Remember the Pinochet case?
If your country has been taken over by commies, you need a Gus ...
His methods might be a little rough shod, but the job gets done!
Posted on 09/12/2005 3:28:35 PM PDT by SmithL
IDF generals should not visit England, Germany, Spain and several other European countries since they are in danger of being arrested and being put on trial for war crimes, international law experts warned Monday.
On Sunday, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog - former OC Southern Command - skipped arrest at Heathrow Airport in London after he was warned not to disembark from an El Al flight since British detectives were waiting to arrest him. The arrest warrant had been issued on Saturday by the Bow Street Magistrate's Court per the request of a pro-Palestinian Muslim group. The warrant, reportedly the first of its kind issued in Britain on charges of war crimes, alleged that Almog in 2002 had ordered the demolition of 59 Palestinian homes in Rafiah.
Almog expressed his regret that innocent people died as a result of IDF actions, but insisted that these were not war crimes. "Who are 'good'? Who are 'bad'? Who are the people who kill innocent civilians themselves [in acts of terror] and who are simply fighting to protect their homes?" Almog said.
Daniel Machover, the British lawyer spearheading the case against Almog is himself an Israeli, the son of British Jews who returned to England after the Six Day War. Machover insists that his case is not intended to "persecute" Israelis, but sees the prosecution as a mission for justice, Channel 2 reported.
"If an IDF officer goes to England today then there is a chance they will get arrested," said Irit Kahn - former head of the Justice Ministry's International Affairs Department. "It depends on the country and their laws. Britain has a wide universal legal system similar to Spain and Germany. While not all countries are like this, one needs to be careful."
Kahn, who represented Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his trial in Belgium in 2002, recommended the Israeli government launch negotiations with England over the threat of arrest looming over the heads of IDF generals.
"This is a problem that needs to be solved on a diplomatic level," she said. "I would recommend that Israel begin talking to England and that high-ranking soldiers refrain from traveling to England."
International law expert Prof. James Crawford said Israeli soldiers could only be tried for war crimes on specific events and not just for having served in the IDF.
"The mere fact that they served in Gaza does not make them war criminals," said Crawford a Cambridge Law Professor and the Palestinian Authority's counsel in hearings over the West Bank security fence at the International Court of Justice in The Hague last year. "You would need to show specific evidence of a crime within the jurisdiction of the English courts, e.g. torture or a war crime."
The Israeli occupation of Gaza, Crawford said, was not a war crime and serving there as the head of the military forces did not in itself constitute a crime. "Israel has the right to defend itself even in occupied territory," Crawford explained.
Crawford added that he was sure the British courts "would be sensitive about the abuses people might try to do with the law. Military personnel could only be charged for what they had done, not what some people might think they represent."
Almog meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after evading arrest in London. Minutes after landing, he recalled Monday, a stewardess conveyed to him a message from the captain asking him to wait on the plane. The military attach at the Israeli embassy arrived after a short time and following consultations with IDF Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avi Mandelblit, Almog decided to remain on board and to return to Israel immediately.
"After returning to Israel and reading about what they had prepared for me I know I made the right decision," Almog said adding that the State of Israel needs to fight for him and other IDF officers.
"This is not something I need to deal with but Israel does," he said. "My military service was not for me but for the State of Israel."
Look at the paradox," he continued. "On 9/11 I land in London and they try to arrest me the same person who fought terror more than anyone. I was the first soldier in Entebbe During my period there were 400 attempts to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza but they all failed since I created buffer zones by demolishing the homes [in Rafiah]."
Its a small step from Israeli Generals bulldozing terrorist nighborhoods, to American Generals in Iraq and Afghanistan..
I might expect this from Germany or France, but Britain?
Simple solution, give all military commanders diplomatic status when they travel.
This guy better start re-thinking his actions. If destroying a home is a war crime, than the entire British contingent in Iraq has commited war crimes as several houses have been blown up over the course of the war in the Basra area.
One can expect this type of nonsense from the Germans and French but not from the British.
Remember the Pinochet case?
If your country has been taken over by commies, you need a Gus ...
His methods might be a little rough shod, but the job gets done!
It might have been nice if the IDF had lured the British officers onto the El-Al plane, and arrested them, and detained them in Israel until such time as the Israel and the UK reached a diplomatic agreement that IDF officers are immune from seizure in the UK.
If he did the crime, then no matter whose side he is on he should do the time.
Everthing Israel does is called a crime by the terrorist-supporters.
Anything Israel does to defend itself is called a crime, but when palestinians fire rockets or carry out suicide bombings (which are directed at innocent civilians) then the leftists and euros call it "freedom fighting."
When are the appeasers ever going to learn? Israel should be taking more land not giving it away.
A very strange and dangerous precedent is being set.
Pinochet helped save his country from ruin and a Castro-style dictatorship. Read CHILE'S MARXIST EXPERIMENT by Robert Moss and Moss's chapter on Chile in THE COLLAPSE OF DEMOCRACY. Any reckoning with Pinochet and his men needs to take into account the dire threat Allende posed to that beautiful country.
It's pretty nauseating when you see that so many liberals are sympathetic to terrorists, but cast calumny on those who fight them. A terrorist is not a freedom fighter, and a dead terrorist is a martyr only to people who are, at best and put charitably, severely mixed up.
I agree. Personally I would have leveled "Palestine" long ago.
May G-d bless and keep this brave soldier who is fighting to keep Israel safe. The world has gone mad!
Makes me not want to leave the good ole' USA.
What nonsense! This is exactly why the US won't come close to participating in a World Court.
Every country has a limited right to protect its own citizens anywhere, but the USA needs jurisdiction to bring charges.
So now Britain is charging war crimes against Israeli generals, for crimes not committed in Britain and which did not involve (few if any) British citizens. Wow.
Hey, Tony, why not set your teacup down and charge some of those Sudanese officials with war crimes? Or do you only use these laws selectively?
FCS, you're fighting Muslims in Iraq and at home. How is it that you criminalize the Israelis for doing exactly the same thing you are?
The more I think about this the angrier I get, to the point that I find the whole deal virtually unbelieveable.
The Bible says the whole world will be against Jersusalem- and, it is.
..........................................
IDF general escapes arrest by London police's anti-terrorist unit
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.