 2006 , ‘Hamas says peace possible at Moscow talks’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1723217,00.html

(14) = Guardian 22 Jun 2006 ‘Climbdown as Hamas agrees to Israeli state’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1803184,00.html

(15) = Ynet news (Israel) 22 Dec 2007 ‘Report: Hamas weighing unconditional truce with Israel’, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485394,00.html

(16) = IHT 23 Dec 2007 ‘Israel rejects Hamas request for cease-fire talks’,http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/23/africa/hamas.php

(17) Guardian.co.uk 21 April 2008 ‘We can accept Israel as neighbour, says Hamas’,http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/israel

(18) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A beginner’s guide’ , Pluto Press, London, 2006

(19) = Amnesty International 02 July 2009 ‘Impunity for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel a recipe for further civilian suffering’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/impunity-war-crimes-gaza-southern-israel-recipe-further-civilian-suffering-20090702

(20) = Amnesty International 02 Jul 2009 ‘Israel/Gaza: Operation "Cast Lead": 22 days of death and destruction’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/015/2009/en

(21) = Israel Foreign Ministry ‘Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000’, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm

Seven lies that kill – and the truth on Israel , Palestine, Gaza, Fatah , Hamas and the West Bank

The continuing killing in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel can only happen thanks to seven lies which prevent negotiations and allow the killing to go on as long as enough people believe them.

There's an easier to read version of this post with contents links and links to footnoted sources on my website on this link

Lie One : Hamas are merely a terrorist group that took power by force

Condoleezza Rice told the UN Security Council, Hamas is “a terrorist organization” which came to power in Gaza by force. In fact Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and they, not President Abbas of Fatah, have the power under the Palestinian constitution to form a government. The Israeli campaign aims at overthrowing the elected government, like the US campaign against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 80s (1)– (8).

Fatah forces backed by the US, Israel and Egypt, attempted a coup in late 2007, after Israel refused to lift sanctions on a Fatah-Hamas coalition government. It failed in Gaza but succeeded in the West Bank (9) (10), (11), (12).

Another part of this lie is that Hamas members are all armed terrorists who aim to kill all non-Muslims. In fact apart from their armed or terrorist wing Hamas are also a political party and run hospitals and schools for Palestinians of all religions and none (13).

Lie Two : Hamas refuse to negotiate with Israel and aims to destroy it

In fact Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshal, two of the most senior Hamas leaders, have repeatedly said they could co-exist with Israel if Israel’s government ratified a peace agreement on a Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank and a majority of Palestinians voted to approve the agreement in a referendum (polls show they would).Haniyeh has also repeatedly offered negotiations with Israel throught 2006, 2007 and 2008 . Hamas leaders are well aware that their machine guns and rockets will never defeat thousands of Israeli tanks, jets, helicopters and artillery units (14) – (20) .

Prime Minister Olmert of Israel has repeatedly refused any negotiations unless Hamas first recognises Israel in its current borders (i.e including the occupied West Bank without any Israeli commitment to recognise a viable Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank in accordance with UN resolution 242 and others) , gives up violence (which Israel won’t do, even during ceasefires) and abides by the Oslo Accords (which Israel has failed to, continuing to take Palestinian land and destroy Palestinian houses at gunpoint in the West Bank). (14) – (20) .

Lie Three : Israeli forces don’t target civilians

The driver of the U.N. truck died immediately; another worker in the truck died later of his wounds. The truck…in northern Gaza, was marked with the U.N. flag and insignia….We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed," said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness...

AP 08 Jan 2009 (24).

In fact Human Rights Watch, the UN, Oxfam, Amnesty international, the ICRC and Israeli human rights group B’T Selem have reported Israeli forces killing civilians including aid workers and ambulance crews in clearly marked ambulances and UN trucks and buildings; bombing the houses of Hamas leaders, killing their families and children with them – and using Palestinian civilians as human shields, as in past wars. So deliberate targeting of civilians has been at least as big a factor as much as “collateral damage” in killing over 250 women and children in Gaza and certainly many more adult male civilians along with Hamas rocket teams and gunmen (21) – (44) .

