Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, delves into the moral obtuseness that characterizes the UN’s latest libel against Israel, the work of a commission headed by Judge Mary McGowan Davis:
Davis accuses the Israel Defense Forces of “serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.” Yet no evidence is put forward to substantiate these accusations. It is as though the drafters of the report believe that any civilian death in war must be illegal. . . .
The report is characterized by a lack of understanding of warfare. That is hardly surprising. Davis admitted, when I testified before her in February, that the commission, though investigating a war, had no military expertise. Perhaps that is why no attempt has been made to judge Israeli military operations against the practices of other armies. Without such international benchmarks, the report’s findings are meaningless. . . .
The report acknowledges that Israel took steps to warn of imminent attacks, but suggests more should have been done to minimize civilian casualties. Yet it offers no opinion about what additional measures Israel could have taken. . . . Davis suggests that the IDF’s use of air, tank, and artillery fire in populated areas may constitute a war crime and recommends further international legal restrictions on their use. Yet these same systems were used extensively by American and British forces in similar circumstances in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are often vital in saving the lives of our own soldiers, and their curtailment would jeopardize military effectiveness while handing an advantage to our enemies. . . .
Most worrying, Davis claims to be “fully aware of the need for Israel to address its security concerns” while demanding that it “lift, immediately and unconditionally, the blockade on Gaza.” Along with the report’s endorsement of Hamas’s anti-Israel narrative, this dangerous recommendation would undoubtedly lead to further bloodshed in both Israel and Gaza.
Read more on New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/opinion/the-uns-gaza-report-is-flawed-and-dangerous.html?_r=1