Rolling MENA 2014 (Middle East)

I kind of want to write an article about tired pro-Israel canards called "Ah, but if only the Palestinians..."

72-Hour Cease-Fire Announced in Gaza

“Israeli and Palestinian delegations will immediately be going to Cairo for negotiations with the government of Egypt, at the invitation of Egypt, aimed at reaching a durable cease-fire. The parties will be able to raise all issues of concern in these negotiations.”

By palestinian delegations, do we mean also Abbas and WB officials? Sorry if the answer is obvious.

I think yes:

A delegation comprised of various Palestinian factions reportedly arrived Tuesday in Cairo for talks on an Egyptian cease-fire initiative proposed two weeks ago to quell the fighting between Hamas and Israel, according to Al-Arabiya.

The delegation - including representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad - was slated to meet with Egyptian officials to discuss the draft truce, which Hamas and Islamic Jihad previous rejected and Israel accepted.

Among the delegation members were Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad, Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas and Ziyad Nahal from the Islamic Jihad, according to the report.

I assume Israel's not going to give up anything

As an aside, I am a big fan of Fox News-esque coinages, so I am glad this situation has given us "terror tunnels." Not saying they're anything else, I just love the phrase.

Egypt mediation does suggest a cease fire that heavily favors Israel's interests.

i wonder if the US/Israel split over the last week or so was just some geopolitical good cop/bad cop - have bibi repudiate obama to indicate to hamas that they couldn't use international pressure as a bargaining chip. ("this guy is crazy - he even told the US to go away")

this is interesting (and even vaguely hopeful at the end):
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/world/middleeast/quest-for-demilitarization-of-gaza-is-seen-getting-netanyahu-only-so-far.html

http://www.jta.org/2014/07/31/news-opinion/nyt-on-why-no-photos-of-hamas-fighters-we-dont-have-any-1

Despite the ceasefire, reports now that Israel is still shelling in/around Rafah. Hamas fired a mortar back. Fragile.

Israel officially ends cease fire.

The army said it had warned residents to stay indoors.

useful advice

Are you certain that the ceasefire was broken by Israel?

Well, Israel at least officially declared it over. Not sure who broke it first, there's different rumors about that. But both parties have been firing.

abducted Israeli soldier.

Does the term 'abducted' apply still, when in a war a soldier captured from the other side is a prisoner of war?

Yes - kidnapping for ransom is a "war crime" whether it's a soldier or civilian.

anyway, in order to find the soldier, alive or dead, this happens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive

Ok, thanks. xp

iirc- looking for relevant quote xp

Abducting belligerents is legal but they have to be treated as prisoners of war.

Right that's what I was forgetting. And they're entitled to visits from some UN or humanitarian organization. I recall reading about this in detail re Shalit

Thanks guys, was wondering about this.

Maybe all the militants were not cc'd and they did not know there was a cease fire?

maybe hamas militants took advantage of the cease fire?

Here's some relevant documentation:
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20070625.asp

On the one-year anniversary of the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories , states that he must be released immediately. The organization says that the circumstances of his capture and the behavior of his captors clearly indicate that he is a hostage.

International humanitarian law absolutely prohibits taking and holding a person by force in order to compel the enemy to meet certain demands, while threatening to harm or kill the person if the demands are not met. Furthermore, hostage-taking is considered a war crime and all those involved bear individual criminal liability.

Hamas, which de-facto controls the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip, bears the responsibility to act to release Shalit immediately and unconditionally. Until he is released, those holding him must grant him humane treatment and allow representatives of the ICRC to visit him. The fact that Shalit's right to these visits has been denied constitutes a blatant violation of international law, says B'Tselem.

http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=B97E89741917B99CC12563CD0051BC50 (Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 34):

The taking of hostages is prohibited.

Yes - kidnapping for ransom is a "war crime" whether it's a soldier or civilian.

― Mordy, Friday, 1 August 2014 12:52 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

1500 Palestinians killed and it takes the possible capture of one Israeli soldier for this guy to talk about war crimes.

I'm just answering a question

Sorry for lashing out Mordy I didn't mean to get personal. I'm reading multiple reports alongside this and getting annoyed with the language and tone of them. Like 35 Palestinians died this morning and the headlines are all about this one guy.

Is kidnapping the same as capturing?
Is abducting the same as detaining?
It seems that Israelis are never captured or detained.

Utilizing the American Lexicon for Modern War clarifies the distinction. since Israel is involved in a "police action" against hamas militants, or "enemy combatants", you can immediately assume that any Israeli soldiers captured were "kidnapped". Additionally this is, anecdotally speaking, a handy vocabulary for avoiding any concerns about potential war crimes because obviously the Geneva convention only applies to conventional armies in standard combat contexts.

they are dealing ith this"one guy" because the two last times Hamas/hezbollah kidnapped a soldier - a war started.

Hamas and Israel knows a kidnapped Israel soldier means power in negotiation. (see Gilad shalit vs. 1000 Terrorists set free)

Israel's goal now is to reduce it to the minimum.

Totally under the impression that a war had already started. My miss.

well, it's gonna get even worse now

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/when-genocide-is-permissible

The truth is, it’s not their fault, falsehood and deceit is part of the very fabric of who they are and that will never change. Still however, despite their propensity to lie, when your enemy tells you that they are bent on your destruction you believe them.

that article is committing genocide on the English language

*vomits*

twitter this morning crowing that 'palestinian defense forces have arrested an enemy combatant'

The genocide post was apparently already "removed by the editors."

Is that where Goole's quote is from?

idk I didn't even get to read it

xp yup

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/08/military-announce-hospital.html

Fuck this shit.

wow, i read the genocide article in that tiny window of availability, i feel special in gross new ways

i can't tell why that guy has a column? seems like a kid? idk not knowing the israeli media landscape i'm betting he's not a big deal. until now!

http://5tjt.com/when-genocide-is-permissible

from long island, apparently

Yeah there are stands in Forest Hills that have the 5-towns Jewish Times in fact.

Including where my daughter goes to preschool, which makes me queasy all of a sudden.