Comparisons with Hezbollah’s use of human shields supposedly causing civilian deaths in Lebanon in2006 have been rife. The trouble with that is that Human Rights Watch investigations found that wasn’t the cause of most of the civilian deaths in Lebanon.

“Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said …The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes.”(45).

Most civilian deaths in Gaza now and in past Israeli wars are similarly caused by Israeli forces targeting civilians along with combatants as sources (21) to (45) show.

Lie Four : Military action reduces deaths from terrorist attacks and can weaken or destroy extremist groups

As with every previous military strike attacks on Israeli civilians have increased since the offensive began. The Israeli foreign ministry’s website shows one Israeli was been killed by rocket attacks by Palestinian groups firing from Gaza in the six months before the offensive (partly the result of the Israeli blockade and its violation of a ceasefire agreement by bombings killing Hamas members and civilians on November 5th). It three Israeli civilians killed by Palestinian rocket fire in the 18 days since the offensive began (46) , (47), (48).

As for “destroying” or “weakening” Hamas are there really people with decades of experience in the Israeli military and government who could have failed so completely to learn from experience as to believe bombing and shelling can do this?

Hezbollah didn’t even exist before Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon in 1982. Over the subsequent two decades of occupation it grew stronger thanks to Israeli military torture, killings of civilians and backing of nationalist militias against Hezbollah (much like its current backing of Fatah’s armed wing against Hamas in a similar strategy of divide and conquer ) (49), (50), (51), (52), (53) .

Hamas itself won the 2006 elections partly thanks to Ariel Sharon’s campaign of sanctions, bombing and invasion which attempted to overthrow Arafat’s Fatah government by force, declaring that Fatah were terrorists who couldn’t be negotiated with. That, financial corruption among Fatah’s leaders and their willingness to give information on Hamas to the Israeli military all contributed to their election defeat.

Why do Israeli planners and policy makers believe that Palestinians will give in if their fighters and civilians are killed any more than Israelis would after a suicide bombing?
Did 9-11 make Americans surrender to Al Qaeda? Of course not – it made them rally behind the extreme policies of the Bush administration.

Inflicting extreme suffering on Palestinian civilians in Gaza similarly makes them more likely to join and support extremist groups like Hamas’ armed wing – and if the bombing and sanctions continue maybe Islamic Jihad and Hizb Ut Tahrir, who, unlike Hamas’ political leaders, will make no compromises on talks with or co-existence with Israel.

Lies Five and Six : Israel has abided by the Oslo Accords and There’s Peace in the West Bank

In fact negotiations with President Abbas of Fatah in the West Bank have made no progress, partly because they can’t without Hamas, who got 45% of the vote to Fatah’s 42% in the 2006 elections – and partly because there is no peace in the West Bank because Israeli settlers and the Israeli military are killing Palestinians, destroying their homes and taking their land and water. Fatah have called the continued settlement building “a slap in the face to the Peace Process”. One hundred and thirty-one Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in 2008, many as the Israeli army watched and did nothing. Palestinian homes have been bulldozed and Israeli settlements keep expanding and new ones are built. All of the settlers removed from Gaza with such televised wailing and theatrics were given $250,000 compensation each and re-settled on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The barrier wall keeps being built, annexing Palestinian farmland and leaving farmers with nothing (54) – (61).

Israeli forces have also killed unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank who were protesting against the bombing of Gaza (62) – (64).

The Gaza fighting provides a convenient distraction from Israel’s total failure to abide by the terms of the Oslo peace agreements, which called for an end to new settlements or the expansion of existing ones in the West Bank. Failure to sign up to the Oslo agreements is one of the charges levelled at Hamas by Israel and “the international community” (the EU, US, Chinese and Russian governments).

Lie Seven : The Israeli blockade of Gaza lets plenty of supplies in and causes no civilian suffering or deaths

Fifth, that the Israeli blockade of Gaza lets enough supplies in. In fact the UN reports severe shortages and many Palestinians searching rubbish dumps for food (65), (66). In 2007 five Palestinians in Gaza drowned in sewage because Israel wont allow spare parts for sewage treatment plants. The World Bank say a similar crisis now risks killing 10,000 people (67), (68).

