{news} UN Commissioner warns of War Crimes; Israel Lobby thanks Saudi Arabia; and Iraq condemns Israel

[Justine McCabe]

> UN warning on Mid-East war crimes, BBC News
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5197544.stm
> 2006/07/20
>
> War crimes could have been committed in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, a senior 
> UN official has said.
> UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said international law 
> stressed the need to protect civilians.
>
> There is an obligation on all parties to respect the "principle of 
> proportionality", she said.
> About 300 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the 
> violence. Thirty Israelis, including 15 civilians, have also been killed.
>
> The UN reported on Wednesday that about 100 Palestinians, civilians and 
> fighters, have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive in 
> Gaza in late June.
>
> "Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and 
> unacceptable targeting of civilians," Ms Arbour said. "Similarly, the 
> bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting 
> invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable."
>
> Ms Arbour expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming 
> of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory".
>
> Without pointing to specific individuals, she suggested that leaders could 
> bear personal responsibility.
>
> "I do believe that on the basis of evidence that is available in the 
> public domain there are very serious concerns that the level of civilian 
> casualties, the indiscriminate shelling of cities and so on, on their face 
> raise sufficient questions that I think one must issue a sobering signal 
> to those who are behind these initiatives to examine very closely their 
> personal exposure," she told the BBC.
> ________________________________________________________________________________
>
> Israel Lobby thanks Saudia Arabia ambassador for support in Lebanon 
> massacre
> The Forward, New York, July 19,2006
> http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=nir200607191126
> Bush Urged To Give Israel More Time for Attacks
> By Ori Nir
>
> WASHINGTON - Bucking calls in the international community for a cease-fire 
> in the Middle East, Jewish organizations launched a major lobbying 
> offensive in the nation's capital this week to give Israel more time to 
> deal a decisive blow to Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza.About 50 
> leaders of the Jewish community from across the country were scheduled to 
> meet Thursday with Bush administration officials and congressional 
> leaders.
>
> In a particularly unusual move, one top Jewish communal leader, 
> Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, visited the Saudi 
> ambassador in Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, to thank him for his 
> country's condemnation of Hezbollah for igniting the crisis by launching a 
> cross-border raid against Israel and abducting two of its soldiers.
>
> "We told the ambassador that this could be a new moment in the 
> relationship, that the neighborhood is changing because the threats that 
> face the Jewish people are also facing moderate Arab states," Foxman said. 
> According to the ADL, the Saudi ambassador urged all parties to "return to 
> the basics" of Middle East peacemaking by embracing the Saudi peace plan 
> of March 2002, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines 
> in return for peaceful, normal relations between Israel and the Arab 
> world. The Saudi diplomat, Foxman said, agreed that "this could be a 
> moment to bring moderates on all sides closer together."
>
> Many Jewish organizations, including the ADL, were also praising President 
> Bush for repeatedly defending Israel's right to defend itself. But their 
> most important goal appeared to be to keep America from shutting down 
> Israel's military operations prematurely. "It is important, as the 
> fighting continues," he said, "that the United States government continues 
> its steadfast support for Israel's right to defend itself."
>
> This week, several Jewish groups - including UJC, the American Jewish 
> Committee and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish 
> Organizations - organized emergency missions to Israel to meet with 
> Israeli leaders and to tour Israeli communities that have come under 
> rocket fire.
>
> Jewish communities in several major American cities - including New York, 
> Washington, Miami, St. Louis, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and 
> Philadelphia - have organized rallies in support of Israel. Jewish 
> activists are also scheduling meetings with diplomats stationed in foreign 
> embassies in Washington and consulates across America to encourage foreign 
> governments to support Israel's campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah.
>
> "This is a unique moment of broad consensus in the community in support of 
> Israel's right to defend itself and to take the measures necessary to stop 
> the reign of terror," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of 
> the Presidents Conference. The conference is a 52-member umbrella group 
> widely seen as the Jewish community's collective voice on Middle East 
> affairs. "There is deep concern because people have come to realize that 
> this has nothing to do with occupation of territory. This is really about 
> Israel's right to exist. There are no issues here that justify what's 
> happening either from Gaza or from Lebanon. People also see it as a part 
> of the war on terrorism." Jewish communal leaders expressed particular 
> appreciation for the administration's early public support of Israel's 
> position that it was pointless to push for a cease-fire before Hezbollah 
> was significantly weakened.
>
> Thanks to the pressure from Bush, the statement of the G8 industrial 
> nations was "remarkably positive, more than most of us would have 
> imagined," said the AJCommittee's executive director, David Harris. He was 
> speaking from Israel, where he is leading an AJCommittee delegation of 40 
> lay leaders and staffers from America and Europe. Jack Rosen, chairman of 
> the American Jewish Congress, also expressed relief that the G8 statement 
> avoided any harsh criticisms of Israel. "I would have expected a much 
> harsher reaction from around the world," Rosen said. "I think that what 
> has finally settled in everyone's mind is that this is a war that has to 
> be fought by all countries that suffer from extremism. It's a united world 
> against extremism."
>
> Jewish groups said that they were quite happy with the response of several 
> Arab countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. Egyptian President 
> Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah last week endorsed an official 
> Saudi statement blaming Hezbollah - which strongly benefits from Iranian 
> financial and military support - for the deterioration across the 
> Israeli-Lebanese border. Iran's growing influence in the region "causes 
> serious concern among 'status quo' regimes such as the Saudi, the Egyptian 
> and the Jordanian," said Gary Sick, who is a professor of international 
> affairs at Columbia University and a former National Security Council 
> expert on Iran and the Gulf.
> __________________________________________________________________________
> From:
> What Bush's Open Mike Revealed
>    By Robert Scheer
>    Truthdig.com
>
>    Tuesday 18 July 2006
>
> The U.S. continues to embrace the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and
> Jordan, as has been the case for sixty years. In fact,
> Bush has added Libya to the "approved" list.
> Meanwhile, Israel is attacking elected governments in
> the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon with U.S.
> support.
>
>    As for the democracy in Iraq that Bush wants
> Russia to emulate, things haven't worked out as
> neocons like invasion architect Richard Perle had
> hoped when he fantasized about Pentagon favorite Ahmed
> Chalabi leading Baghdad to recognize Israel. On
> Sunday, according to Reuters, the notoriously divided
> Iraqi parliament UNANIMOUSLY passed a motion
> condemning the Israeli offensive and urging the U.N.
> Security Council and Group of Eight leaders meeting to
> intervene "to stop the ... Israeli criminal
> aggression."