UN must hold Obama to same standard as Israel

Please no.4 tell us who these powerful influential countries are that ignore international law .I can suggest a few so how about Saudi Arabia ,Libya ,Syria ,the Arab League funded by the powerful Sunni oil rich gulf states which runs the UN as a proxy to whitewash their Arab/Muslim criminal activities round the globe.

Jim the mechanic should stick to what he knows;rep airing cars etc, as he cannot express anything new ,the same propaganda so common to brain washed Arab mentality.

As 23 says bring the butcher of Sudan ,the killers Haniyeh ,Meshaal ,Ahmadinejad ,Nsrallah ,and the murderous Taliban to the HRC for their dates with destiny.

Why doesn,t Sam in Durham get his facts straight and explain to us why Hamas thugs shooting Qassams at Israeli civilians in Sderot and Ashkelon are not liable for war crimes committed against the state of Israel?How about Nasrallah ,Bashir ,Haniyeh ,Meshaal,Ahmadinejad and Taliban murderers appear before the war crimes tribunal in the Hague or are these Muslim /Arab mass murderers exempt from liability?

to the same standard as Israel but that will be a double whammy for the US with Holder prosecuting the CIA and the UN "prosecuting" the Pentagon, so Obama is making the US a member, once again, of the UNHRC. So in company with Ghadaffi, Assad et al human rights will be protected. By the way I believe that Pakistan has been made a member of the IAEA.

Whether fair or not the military invasions and occupations of Gaza and Lebanon will inevitably be viewed through the prism of the unceasing expansion of Israel into the West Bank and the pervasively contemptuous treatment of West Bank Palestinians by a substantial portion of the Jewish settlers. The goal of Zionism, as has been documented innumerable times during the past 100 years, is, after all, ultimately the acquisition of the entirety of Palestine as a Jewish state. That necessarily causes Israel's relations with other neighbors to be assessed with a cynical eye.

Yes it must, even if Ari Shavit thinks the so-called war on terror cannot be limited by such humanitarian considerations. America has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and destroyed its infrastructure and put the allies of Iran in power there. Much worse than anything Israel ever did, and Israel had reasons, Bush invaded without provocation-a good definition of a rogue state. Israel was attacked by those who want to destroy it altogether. Quite another story.

Obama's been in office 8 months. For Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan, you'll probably get lots of stuff on Bush and Cheney, but not Obama. Oops. The US military has been monitoring and investigating routinely. We try our criminals, except the political ones, but if you really want, you probably can drum up something on Cheney and Rummy and Wolfowitz and the other neocons from before Bush got rid of the bulk of them.

Then name when Israel has been bitten with these teeth Ari! Machevallian Israeli leaders go out of their way to show their contempt for any words spoken out about Israel! To bad the UN doesn't have real power that could stop the brutal occupation and the on going annexation of Palestinian land!........P.S. Bush Chaney Rumsfeld et al are war criminals and best friends to Israel and Israels very own war criminal Ariel Sharon! what strange justifications you come up with......

The support that allowed Mugabe to destroy both Human rights and his country. Then there is the way refugees from Zimbabwe have been abused in the "new" South Africa.

This is why it's difficult not to see anti-Zionism as the new anti-Semitism.

as Israel. Why not? But that doesn't free Israel of its own responsibilities for its own crimes.

All these horrible deaths could be avoided if Muslim terrorist did not use innocent people as human shields. That is the real crime here.

Why not hold those fighting amongst civilians and using them as shields responsible to what happens to them. If we fought with the mentality of the Hague and this international law nonsense during WWII then we will still be fighting WWII. I wonder how much money flows from the oil rich Middle Eastern countries to the UN to create such double standards against Israel. Follow the money!

Israel. I wrote along time ago that it is not important who is being killed but who is doing the killing,where and why?

Until last year those who believe that Israel is above the law used to mention Sudan/Darfur all the time as an example of UN bias - even though the UN Security Council had already commissioned an investigation. In the meantime, Sudan's president has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes - which is a very good development - and by magic the words Sudan/Darfur have disappeared from the Israeli propaganda lexicon

THOUSANDS of innocent civilians have been killed by US/NATO drones in pre-meditated attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Both US commanders and British commanders stated they are aware of the 'significant' civilian casualties but that they had no plans to change their methodology. Given that these commanders answer to their Commander-in-Chief, the US President and the Secretary of Defense,the UN is now obligated to show fairness and initiate an investigation to determine if war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the commanders, field officers, and of course those issuing the ultimate orders, Obama, Bush, Gates, and Brown. Let's find out if the UN can finally show fairness, or only Jews are not allowed to protect themselves.

