British commander: “Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.“

From 2009—yet still apt.
UNHRC testimony of @ColRichardKemp: “Thank you, Mr. President. I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia..."
“and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Governments Joint Intelligence Committee.“
“Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.“
“Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.“
“Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting incidents.“
“The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong, that they are abusing human rights.“
“The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. “Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military capability were aborted...“
“to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.“
“Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human error. But mistakes are not war crimes.“
“More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas way of fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice their own civilians.

Mr. President, Israel had no choice apart from defending its people, to stop Hamas from attacking them with rockets.“
“And I say this again: the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.

Thank you, Mr. President.“

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More from @HillelNeuer

16 May
The United Nations should unequivocally condemn the 3,000 terrorist rocket attacks this week by Hamas against Israeli civilians, declare such acts a threat to international peace and security, and reaffirm Israel's inherent right of self-defense under the UN Charter.

It won't.
The United Nations should reaffirm the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
The UN should express deep concern at Hamas & Islamic Jihad acts of terrorism motivated by intolerance or extremism, and call on States to work together urgently to prevent & suppress terrorist acts, including through full implementation of international conventions on terrorism.
Read 4 tweets
16 May
Former AP correspondent says source close to IDF suggests "there were indeed Hamas offices" in Gaza building that housed AP.
“Any press organization operating in a dictatorship is going to be compromised, and will further compromise itself to conceal how it has been compromised.“
From his 2014 @TheAtlantic article: “Hamas understood that journalists would not only accept as fact the Hamas-reported civilian death toll—relayed through the UN or through something called the “Gaza Health Ministry,” an office controlled by Hamas—but would make those numbers...
"...the center of coverage. Hamas understood that reporters could be intimidated when necessary and that they would not report the intimidation; Western news organizations tend to see no ethical imperative to inform readers of the restrictions shaping their coverage in repressive
Read 4 tweets
13 May
Dear @Malala: I have great respect for your courageous stand for women's rights, which got you shot and nearly killed.

But Western ideologues are misinforming you about Gaza. The perpetrator here is terrorist Hamas—the same kind of murderous Islamists who tried to kill you.
I will be happy to speak with you further to discuss this.

Until then, you may wish to see this international law analysis of how Hamas terrorists view Israel's compliance with the laws of war as a strategic enabler for their own objectives.
@Malala, nothing can justify what Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists did this week. They rained down more than 1800 rockets targeting millions of civilians across Israel. Children were rushed into bomb shelters. Israel has every right—and the duty—to stop the deadly rockets.
Read 5 tweets
6 May
UN Watch commends Australia for pulling out of the UN's anti-Israel Durban IV event to be held in September. We urge other nations to follow.

🔹 Pulled out of Durban IV: 🇺🇸 🇦🇺
🔹 Pulled out of similar Durban III event in 2011: 🇦🇺 🇦🇹 🇧🇬 🇨🇦 🇨🇿 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇱 🇮🇹 🇱🇻 🇳🇱 🇳🇿 🇵🇱 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
“We will not associate Australia with one-sided & contentious language that singles out Israel or an event that champions such language,” said PM @ScottMorrisonMP. "This is entirely consistent with my Government’s very strong voting position on UN General Assembly resolutions..."
"...in the Human Rights Council and elsewhere. We will continue that same approach to Durban IV later this year.”
Read 4 tweets
5 May
Iranian beauty queen in Norway hails election of regime to @UN_Women, says “women's social status in Iran has developed significantly.“

She got asylum in Norway—after being rejected 3 times—on grounds she risked being subjected to forced marriage in Iran.
nettavisen.no/nyheter/bahare…
Her name is Bahareh Letnes. (Original name: Bahareh Heidari Nasserad.) An overt supporter of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and the regime, she sparked a scandal when she accompanied Norway's Minister of Fisheries on a secret trip to Iran. He had to quit.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6…
Norwegian intelligence investigated ties Bahareh Letnes' ties to the Iranian regime. A dental secretary, she suddenly founded a trading company for "export of fish plus import of natural gas from Iran." Then she accompanied the Fisheries Minister to Iran.
newsinenglish.no/2018/08/10/pst…
Read 9 tweets
2 May
FINALLY: European Parliament calls out @UNRWA for using textbooks "which contain hate speech and incitement to violence." Kudos to MEP @DavidLega for helping to draft the text. europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document…

As usual, UNRWA is in full denial: unrwa.org/newsroom/offic… ImageImage
“The European Parliament is concerned about the hate speech and violence taught in Palestinian school textbooks and used in schools by UNRWA; is concerned about the effectiveness of UNRWA's mechanisms of adherence to UN values in educational materials used and taught by UNRWA...
“staff in its schools, which contain hate speech and incitement to violence; insists that UNRWA acts in full transparency and publishes in an open-source platform all its educational materials for teachers and students, as well as its reviews of host country textbooks...“
Read 5 tweets

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