What we can do

We simply need to challenge these lies and keep responding to them with the truth every time someone makes one of these claims. Repeating these lies or refusing to challenge them results in more civilian deaths in another war that doesn’t need fought.

(1) = US Department of State 08 Jan 2009, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ‘Remarks at the UN Security Council Session on the Situation in the Middle East’,
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009/01/113698.htm ; back

(3rd sentence of 5th paragraph reads ‘Eighteen months ago, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup’)

(2) = Associated Press 26 Jan 2006 , ‘Hamas Wins Landslide 76 Seats’, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/international/i094327S41.DTL&feed=rss.news

(3) = House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/17 ; 15 Mar 2006 , ‘The Palestinian Parliamentary Election and the rise of Hamas’, http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2006/rp06-017.pdf (see Section C, page 12 ‘Conduct of the Elections’ – also note the paper mistakenly gives the date of the elections as January 2005 – this must be a typo – the parliamentary elections were a year later)

(4) = Political Risk Monitor – Special Coverage - The January 2006 Palestinian Elections , ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.politicalriskmonitor.com/hamas/electobserv.shtml

(5) = Europa (EU) News Service 27 Jan 2006 ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/030-4661-026-01-04-903-20060124IPR04643-26-01-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm

(6) = BBC News 9 Feb 2007 , ‘Palestinian rivals in unity deal’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6344297.stm

(7) = NPR 18 Mar 2007, ‘Israel Rejects Palestinians' Unity Deal’, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8983689

(8) = FMEP/Reuters 9 July 2007, ‘Abbas Exceeded Powers in Sacking Government’,
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/abbas-exceeded-powers-in-sacking-government

(9) = Haaretz (Israel) 28 Dec 2006 , ‘Israeli defense official: Fatah arms transfer bolsters forces of peace’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/806603.html ; back

(10) = Christian Science Monitor 25 May 2007, ‘Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas’, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p07s02-wome.html

(11) = Guardian 26 Jun 2007, ‘A thankless task with four bosses and no office’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2111447,00.html

(12) = Israel Today 18 Jun 2007, ‘Bush to replace arms Fatah surrendered to Hamas’, http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=13150

(13) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A beginner’s guide’ , Pluto Press, London, 2006; >(13)

(14) = Telegraph 09 Feb 2006 ‘Hamas offers deal if Israel pulls out’,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1510074/Hamas-offers-deal-if-Israel-pulls-out.html
; back

(15) = Guardian 4 Mar 2006 , ‘Hamas says peace possible at Moscow talks’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1723217,00.html

(16) = Guardian 22 Jun 2006 ‘Climbdown as Hamas agrees to Israeli state’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1803184,00.html

(17) = Ynet news (Israel) 22 Dec 2007 ‘Report: Hamas weighing unconditional truce with Israel’, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485394,00.html

(18) = IHT 23 Dec 2007 ‘Israel rejects Hamas request for cease-fire talks’,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/23/africa/hamas.php

(19) Guardian.co.uk 21 April 2008 ‘We can accept Israel as neighbour, says Hamas’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/israel

(20) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A beginner’s guide’ , Pluto Press, London, 2006

(21) = Amnesty International 08 Jan 2009 ‘Gaza civilians endangered by the military tactics of both sides’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/gaza-civilians-endangered-military-tactics-both-sides-20090108 (2nd paragraph reads ‘“Our sources in Gaza report that Israeli soldiers have entered and taken up positions in a number of Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a ground floor room while they use the rest of their house as a military base and sniper position,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “This clearly increases the risk to the Palestinian families concerned and means they are effectively being used as human shields.”’) ; Back

(22) = UNoCHA 012 Jan 2009 ‘FIELD UPDATE ON GAZA FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR 12 January 2009, 1700 hours’,
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_humanitarian_situation_report_2009_01_12_english.pdf

Under ‘Protection of Civilians’ on first page reads “The Palestinian Red Crescent Society suspended activities in the Al Zeitoun and Al Atatra regions as of 11 January after their ambulances were exposed to gunfire in those regions (on 9 and 10 January, respectively), injuring two ambulance personnel and damaging one ambulance. The Palestinian

Medical Relief Society reported on 11 January that their two mobile clinics, normally serving more than 42 Gaza communities, have not been operating since 28 December due to insecurity. Twelve medical personnel have been killed since 27 December.