The UN murdered tens of thousands of Somalis. Bombing them, tanks, artillery, etc. How many UN personnel have been investigated to date? How many investigations of UN actions have been conducted? The answer is zero. How about NATO aggression against Kosovo? NATO used aircraft to murder over 1,000 innocent civilians? How many NATO personnel have been charged? How many investigation have been conducted? Same number as above. Then there is the masacre of Chechens by the Russians. Over 100,000 murders by Russian troops with the same results. The entire UN report was a cut and paste group of organizations out to destroy the State of Israel for the crime of fighting back. All without a shred of proof. The Arab war-crimes are bragged about by the Arabs and well documented from dozens of sources, yet this does not seem to matter. Only ad hominem claims against Jews seem to matter to the world.

Obama got elected because the people wanted to end our wars for empire in the middle east. He is only escalating the conflict, expanding it to Pakistan. It's one thing for Obama to renege on promises made to the people, so it's not surprising the turncoat is every bit as guilty as Bush of war crimes, but he did stay true to his pledge to AIPAC - and they'll one day get their war with Iran, and Obama will be all too willing to send thousands more Americans to die for Israel.

More than 100% correct

and Saudi Arabia before the HRC. Syria has and continues to host HAMAS, the organization that turned the use of suicide bombers targeting civilians into a standard military practice. It shows Nations like Iran and Iraq offering up tens of thousands of dollars to those individuals and their families who committed these acts.

i have lost 2 family members because of PKK terrorist bombings- although i personally have felt loss because of the Kurdish struggle and many other Turks have too, i don't lose sight of the cause and effect- the Kurds are treated as terrorists much like the Pals are in Israel- the Kurds are discriminated against and it shames me not only as a Turkish citizens but as a human being- i work hard to protest brutal government treatment of Kurds i protest for Kurdish rights and although i have suffered because of the Kurdish terrorists i can still seperate the two entities and when a terrorist attack happens (it can never be justified innocent lives can never be collateral damage) i don't delude myself that us Turks are wholly innocent- yet i believe most Israelis refuse to see the other side as nothing less then terrorists, can't you see that these people suffer every day and we are responsible- when they retaliate how can you ask why? you already know

I don't have a problem with that. If the Israeli leaders went on trial for war crimes, then Bush and his crew should, theoretically, be sitting in the same courtroom as Olmert, Barak, and Livni. It's obvious that over one million Iraqis were slaughtered by Bush and Company using depleted uranium, white phospherous and cluster bombs. On the other hand, there's a difference between Obama's actions in Afghanistan and Israel in Gaza. Obama never had a deliberate policy of laying seige to an entire population for years, cutting them off from food, water and medicine and preventing them from fleeing and shooting at civilians carrying white flags. It's clear that war crimes were committed by Israel and are not just propoganda points by the left.

We all know (maybe except of Gideon Levy) that the International opinion is bias regarding Israel and the so called Crimes Against Humanity on War on Terror. Ari makes an excellent case here... I still don't understand why? and please don't give the anti semtism card, I don't buy it. Ari maybe you can explain

"If they put down their arms and stop attacking Israel both sides would be at peace." no darling, that is exactly the problem. Hamas can put down their arms but there still wouldn't be peace, there only would be peace for Israel.the occupation, the siege of Gaza and the oppression of the Pals would continue.the Israeli government and large parts of the population are still not ready to give up their hold on the West Bank.In "peaceful" phases,the Pals continue to suffer from violence, at the checkpoints,during the nightly incursions by the IDF, from the settlers, administrative detentions, etc, but yes Israel would be in peace to continue their land grab and avoid to implement a solution aka the 2-state solution. Sure there shouldn't be violence from the Pal side,but there also should be a common understanding in the Israeli society(& a broad movement) to give up very soon the occupation and the land stolen since 1967.peace is the consequence of negotiations, not its precondition.

The US is spending billions to help the people of both countries, working with the government and is publicly addressing the issue of civilian casualties. All we have heard from Israel is "its all Hamas' fault" and Israel is the most moral army in the world". Israel's occupation of the West Bank and settlements have taken away the moral high ground. That is a fact.

Not only Bush and Blair.Obama's soldiers are killing civilians too.The Chinese for Tibet.The russian for Chechnia.The Sudanese for Darfur. The Pakistanis for Swatt-Valley,and Hamas for the buses and pizzarias. Obama can do nothing,his soldiers are attacking civilians destroyed the infra structure of Iraq and Afghanistan,and as late as yesterday assassinate a terrorist in Somalia. the US is no different,they are using the same methods as the Brits French,Russian,and Israeli in their war on terror.

the average american care about what happens in middle east?? dont know and dont care.

