Terrorist penetration in Holy Places - legal perspectives

Friday August 02, 2002 00:53

by Concerned

In recent days, Palestinian armed combatants and terrorists have been hiding out in churches and other holy places and their vicinity. Places of worship are offered special protection in accordance with international law. The penetration of armed terrorists into churches and other places of a religious character for the purpose of hiding out and/or carrying out acts of hostility, are a gross abuse of the immunity and the special protection granted to such places. Such acts are grave breaches of the First Additional Protocol (1977) to the Geneva Conventions, and constitute war crimes by any standard of international humanitarian law

1. In recent days, Palestinian armed combatants and terrorists have been hiding out in churches and other holy places and their vicinity. Places of worship are offered special protection in accordance with international law. The penetration of armed terrorists into churches and other places of a religious character for the purpose of hiding out and/or carrying out acts of hostility, are a gross abuse of the immunity and the special protection granted to such places.
Such acts are grave breaches of the First Additional Protocol (1977) to the Geneva Conventions, and constitute war crimes by any standard of international humanitarian law.

2. The presence of armed combatants and terrorists who do not distinguish themselves from the civilian population, and the deliberate perpetration of hostile acts from within places of worship constitute grave violations of the rights of the clergy residing in such buildings. These actions endanger the protected status of such buildings in which the armed terrorists hide out, and turn the places into a legitimate "military objective", for as long as the armed terrorists continue to abuse the immunity of these buildings. This conduct directly endangers the lives and security of religious personnel and civilians residing, working or worshipping in these areas.
It constitutes a fundamental breach of the requirement that combatants distinguish themselves from civilians, pursuant to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, in particular, and international law, in general.

3. Finally, the armed terrorists are holding religious officials in the Church as hostages, to shield themselves from military attacks.
This conduct constitutes a war crime in accordance with international law, and is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols.

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Comments (10 of 10)

wake up editors

by pat c

Fri Aug 02, 2002 09:33

the above comment describes palestinians as savages.

comments which called jews subhuman were removed. why haven't you removed this one?

I agree..

by MG

Fri Aug 02, 2002 11:30

I agree totally with Pat C, the above comment says Islam=terror. This is not only false but is racist and insulting. Islam is a peaceful religion which has its roots in the same mythical events that led to Christianity and Judaism.

Fundamentalists like Bush and Ashcroft are hardline Christians who believe in a form of white supremacy, but that does not mean that Christianity is the problem. They have twisted Christianity into a good vs evil scenario to justify wars than any true Christian would revile. The same goes for the Taliban and bin Laden, who have twisted Islam to justify the massacre of citizens ("infidels"). However, with reference to the Palestinian situation, Hamas, Fatah and the al-Aqsa Brigades are not proponents of Islamic Law. They believe in freedom and are fighting a nationalist war for Palestinian liberation. When they commit atrocities, they are acting as terrorists, but they are not and have never claimed to be fighting on behalf of Islam.

correction...

Fri Aug 02, 2002 11:52

Apologies, I shouldn't have included Hamas in the above statement...

to mg

Fri Aug 02, 2002 11:56

i was wondering about that! hamas certainly push for an islamic state, however they point out that they don't hate the settlers because they are jewish; they hate them because they are zionist & illegally occupy palestine.

It would be so much easier

by Aidan

Fri Aug 02, 2002 12:20

As we keep pointing out we're volunteers.

I've already had to spend part of the morning checking if these articles had been cross posted, and a little bit of fact checking.

Guys if you see something objectional it would make our jobs infinitely easier if instead of posting your objection on the newswire, you e-mailed the editorial list, so someone could remove it.

We can't be everywhere at once.

Pat You've claimed I feel like the editor of the times, I don't, rolling through this website looking for offensive material isn't high on my list of fun things to do. Seeing as you seem to have spare time would you care to join the editorial list and occasionally e-mail the active team, when you find offensive comments? So we can remove these as quickly as possible?

Applicable law

by publo

Fri Aug 02, 2002 12:32

Israel doesnt recognise the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the conflict in the middle east, so one can say that, as long as they are under Israels jurisdiction those lads hiding in churchs etc are not commiting crimes against international humanitarian law. However, although Israel does claim to recognise the applicability of the Hague Conventions regarding humanitarian law, the IDF tend not to respect them.

It is too easy to point out the evils committed by various actors on both sides if it is only to judge who is good and who is bad. If one wishes to analyse the conflict through an international law lens, the two basic facts are that everyone has a right to life and bodily integrity, full stop. But also, the Israeli occupation is illegal. No matter what 'side' you're on, that is a fact of international law.

no problem...

Fri Aug 02, 2002 12:34

Aidan,

Just give me an email address where I can send objections to and I would be delighted to do so in future.

I'm not blaming indymedia for the Islam=terror comment, I was merely using the easiest way to inform the moderator that many people would find such a comment insulting.

I also think that in an open publishing forum, it would be wrong to leave such a statement on the newswire without allowing people like myself or Pat C a right to reply to clear up any untruths that the pro-Israeli mob might be trying to spread.

If you need volunteers to help co-ordinate the editorial aspect of indymedia, then check your personal email (aidanobrien@hushmail.com) and you will see that I offered my services a couple of days ago. The offer still stands...

aidan

Fri Aug 02, 2002 12:35

i don't have that much free time i flick back & forth between my tedious fulltime job & the playpen of imc. (without the imc inspiration i'd never get memoranda drafted or survive a day at work)

i'm going to be away for about a week & 1/2 from today.(i'll probably get w'drawal symptoms, a web free week!) but after that i'll join the editorial list & see what i can contribute.

racism or truth?

by Sally

Sat Aug 03, 2002 00:47

Saying that storming a church by a militant force is wrong is not a racist statement. Everytime arab lobbyists don't have a good come-back they cry racism. Grow up.

Geneva Conventions

by Des

Sat Aug 03, 2002 01:07

It is the ultimate example of black humour for a Zionist propagandist to refer to the Genvea Conventions, the Zionists have constantly breached those conventions. The use of civilians as human shields is one example, the murder of non combatents is another, Deir Yassin, Tantura and Sabra Shatila are just a few of the war crimes committed by the Zionists since 1948.
It's also a fact that tank fire was directed at the church by those ever so respectful IDF boys.

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Terrorist penetration in Holy Places - legal perspectives

Comments (10 of 10)