The Palestinian civilian casualty rate continues to increase. Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) figures as of 1600 hours 12 January are 910 Palestinians dead, of whom 292 are children and 75 are women (correction: 71 as of 11 January). The number of injured stands at 4,250, of whom 1,497 are children and 626 are women.”

(23) = The Herald January 6 2009 ‘‘The killings came as a complete shock’’, http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2478359.0.The_killings_came_as_a_complete_shock.php

(24) = AP 08 Jan 2009 ‘UN curbs Gaza aid after trucks hit by Israeli fire’,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95J82Q00 ,
9th paragraph reads “"We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed," said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness, announcing the suspension. The U.N. is the largest aid provider in Gaza.” ; Back

(25) = Guardian 02 Jan 2009 ‘Israeli bomb kills Hamas leader and six of his family’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/hamas-leader-death-israel-bombing

(26) = IRIN 29 Dec 2008 ‘ISRAEL-OPT: Dire humanitarian situation looms in Gaza’,
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82131,
(see under sub-heading ‘Air Strikes’ – ‘"Eight students from Gaza Vocational Training Centre in Gaza City were killed and 20 injured? by an air strike," said UNRWA [UN Palestinian agency for refugees] spokesperson Sami Mshasha. "Two UNRWA teachers were also killed.")

(27) = UNISPAL 06 Jan 2009 ‘DIRECT HIT ON UNRWA SCHOOL KILLS THREE IN GAZA’,
http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/766674819c81f04a852575360053c075!OpenDocument

(28) = UNISPAL 06 Jan 2009 ‘Dozens killed in strikes on UN schools in Gaza’,
http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/92efe566c5e0db4c852575360065480d!OpenDocument

(29) = Haaretz 07 Jan 2009 ‘UN rejects IDF claim Gaza militants operated from bombed-out school’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053455.html(30) = Oxfam 4 Jan 2009 ‘Gaza: Oxfam supported health worker killed, ambulance destroyed’,
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/?p=2906

(31) = BBC News Online 23 Feb 2007 , ‘UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid'’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6390755.stm (UN special rapporteur John Dugard on Palestinian terrorist war crimes and Israeli war crimes)

(32) = UN Human Rights Council 8 Jun 2007 ; Fourth session Item 2 of the provisional agenda ; IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251 OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL” ; ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard’, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=91 (ditto, Dugard reporting Israeli war crimes against civilians “on a much greater scale” than Palestinian ones)

(33) = UNRWA 10 Dec 2002 ‘Ten killed in Gaza including two UNRWA staff’,
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/3c74b0acd9085fc385256c8700539476

(34) = BBC News 06 Dec 2005 ‘British UN worker unlawfully shot’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/4534620.stm

(35) = Jessica Montell, Executive Director of B’Tselem (2004) ‘‘The search for truth: human rights documentation in the war of representation’ In
Humanitarian Exchange Magazine Issue 28 Nov 2004,
http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=2667

(36) = Haaretz (Israel) 12 Oct 2004 ‘IDF admits Qassam was not transported in UN ambulance’,
http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0410b&L=fofognet&P=2138

(37) = UNISPAL/Human Rights Watch 13 Sep 2006 ‘Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Don't Fire on Gaza Medics ; Six Attacks on Palestinian Ambulances, Paramedics’,
http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/0145a8233e14d2b585256cbf005af141/088e7c424b63cc19852571ea00536864!OpenDocument

(38) = Observer 3 Feb 2002, ‘Hatred sown in a carer's heart' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4348774-102275,00.html

(39) = Guardian 28 Jun 2005, ‘Snipers with children in their sights’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1516362,00.html

