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'Not a Crime' To Kill an Israeli Soldier, UN Official Says
Free Beacon ^ | December 21, 2023 | Philip Caldwell

Posted on 12/23/2023 10:06:18 AM PST by SunkenCiv

A United Nations official said in an interview last week that Palestinians who kill Israeli soldiers are not guilty of crimes because such killings are in line with their "right to resist," in the latest controversial comments by the anti-Israel official.

"If the Palestinians target civilian objects, they commit war crimes," said Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, in an interview on the podcast Makdisi Street. "If they target military objects, they do not commit war crimes—they are in line with acts of resistance."

Albanese went on to criticize "Western media" outlets that have condemned "every Palestinian action," including attacks on soldiers.

"The killing of soldiers—it's, I mean, frankly, it's a tragedy, but it's not a crime," Albanese said. "Instead, very often, when Palestinians manage to attack soldiers, they are portrayed as terrorists. And this is a misunderstanding that needs to be addressed."

...Albanese criticized Hamas's Oct. 7 attack because the terrorist fighters targeted Israeli civilians and took hostages. She said, however, that "an illegal act of the resistance doesn't delegitimize the resistance itself."

... Last month, Albanese said Hamas is "entitled to embrace resistance" and argued that, under international law, Israel has no right to self-defense against the terrorist group.

She denounced calls this month for Hamas to release its hostages, calling it an "unacceptable" act of "justifying and deflecting the attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli army in Gaza."

...Albanese last year distanced herself from a 2014 Facebook post in which she said the United States is "subjugated by the Jewish lobby."

(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Gaza; Hamas; Israel; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: facebook; francescaalbanese; freebeacon; gaza; hamas; idf; israel; makdisistreet; philipcaldwell; prohamas; propalestine; putinistas; unitednations; unrwa; untiednations; unwra; waronterror; whatsherfrnick
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To: SunkenCiv

It would be unlawful to put a US soldier on trial for doing his lawful duty.

The question is: is some civilian, say a German in Berlin in early 1945, guilty of a crime for say fighting Russians?

If the German civilian was fighting in an obvious manner, I would say no.

If the German civilian was fighting as a German soldier would fight, say as a sniper, I would say no.

Only by abusing civilian presentation should a resister be considered a criminal.

We would not want the IDF to shoot to kill a Palestinian in civilian garb after a mere quick hand movement.

IDF forces should be able to assume Palestinians who appear to be harmless civilians will act only as harmless civilians.


61 posted on 12/23/2023 11:23:57 AM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: SunkenCiv

His lips to God’s ears. May God be merciful and forgiving in righting this evil, and not count it against him. He seems to have enough already.


62 posted on 12/23/2023 11:27:03 AM PST by pops88 ( Helping usher the glory of God into Las Vegas)
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To: TalBlack

“Is it a crime to kill a UN official?”

I believe that such a killing during a conflict wherein the UN is acting as safeguarding force is formally stated to be a war crime.


63 posted on 12/23/2023 11:27:19 AM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: Brian Griffin

Yup, 1236 pages ... at least they put a detailed index in there (22-32)


64 posted on 12/23/2023 11:31:33 AM PST by canuck_conservative (NATO - keeping Europe free of Russian invaders for 74 years - you're welcome!)
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To: Brian Griffin

Yup on all counts.


65 posted on 12/23/2023 11:32:15 AM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: neverevergiveup

“Well, what about...”

That one gets tricky.

Technically doing so could be construed as a war crime. That’s how the Laws of War are drafted.

Which means ya better win because victors are never charged.


66 posted on 12/23/2023 11:35:04 AM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: neverevergiveup

Or I should have said victors are rarely charged.


67 posted on 12/23/2023 11:35:54 AM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: Brian Griffin

Yup


68 posted on 12/23/2023 11:38:14 AM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: piytar

My statement was regarding enemy combatants. My specific comment was “The killing of soldiers DURING A WAR is not a crime. Likewise, the killing of enemy combatants and the unintentional killing of civilians during a war, is not a crime.

The razor cuts both ways.”

Perhaps I should have used more specific language - the statement applies to BOTH sides.

