Thirteen Editorial Rules for Middle East Reporting

1) In the Middle East it is always the Arabs who attack first and always Israel that is defending themselves. This defense is called a reprisal.

2) The Arabs, Palestinian or Lebanese have no right to kill civilians. That is called “terrorism.”

3) Israel has the right to kill civilians. That is called “legitimate defense.”

4) When Israel kills civilians en masse, the western powers claim that it is more measured. This is called “reaction of the international community.”

5) The Palestinians and the Lebanese have no right to capture soldiers of Israel inside military installations with sentries and combat posts. This is called, “Kidnapping of defenseless people.”

6) Israel has the right to kidnap anytime and anywhere as many Lebanese and Palestinians as they want. Currently there are more than 10 thousand, 300 of whom are children and a thousand are women. No proof of guilt is needed. Israel has the right to keep kidnapped prisoners indefinitely, even if they are authorities democratically elected by the Palestinians. This is called “terrorist prisoners.”

7) When the word Hezbollah is mentioned, it is compulsory in the same sentence to contain the words “supported and financed by Syria and by Iran.”

8) When the word "assassination" is mentioned, it is compulsory to say in the same sentence, "Syria's role in an assassination in Lebanon in 2005," and never mention Israel's role in the assassination of Elie Hobeika in Lebanon in 2002 (shortly before Hobeika was to testify in Belgium concerning Ariel Sharon's war crimes).

9) When you mention “Israel” it is forbidden to make any mention of the words “supported and financed by the U.S.” This may give the impression that the conflict is uneven and that Israel’s existence is not in danger.

10) When referring to Israel, expressions that are prohibited: “Occupied Territories,” “UN resolutions,” “Violations of human rights” or “Geneva Convention.”

11) Both the Palestinians and the Lebanese are always “cowardly,” they are hidden among the civilian population, which does not want them. If they sleep in their homes and live with their families, they are using "human shields." Israel has a right to destroy with bombs and missiles the homes, apartment blocs and neighborhoods where they are sleeping. This is called a “precision surgical operation.”

12 The Israelis speak better English, French, Spanish or Portuguese than the Arabs. Therefore they and those who support them must be interviewed more and have more opportunities than the Arabs to explain the present Rules of the Editorial Staff (from 1 to 11) to the general public. That is called “journalistic neutrality.”

13) All those who are not in accordance with the preceding editorial rules are “highly dangerous anti-Semitic bigots and terrorist sympathizers."

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Amnesty International: Israelis Killed Hundreds of Children in Lebanon in 2006

Amnesty Int'l: Winograd report fails to address Israel's war crimes

Haaretz | Feb. 2, 2008

Human rights organization Amnesty International on Thursday called the Winograd Commission's final report on Israel's conduct during the Second Lebanon War, published Wednesday, "deeply flawed," in its failure to address war crimes committed by Israel.

The organization said that the report failed to investigate government policies and military strategies that didn't discriminate between the Lebanese civilian population and Hezbollah combatants and between civilian property and infrastructure and military targets.

"This was yet another missed opportunity to address the policies and decisions behind the grave violations of international humanitarian law , including war crimes, committed by Israeli forces," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program.

"The indiscriminate killings of many Lebanese civilians not involved in the hostilities and the deliberate and wanton destruction of civilian properties and infrastructure on a massive scale were given no more than token consideration by the commission," said Smart.

The press release explained that that though the Winograd inquiry committee was not vested with the powers of an official state commission of investigation, it had the power to subpoena witnesses and recommend the prosecution of officials it found to have been responsible for willful or negligent criminal conduct.

According to Amnesty International, "the [Winograd Commission] chose to limit its work to reviewing military strategy and political decisions...and made to effort to recommend measures for holding those responsible for [serious violations] to account. It recommends the development of mechanisms to ensure the effectiveness of fighting within the framework of international humanitarian law standards [and] immediate investigations by the army when there are concerns that international humanitarian law was violated and better preparedness for responding to humanitarian problems arising from military action."

"But it essentially brushed aside available evidence of serious violations of international law, claiming that interpretations of international humanitarian law are controversial, that it did not have the capacity to deal with the volume of data, that the alleged violations were already being investigated by other bodies, and that such allegations are used as propaganda against Israel, whereas it did scrutinize military strategies and the conduct of certain operations in detail, including in cases which were already being investigated separately."

Based on its on-the-ground research and analysis of the conduct of hostilities in 2006, Amnesty International concluded that the Lebanese civilian population paid the heaviest price for the Israel Defense Force attacks.

"Of some 1,190 people killed, the vast majority were civilians not involved in the hostilities, among them hundreds of children. The overwhelming majority of homes, properties and infrastructure targeted in air strikes and artillery attacks were likewise civilian."

"Although the Winograd Commission recommended that the army review its policies on the use of cluster bombs to ensure that the use of these weapons will not violate international humanitarian law and army discipline, it did not propose any concrete measures," said Smart.

Amnesty International called on Israel's government to provide data on the use of cluster bombs during the Second Lebanon War, establish an independent and impartial investigation into evidence indicating that IDF forces committed serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict, and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

HOFFMAN'S AFTERWORD: The Talmud and halacha (rabbinic law) rule that "no one may judge Israel." With all the perpetual hand-wringing and weeping over the Nazi "Holocaust," Israeli war crimes are never prosecuted, and seldom publicized or commemorated. The "Holocaust" has nothing to do with universal human rights and everything to do with creating a religion of Judaism for gentiles, "Holocaustianity." In the eyes of true believers in that new religious creed, Israelis can do no wrong, while Arabs, including Arab Christians, are always wrong. Their deaths don't count. Their blood is cheap, like the Talmud says.

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