❶ ON  GAZA  WAR  ANNIVERSARY,  AMNESTY  SLAMS  IMPUNITY  FOR  WAR  CRIMES
The Middle East Monitor
July 7, 2016
Two years on from the start of Israel’s unprecedented assault on the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has slammed the lack of accountability for crimes committed during the offensive.
___In a new briefing published on the second anniversary of ‘Operation Protective Edge’, the global human rights group says the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for violations is “indefensible.”
___The briefing includes interviews with relatives of those killed, describes the flaws in the Israeli military’s investigations to date, and also notes attacks that clearly targeted civilians.
___The latter include the killing of four Palestinian boys on a Gaza City beach on July 16, as well as what Amnesty describes as “an unrelenting onslaught against civilians” in Rafah on August 1.     MORE . . .

❷  A  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  PALESTINIAN  BDS  NATIONAL  COMMITTEE,
the broadest coalition of Palestinian civil society organisations that leads the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.

Ten years of siege, two years since the 2014 Israeli massacre – it’s high time for accountability and for a two-way military embargo on Israel!

Two years ago today, Israel began a brutal military attack on Palestinians in Gaza in which more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and 100,000 people were displaced. Israel deliberately attacked entire civilian areas in Gaza and inflicted as much human suffering as it could.

The UN and human rights organisations have documented Israel’s war crimes during the massacre. Gaza has just entered its tenth year of siege, a policy described by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe as “incremental genocide.” The siege has almost entirely prevented meaningful reconstruction since the 2014 attack.

As Abdulrahman Abunahel, our coordinator in Gaza, puts it “One of my worries is that the longer Israel maintains its siege of the world’s largest open-air prison, the more the official international community adapts and accepts Israel’s gradual and deliberate reduction of Gaza into an uninhabitable prison camp where close to 2 million Palestinians face slow death.”

“But as a refugee living in Gaza, it is not enough to just call for the end to Israel’s siege. We need to keep growing our BDS campaigns until the Palestinian people can exercise our right to self-determination, including the right of refugees to return home.”

Israel is able to carry out its brutal military attacks and repress Palestinian popular resistance with impunity. As our Links that Kill fact sheet sets out, Israel is only able to do this because of the massive weapons trade and military cooperation, including research, it maintains with countries across the world.

Over the period 2009-2018, the US is providing military aid to Israel worth $30bn. EU arms exports to Israel during 2014 alone were worth over $1bn (mostly from Germany) and its armsimports from Israel reached a whopping $1.6 bn in 2015.

While India, Colombia and Brazil remain among the top importers of Israeli weapons, it has been recently revealed that Israel has supplied weapons that were used in committing crimes against humanity in Rwanda and South Sudan, among others.

Israel uses its criminal attacks on Palestinians to test its military technology and then exports its weapons as “field tested”. Up to 85% of Israel’s military industry production is exported and 60% of the world’s drones are manufactured by Israel.

Israel is not just oppressing Palestinians – it is exporting its ruthless model of securitization and militarized repression to the world. From the streets of Ferguson to the favelas of Rio to the borders of Fortress Europe, Israeli weapons and ruthless techniques are used to maintain oppression.

Our campaign for a two-way military embargo on Israel is growing. More than a dozen banks have divested from Elbit Systems over its role in Israel’s military violence, for example.

We just published a round-up of the impact and growth of the BDS movement so far in 2016.We’re inspired by the way our movement continues to grow and challenge international support for Israel’s crimes, despite Israel doing everything it can to attack and undermine our movement.

Please take a look at the round-up and consider sharing it with your family, friends and colleagues.

Thank you for your continued support for our nonviolent struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)  

❸ FROM  THE  US  NAVAL  WAR  COLLEGE  REVIEW
Israel’s positions on targeting law are consistent with mainstream contemporary state practice. While some of them may be controversial, they are generally reasonable and in great part closely aligned with those of the United States. In the few  cases  where  Israeli  practice  or  positions  diverge  from  those  of  the  United  States (or the authors), they nonetheless remain within the bounds of the broader contours of the LOAC. Differences can usually be attributed to the unique operational and strategic context in which Israel finds itself. Of particular note in this regard are the perception that the Israeli population is constantly at risk of attack and the understanding that IDF soldiers represent irresistible targets for abduction by its adversaries.  Merriam, John J., and Michael N. Schmitt. “Israeli Targeting.” Naval War College Review 68.4 (2015): 15-34.   FULL ARTICLE.

❹ RESPONSE  TO  MICHAEL  N.  SCHMITT  AND  JOHN  J.  MERRIAM:  ON  THE  TYRANNY  OF  CONTEXT
IntLawGrrls 
Noura Erakat
June 17, 2015
___. . . . The paper reads like an estimable apology on Israel’s behalf. That is because their findings lack the benefit of operational practice that would bear upon their legal conclusions.      FULL ARTICLE.