(40) = BT’Selem eyewitness testimonies – IDF soldier shoots and kills a 14 year-old boy playing with his friends, in Tubas, north of Nablus, January 2005 - witness Abu Muhsen -
http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/20050120_Salah_Abu_Muhsen_Shot_to_Death_in_Tubas_witness_Abu_Muhsen.asp

(41) = BT'Selem eyewitness testimonies - IDF soldier shoots and kills a 14 year-old boy playing with his friends, in Tubas, north of Nablus, January 2005 - witness Daragmeh - http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/20050120_Salah_Abu_Muhsen_Shot_to_Death_in_Tubas_witness_Daraghmeh.asp

(42) = Summerfield, Derek ‘Palestine – The Assault on Health and Other War Crimes’,
British Medical Journal 16 October 2004 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/329/7471/924?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Derek+Summerfield+Palestine&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

(43) = Guardian 6 Sep 2005, ‘Israeli troops say they were given shoot-to-kill order’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563476,00.html

(44) = Guardian 6 Sep 2005, ‘Israeli soldiers tell of indiscriminate killings by army and a culture of impunity’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563255,00.html

(45) = Human Rights Watch Aug 2006 ‘Israel/Lebanon: End Indiscriminate Strikes on Civilians’, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/08/02/israellebanon-end-indiscriminate-strikes-civilians
; Back

(46) = Israel Foreign Ministry ‘Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000’, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm ; Back

(47) = NYT 19 Dec 2006 ‘Gaza Truce May Be Revived by Necessity’,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Ethan%20Bronner%20December%202008%20gaza&st=cse

(48) = Guardian 05 Nov 2008 ‘Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians

(49) = BBC News 23 May 2000 ‘Q & A: Leaving Lebanon’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/636594.stm ; Back

(50) = Morris, Benny(1999) ‘Righteous Victims – A History of the Arab Israeli Conflict’ , John Murray, London , 2000 (hardback)edition, Chapter 12 especially pages 552-560

(51) = Time magazine 28 Jun 2006, 'Will Hizballah Go To War for Iran?', http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1208916,00.html

(52) = BBC News 25 Jan 2007, 'Who are Hamas?', http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1654510.stm

(53) = Robert Fisk (1990) ‘Pity the Nation : Lebanon at War’ 3rd edition, OUP, Oxford & NY, 2001

(54) = UNOCHA Dec 2008 ‘Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property’, http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_vilonce_special_focus_2008_12_18.pdf ; (54)

(55) = Amnesty International 11 Mar 2008 ‘Palestinian homes demolished without warning’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/palestinian-homes-demolished-without-warning-20080311

(56) = UN radio 11 Mar 2008 ‘UN envoy alarmed at Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes’, http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/35534.html

(57) = Independent 10 Mar 2008 ‘Israel defies freeze on illegal settlements’,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-freeze-on-illegal-settlements-793685.html

(58) = BBC News 02 Mar 2004 ‘Israeli settlement building grows’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3526791.stm

(59) = BBC News 27 Dec 2006 ‘Israel approves W Bank settlement’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6210721.stm

(60) = Guardian 06 Dec 2008 ‘Footage shows settlers shooting two Palestinians’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/06/settlers-shoot-palestinians-west-bank

(61) = Also see sources at the bottom of this page

(62) = Reuters 4 Jan 2009 ‘Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian WBank protester’,
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL4619326 ; Back

(63) = AP 03 Jan 2009 ‘Worldwide protests staged against Israel's offensive in Gaza’
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=1052263&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&title='Protests%20against%20Gaza%20assault%20sweep%20the%20Mideast'&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 – “Protests erupted as well in the Palestinian territories. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands demonstrated in solidarity with Gazans, calling for Palestinian unity and accusing Arab leaders of silence over Israel's bombardment”

(64) = The Herald January 6 2009 ‘‘The killings came as a complete shock’’,
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2478359.0.The_killings_came_as_a_complete_shock.php