Not sure how it got interpreted to mean anything about the “protections of the Laws of War”.


69 posted on 12/23/2023 11:42:35 AM PST by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
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To: SunkenCiv

This nazi beetch needs to be dropped into a hamas tunnel head first


70 posted on 12/23/2023 11:48:29 AM PST by Long Jon No Silver (Rrily)
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To: SunkenCiv

This woman is clueless: The Rules of War apply to uniformed and identifiable combatants of recognized nations. A bunch of bandana-wearing belligerents on scooters do NOT meet that definition.


71 posted on 12/23/2023 12:06:23 PM PST by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule. )
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To: taxcontrol

Maybe I misinterpreted,


72 posted on 12/23/2023 12:21:05 PM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: neverevergiveup

A few more points (more in an attempt to provide information to all, not necessarily directed toward you):

“Uniform” does not necessarily mean a full uniform. It means wearing some readily identifiable marking different from what civilians wear (again simplifying a ton).

A Palestinian keffiyeh (that scarf) does not count because civilians (including idiot leftists in the US) wear it. (Or maybe it does?)

Down side of wearing a uniform: other side knows who to shoot and is allowed to do so.

Up side: you are supposed to get the protection of the Laws of War. Such protections are supposed to include: it is not a war crime to fight, if captured you are supposed to get POW rights, your true civilians are not supposed to get indiscriminately killed (collateral damage of course occurs), the Geneva Convention is supposed to apply, etc. Oh yeah also you know who is on your side so you don’t shoot your own people.

Now Hamas is not doing that. They are trying to blend into the civilian population. They are also using civilians as human shields. That means any actions they take against Israeli soldiers are war crimes.

Compare and contrast:

(1) US Revolution: At least some of the militia actually did try to present identifiable markings at least so they’d know who was on their side. Also I never read anything where the militia used fellow (soon to be) Americans as human shields. Now the Laws of War as they exist today did not exist then but thought the point was worth noting.

(2) Israeli military: Need I say anything? They fully comply.

(3) Viet Cong: They did all the same things Hamas is doing. However, we withdrew aka lost. So no war crimes were prosecuted against them.

Again, all of this includes a lot of simplification and therefor some is not 100% accurate, but think at least some of the general points are valid.

PS I’m not a lawyer. I just study a lot of this stuff along with other military history. Yeah, I read most of the 1,200 pages of the DoD doc. Trying to share some knowledge I’ve picked up. Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

PPS That idiot from the original article was just plain WRONG.


73 posted on 12/23/2023 12:57:30 PM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
But they need to be in recognizable uniforms

Unless they’re a levee en masse - ie civilians massing to fight an invading force. To fight an occupying force they need to be in uniform……. It gets blurry when the battle moves from invasion to occupation.

In case anyone has forgotten - the palis refer to the Israelis as occupiers.

74 posted on 12/23/2023 2:03:14 PM PST by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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To: SunkenCiv

It’s not a crime to kill a crazed raghead cave ape

Fixed it


75 posted on 12/23/2023 2:11:10 PM PST by NWFree (Sigma male 🤪)
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To: Jim W N

We need to stay far away from the UN


76 posted on 12/23/2023 2:13:45 PM PST by Irish Eyes
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To: Irish Eyes

Even better, the UN needs to stay far away form us.

The federal government needs to stop using our hard-earned money to finance these quacks.


77 posted on 12/23/2023 2:29:22 PM PST by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: taxcontrol

War is a crime. Sanctioned Murder for a so called Higher purpose. New toll is 20,000 people in Gaza, 20 for each Israelis killed on October 7th. How many more must die?


78 posted on 12/23/2023 2:57:46 PM PST by Forward the Light Brigade ( Ride to the sound of the Guns!)
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To: ScaniaBoy

She should spend some time with the Palestinians in Gaza- I’m sure they will show her their “appreciation” for sticking up for them……


79 posted on 12/23/2023 3:14:51 PM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: SunkenCiv

Francesca Albanese?

Brain-fart Queen.


80 posted on 12/23/2023 3:22:47 PM PST by Eleutheria5 (Every Goliath has his David. Child in need of a CGM system. https://gofund.me/6452dbf1. )
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