The heading I gave in my earlier discussion - "ICC
SEEKS Arrest Warrants for Israel - Hamas Leaders,"
were clear to most people.

Amnesty International has received a great deal of
controversy for its reports and criticisms of Israel.
It stands by the principal that every country under
attack has the right to defend itself. But in
defending itself every country is bound by the same
fundamental rules.. They must comply with International
Humanitarian Law.

We need to welcome this step by the ICC, and the work of
organizations like Amnesty to stop entrenched impunity
and to hold those responsible for the commission of
international crimes accountable and bring them to
justice.

No one should be above international law.

Of course the ICC and Amnesty will not be able to avoid
the inevitable political fallout from their actions.
But in behaving the way that they have, they have
strengthened their legitimacy as agents of international
criminal justice.

Agnes Callamard - Amnesty International's Secretary-General,
is a French Human Rights Activist and an investigator of
violations in armed conflicts.

An experienced highly respected professional. Similar in
reputation to Karim Khan's impartiality and experience. Both
have reputations for seeing both sides of conflicts.

Dear Mhaze,

«Yes and Christians believe their messiah will return and rule the world. And Mohammedans think likewise. Pretty standard among the Abrahamic religions and not particularly relevant.»

Devout Christians, Muslims and Jews PRAY for God to bring their version of the Messiah ASAP - I take no issue with that.

What makes it relevant, is when people attempt to hasten the Messiah's coming by taking proactive steps themselves.

In Christianity and Islam we are only talking of some tiny isolated cults, but in Judaism it is a significant sect - the followers of Rabbi Kook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Isaac_Kook), who believe that Messiah's coming depends on Jews settling the whole land of Israel!

Kook's theology is based on his interpretation of the erotic Biblical book, "Song of Songs". In there, the maiden is alone at home at night when her lover knocks on the door, but the maiden answers, "I am sleepy, I am already undressed, I already washed my feet, come back tomorrow", then she gets up to open the door anyway, but by then it is too late and the lover is gone, she searches for him the whole night but never finds him again. The maiden of course is Israel (in Christianity she is considered to represent the Church) and the lover is God, who says "open up for me just a slit and I will then open the door wide", and opening the slit, according to Kook, is by settling the whole land of Israel, by whatever means it takes.

Well if you genuinely believed that God is knocking on your door, offering you salvation if you open, wouldn't you do the same, anything required?

---

Dear Dan,

«The MS Israeli media is more controlled than the Western media.»

While I disagree, you provided no alternate version as to how many Gazans were killed, where, when and why.

Anyway, suffice that you then agree that I did not receive my information directly or indirectly from the American Biden administration, whom you so much dislike.

"were clear to most people."

Except you apparently.

So if you knew before that they were only seeking the warrants why did you say they'd been issued? (a) forgot (b) thought you'd egg the pudding (c) mixed up your fantasy world with reality (d) all the above.

Seriously, we all know you screwed up. Just own up and move on. Why is that beyond your integrity levels?

Its hardly a major issue but your ability to get things wrong and then bend over forwards to try to hide it is just so comical.

Mhaze,
"Four Jewish hostages were rescued last week. They were being held by Gazan families, many of whom were killed in the process. Some worked for the UN. Some worked for Al Jazeera. None were innocent victims. Yet the international community, embarrassed that the hostages were found and released, claimed all those killed, who were complicit in holding hostages, were somehow innocents killed as part of a genocide."

Yuyutsu,
"Most of the 200 Gazans killed during the release of the four Israeli hostages had nothing to do with the hostages. Some were Hamas militants and others just happened to be in the market when Hamas rushed in from all sides to capture the Israeli rescuers as they retreated with the hostages. As Hamas shot the engine of their truck, the rescuers got unexpectedly stuck and a large force was needed to create a wall of fire between them and the converging Hamas."

-Whats the truth?
Your truth, his truth, someone else's maybe?

I'm late to this story.
But this is the "truth" I got.
http://youtu.be/0xrPdTo_wBw

Yuyutsu

The numbers game:

I’m not playing it, I simply call you out for quoting the enemies inflated count.

Which implies to me, some inconsistency with your position, as the IDF version of casualties is significantly less, and also public knowledge.

My intense dislike of Democrats is well noted by you; that dislike extends to the Jewish masochists backing in behind them with their leftist Political destabilisation tactics in Israel.

The mess Israel finds itself in now, is a direct consequence of Obamas JCPOA disastrous Iranian appeasement policy, carried further by Bidens Administration, which promotes the interests of Iran above Israel.

So you claim not to be associated with the leftist Democrats, but your oft stated position mirrors their every move, either mysteriously or coincidentally.

Dear Critic,

Whatever the truth, it saddens me that Netanyahu gained a bit of reputation by freeing the four hostages.

When an operation succeeds he takes all the credit, and when similar operations failed and Israeli soldiers and hostages died, he remained silent.

He had the chutzpah to call Noa Argamani immediately after her release, in hospital, before she could even meet her dying mother, just for his own public relations, all televised, not caring how she feels to hear his disgusting voice, the voice of the man who sent her to that hell and kept her there for his own political survival. I heard that conversation - he was so slimy! Of course she had nothing to say to that bastard, but one would need extreme courage to look so ungrateful and slam that phone at the wall while all her rescuers were still around, so she didn't, thus suffered yet another humiliation on top of all that Hamas did to her.

Nevertheless, despite it all, if I had a chance of rescuing hostages, I would have done so again, and again, and again, and should they be attacked while retreating, I too would create a wall of fire around them to prevent their recapture, letting whoever comes close be shot, in their 100's, 1000's or millions as necessary, because even the fate of a dead hostage is better than the fate of a live one.

Of course, the best CHANCE of rescuing hostages, is through a cease-fire deal, but I am not convinced at all that Hamas would respect such a deal and release the hostages. They are now demanding for Israel to withdraw first, before they even release one hostage - why would they release any then?!

---

Dear Dan,

My views are my own.
Tough luck if there happen to be similarities between them and those of others you dislike.

To the best of my knowledge the IDF didn't claim that the number of casualties is less, only that a large number of them, perhaps half, were Hamas operatives who ran to attack the retreating rescuers.