Israeli Soldier Indicted for War Crime as Hamas Holds Another for Ransom

Jerusalem - The Israeli military has indicted one of its own soldiers on war-related charges. At the same time, Israeli citizens are continuing a 12-day march to demand the freedom of an Israeli soldier captured and held by Hamas for ransom for the past four years.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington for talks with President Obama on Tuesday, the soldier was charged with manslaughter during a 2009 battle in the Gaza Strip. It is alleged that he killed a woman and daughter in a crowd that was rushing toward his unit.

According to an Associated Press report, the incident was mentioned as only one of many war crime accusations against both Israel and Hamas in a U.N. Human Rights Council report. Israel rejects some charges in the report, which allege that Israeli troops deliberately targeted civilians.

Israeli authorities state Hamas bears overall responsibility for the casualties because it fired rockets and fought from heavily populated towns and cities.

However, Israel has been investigating and promising to prosecute individual soldiers found guilty of misconduct - an estimated 50 claims by Palestinians against Israel.

The violent fighting in the Gaza Strip continues because the Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, as their land. But, most Israelis of Jewish heritage say their settlements control only a minor part of the West Bank, and were theirs to begin with since Biblical days.

Efforts to free captive Sgt. Galid Schalit have failed

Hamas continues to demand from Israel the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli sergeant, Galid Schalit. Hamas captured Schalit during a cross-border battle in 2006. Israel has been refusing this condition, but other efforts to free the sergeant have either not succeeded or materialized. Many Israelis, including politicians and local celebrities, have joined Schalit's family in a 12-day march petitioning the government to negotiate his freedom.

Comparing important aspects in Israeli/Palestinian war crime accusations:

-During most years, a large number of countries on the United Nations Human Rights Council are those under dictatorships or empirical rule. Many have some of the worst human rights records in the world. The Council is usually at odds with Western support of Israel. Neither Israel nor the United States is currently on the Human Rights Council (the U.S. is slated to join in 2012, but has often been slated and withdrawn). Lists of countries and the years they have either been members or are slated to join can be seen here.

-During wartime, it is inevitable that civilians may unfortunately get caught in the crossfire, or be found as working for the enemy. Soldiers can only be so careful. For example, Section IX, Article 156 of the United States Laws of War state that civilian citizens will be protected "as much as the common misfortune of all war admits."

-By contrast, suicide bombers kill civilians on a regular basis without being provoked. My Jewish relatives living in Israel often remind Americans of all the incidents in which terrorist suicide bombers indiscriminately blow up public buildings, buses and restaurants in Israel with no regard for Israeli or Palestinian civilian patrons, including women and children.

-Neither Israeli soldiers nor Israeli civilians have ever been known to commit a suicide bombing.

-Suicide bombers do not survive to be held accountable by law, and it is yet unrecorded for Hamas or the Taliban to ever punish their own, as Israel is willing to discipline their own soldiers for proven crimes.

Sources:

"Israeli army: Gaza war troops to be disciplined," Matti Friedman, AP, 7/6/10.

"Israeli military indicts soldier for Gaza killing," Ori Lewis, Reuters, 7/6/10.

"Mass march for captive soldier divides Israel," Aron Heller, AP, 7/6/10.

Laws of War: Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, prepared by Francis Lieber, LL.D. Originally Issued as General Orders No. 100, Adjutant General's Office, 24 April 1863, Washington 1898: Government Printing Office records. Article used still stands today.