@ David Singer 9.40pm 22/7/14

You pose two questions to me: (1) Disinformation. This is defined by the OED as "false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organisation to a rival power or the media". I would say this is a good description of all your posts. As Plantagenet has pointed out you are not even original, but simply parrot the talking points of Israel's foreign Ministry. In short you are a shill.

(2) What international law. You purport to be a lawyer so the answer should be self-evident. To fully answer the point would take more words than OLO allows, but the following are a short sample of how Israel continually breaches international law:

(a) collective punishment of civilian populations
(b) targeting civilians with lethal strikes
(c ) targeting civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals
(d) occupying land of other nations; eg Lebanon, Syria
(e) occupying Palestinian territory
(f) building Jewish settlements on occupied land
(g) failing in your duties as an occupying power (manifold violations)
(h) defying rulings of the World Court
(i) rendition, torture and detention without trial
(j) assassination of civilians

This is far from an exhaustive list and even if you continue to deny the point others will recognise your denials for what they are.

We all know what you are. The only mystery is why Graeme persists in publishing your rubbish.

#plantaganet and #SteeleRedux

You both continue to ignore the one fundamental act being carried out in this current conflict which is an indisputable and internationally recognised war crime - the indiscriminate firing of rockets into civilian population centers - be they Israeli or Gazan or anywhere else in the world.

It is forbidden - period - no matter what the circumstances or supposed justification for doing so.

You need to come to grips with this international consensus and stop throwing up red herrings to try and justify the perpetration and continuation of this inhumane and outlawed conduct.

Hamas's rejection of the ceasefire brokered by Egypt -and accepted by Israel - would have stopped further rockets being fired into Israel.

The subsequent Israeli land invasion of Gaza to find and destroy those rockets has been expanded to include the network of tunnels being used to infiltrate Israel with possibly disastrous consequences had the terrorists who have come into Israel not been found and presumably killed.

There are now two recorded instances of this happening in the past two weeks.

Israel has the right to take such steps under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

This land invasion has now become a war which seems to have little prospect of being ended until all the terrorist groups operating in Gaza and their tunnels and armaments are destroyed.

There will be regrettably many more Gazan civilian wounded and killed since these terrorists and their tunnels and weapons are purposely stored in and under civilian population centers - another indisputable war crime.

Hamas was entitled to reject the ceasefire - but it is squarely to blame for the consequences that have followed and the suffering of Gaza's civilian population

@David Singer. In your latest response you say "Israel has the right to take such steps under Article 51 of the UN Charter."

Sadly, this is further evidence of your woeful ignorance of international law. Since 1967 Palestinian territory has been designated as occupied territory under international law. Israel is the occupier. A state cannot simultaneously exercise control over a territory and claim that any attacks from that territory are "foreign" a prerequisite for the invocation of Article 51 of the UN Charter.

As a lawyer you should well know the limits that can be exercised by an occupying power. The laws of armed conflict are set out in the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Four Geneva conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols I and II of 1977. The fact that since 1967 the state of Israel denies its obligations does not absolve them Even the Israeli High Court of Justice has rejected the Israeli government's view and has held that the Hague Regulations and the Geneva Conventions that pertain to customary international law are binding on Israel.

Your proposition was specifically rejected by the International Court of Justice in 2004.

Your views and that of the government of Israel are indistinguishable and both are wrong. May I respectfully suggest you refrain from referring to legal concepts of which you manifestly have no understanding.

Hey, Kilarney.
"Bruce

'Isn't that exactly what virtually the entire Muslim world is doing to Israel?'

And what are Israel's supporters, i.e. the Washington consensus, doing to the Muslim world? Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Syria? Even those Muslim countries who side with USNATO for survival have to be very, very careful that they don't put the needs of their populations ahead of USNATO geo-politics, or they'll be bombed into submission as well."

What has any of that to do with my point that tiny Israel faces unthinking and institutionalised condemnation and attacks from hundreds of millions of surrounding Muslims?
You appear to find a very complicated and propagandised international situation justifies the murder of Israelis, yet deny that those murders, and the constant harassment and vilification is no reason for Israel to be entitled to defend itself?
Hardly what I'd call a balanced outlook.

'There is no point arguing with the 'Hamas started it' brigade, who are only slightly more tedious than LEGO's 'Muslims are the biggest threat to world peace' brigade. '

you are right Killarney it is far more the fault of the idiotic lefist media and secular humanist who are in absolute denial as to what Islam stands for. Thankfully history has already been written and it is very clear who wins in the end. And it ain't the humanist or Islam.

Here is Israel's Daily Butcher's Bill* for the rape of Gaza:

Palestinians killed: 632*

Israeli civilians killed: 2

Israeli soldiers killed: 28

* The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates at least 364 Palestinians were murdered civilian non-combatants.

For daily slaughter data see right-hand side-bar of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Protective_Edge