I don't know what news you have been watching if any? We saw live aerial footage of four or five pals shooting a mortar at the base of that famous school that Israel took out. The pals admitted using women and children to carry ammunition for them.They store weapons in their places of worship, hospitals, schools. If they put down their arms and stop attacking Israel both sides would be at peace. The first ones to do anything to harm the other would be the aggressor and singled out. This won't happen because there is to much bias in this world.

Very cogent and logical article. Perhaps we, the Jewish people, should desist from assuming that we are a "Light unto the Nations" and perhaps morally advanced than others. Perhaps we should stop flogging the world with stories of our unjust sufferings, however true, in rationalizing our actions. Maybe, just maybe, we are of the same stuff as everyone else...fearful, defensive, wary, and able to sink into the mud at times like every other nation. Then maybe we won't be held up to a higher standard. Harsh words perhaps, but a critique of our history and myths is sorely needed. Something to think about during the New Year.

all agree it is wrong to kill innocent people. Those who kill innocent people are murders and terrorists. Is it possible to educate for peace? Learn from the past. Make corrections. Become more civilized and value knowledge.

The War criminals in the Israel Palestinian conflict who want to save face by blaming their benefactor Obama is only asking for trouble if they continue down that road

you should tell your words to the judges in the usa sicne there are those who treat black people on trial differently from white ones!

The many incidents of bombing civilians are certainly questionable. Why don't people follow the procedure for requiring an investigation that was followed in the case of Cast Lead? So make the complaint! Let the Israeli government call for a UN investigation. Somebody has to do it!

Is this what its come down to?

to target and deliberately hit civilian population as collective punishment, which is what Israel is being accused of.. Moreover, the US, nor Germany, NATO or anybody else has never been accused of using civilians as human shields or as the Israelis call it ?Johnny? procedure. It appears Israel did commit malicious war crimes during Cast Lead and the best it can do now is conduct a serious investigation to find what happened and insure it does not happen again.

How many Israeli soldiers were sentenced for life in Prison? At Least America does sue it's soldiers when evidence is clear and has some long sentences unlike Israel which the longest is few months (REVOLVING DOOR FOR CRIMINALS)

Well said, but, does the Israeli law apply to everyone? The answer is NOOOOOOO. A racist settler kills an innocent Palestinian get no jail time. A Palestinian fighting the colonial apartheid Israeli occupation kills an Israeli gets 5 life jail sentence. Give me a break. Israel is an apartheid racist state. It has been continuing war crimes against the Lebanese and Palestinian people for decades. From Sabra and Shatila to Jenin to Qana to Gaza, the Israeli war crimes are countless. If Israel wants to live in peace in the Middle East, it must face the facts and bring to justice those who committed war crimes rather than keep trying to discredit the messenger and deny its crimes. This will save Israel from itself.

International Law is a fiction. It is completely ignored by powerful, influential countries. Imagine this scenario; you live in a community where for years everyone, including those in authority, who write the rules, cheat on their taxes. This year the authorities decide to prosecute John Doe,and only John Doe, for cheating on his taxes. It might be said that cheating on taxes is not really a crime in that community; the law is merely an excuse to persecute John Doe.

The above article stated: "Severe incidents took place during the operation which must be investigated. But the inquiry must be carried out by us, and among ourselves." Goldstein has stated that if Israel wants to avoid the possibility of facing the International Court of Justice, all they have to do is an independent inquiry into the incidents in his report. And that does not mean the absurd situation of having the IDF investigate and clear itself. If Israel is so sure it is innocent, and that the charges are fabricated, why not have an independent inquiry, as Goldstein requests? After all, the findings could be used as evidence to defend Israel in court if necessary.

This report is Obama's way of showing Netanyahu how far his rebellion can last. There is a reason people do not mess with superpowers - bad things happen.

I fully agree that Bush and Blair should also be investigated for killing millions of Iraqis for no reason other than for serving the Zionist agenda. However, this does not change the fact that countless Israeli and international organizations and individuals found that Israel committed war crimes against the people of Palestine. Many Israelis like the "break the silence" soldiers came forward and revealed the IDF war crimes to the public. I do not understand what could one call the collective siege of millions of people in Gaza and the West Bank for years? People deprived of all essentials of freedom and life. What would you call the indiscriminate attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza? What would one call the attacks on schools, mosques, UN food storage facilities, homes ..etc??? I hope Obama will have the courage to stand up for the Zionist lobby in DC and let the UN investigative report go to the International Court of Justice for trials. This will be good for Israel