Jewish "civil liberties" groups, especially the Anti-Defamation League, increasingly enforce their own perverted definitions of crucial moral terms such as love, hate, bias and tolerance. No one seems particularly bothered by their self-anointed right to form moral judgments for society. Today-after Israel's deadly raid on the relief flotilla-we see that the Jewish state rivals ADL in creating its own self-serving definitions.
During the raid, a 19-year-old US citizen was shot five times in the face, leg and back of the head from a range of less than 20 inches. The nine slain Turks were shot a total of 30 times. Israel and its US supporters defend all the commandoes' actions. Here are some of Israel's skewed terms, elucidated by a Daily Star interview with renowned international law expert, Marcello Kohen:
"Armed Conflict" and "Blockade" - Israel says it is at "armed conflict" with Gaza's leadership, Hamas, and this justifies its blockade. Yet international law says a blockade is justified only in international armed conflict (IAC) between nations - not a non-international armed conflict (NIAC). Gaza is not a state but an occupied territory of Israel. Armed conflict, including rocketry, ceased 17 months ago when Hamas agreed to a ceasefire. According to UN General Assembly resolution 3314, the Israeli blockade is illegal - an act of aggression and collective punishment against the people of Gaza.
"Custody" - Israel says it has the right, as do nations at war, to intercept (possibly violently) and seize ships of other nations in international waters who might penetrate their blockade. These include ships in the flotilla registered by Turkey, Greece, and the United States. Yet if Israel's blockade is illegal, Israel's commandeering of such ships in international waters is an act of war against non-combatant nations.
"Self-Defense" -If Israel's interception of the flotilla was illegal, then it was defenders of the flotilla, not Israel's commandos, who acted in self-defense. They were entitled to defensive, even violent resistance.
"Terrorist Sympathizers" - Israel asserts that since some of the flotilla passengers from 40 countries have ties with Hamas, all 700 may be arrested, detained, deprived of free speech and action, and looted of belongings such as cameras and computers. By such actions, Israel says anyone in the world who strongly sympathizes with Palestinian rights has no rights under Israel's interpretation of international law.
"Provoking" and "Violent"- Days before the flotilla was raided, Israel described its relief efforts as "violent propaganda" meant to discredit the Jewish state. Israel implies that Israel's critics are unstable and imminently lawless; they should be restricted before they actually commit violence.
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