(65) = UN 29 Dec 2008 ‘PRESS CONFERENCE on situation in gaza’,
http://un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/081229_Gaza.doc.htm
(4th paragraph includes ‘Because of the blockade that had been in place for months and the recent tightening of that blockade, the stocks of some vital items were very low or non-existent. Today, however, around 60 truckloads of goods had been allowed in, including 4 trucks of medical supplies for UNRWA and 18 trucks of food supplies for UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP). UNRWA needed about 100 trucks of wheat flour a day’) ; Back

(66) = Observer 21 Dec 2008 ‘Israeli blockade 'forces Palestinians to search rubbish dumps for food'’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/21/israel-gaza-strip-middle-east

(67) = Times 27 Mar 2007 ‘Five dead in Gaza 'sewage tsunami'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1576633.ece
; Back

(68) = AFP 07 Jan 2008 ‘Threats to Gaza sewage put 10,000 lives at risk: World Bank’
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090107/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazahumanitariansewage_newsmlmmd

copyright©Duncan McFarlane2008

I should have said we should favour the weaker side as their civilians are likely to make up most of the victims of any conflict

I've made a mistake in saying the EU should stay entirely neutral in the conflict between Georgia and Russia.

I still suspect President Saakashvili of Georgia wanted this conflict, thinking it might bring enough pressure on Russia from the EU and US to get Russian troops to leave South Ossetia and Abkhazia and allow him to fulfill his election pledge to re-unify Georgia, despite the majority of the populations of South Ossetia and Abkhazia never having wanted to be part of Georgia - and fearing a repeat of the ethnic cleansing carried out by both sides in the 1992 civil war.

I still suspect the Bush administration has fuelled the conflict by encouraging Saakashvili not to compromise with the Russians or separatists and vague but tough sounding promises of support.

However the Russian government and the South Ossetian and Abkhazian militias all have a record of ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses as bad and probably even worse than that of the Georgian government - and South Ossetian forces bombardment of Georgian villages on August 1st may have been co-ordinated with Russian forces which built up rapidly in the area in the months before war broke out. What's more Russia's military is so much larger and better equipped than Georgia's was that it should have been obvious that Russian forces would win and so the biggest threat was of Russian and South Ossetian forces killing Georgian civilians rather than Georgian forces killing South Ossetians.

Western journalists and UN observers have reported that Russian forces are standing by while South Ossetian militia-men steal from, rape and murder Georgian civilians (e.g watch the first video on this page from Channel 4 News, UK).
HRW Report the militias have burned Georgian villages in South Ossetia.

Nor do Russian forces have any right to still be in the main part of Georgia - where the majority of the population want to be part of Georgia, or to have continued airstrikes even after the Georgian military was defeated. Human Rights Watch observers say Russian planes have killed civilians by using cluster bombs on Georgian towns. This is a war crime - just like the same practice by NATO forces in Kosovo in 1999 - and one war crime does not cancel out another. Both sides have also used rocket launchers in town centres, killing civilians - the Russians in Gori in Georgia and (before Georgian forces' defeat) by both sides in Tkhsinvali in South Ossetia.
Russia's government and military are responsible for this and for the actions of the Ossetian militia-men they arm, train and fight alongside.

Russian troops have also aided Ossetian civilians in south Ossetia to escape from the war zone to North Ossetia - but this may be as much for propaganda value as for humanitarian motives.

This all seems like another set of moves in the international chess game among governments for power and influence. None of the players can be entirely absolved of responsibility for treating their own and other countries' people as pawns whose lives can be sacrificed to achieve 'strategic aims, but when, as with Georgia and Russia, the two sides are so unequal in power, we should favour the weaker side to try and prevent the stronger one allowing its proxies to run riot killing Georgian civilians.

That probably requires a new UN peacekeeping force in a zone on either side of the border between central Georgia and South Ossetia. This would help humanitarian aid and observers to get to civilians and internally displaced refugees of all ethnic groups. A UN General Assembly resolution calling for this and for Russian forces to withdraw back to their positions of July 31st this year and prevent Ossetian militias targeting Georgian civilians in Ossetia could also be put forward, since Russia could veto any Security Council resolution.