Free Republic

Leftists are highly focused on the subject of proportionality in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Relying on dubious casualty statistics from within Gaza, they claim that Israel has gone beyond a “just war” into a “genocidal” war because they are not acting “proportionately.” This is a specious argument. Wars are ugly, but Israel is waging its war in the most humane way possible. Still, there is an entire industry of anti-Israel and anti-Western activists seeking to bind the good guys with rules guaranteed to stymie their success on the battlefield. One of Hamas’s most powerful weapons is the willingness that...

Author Douglas Murray has slammed an article labelling English novelist George Orwell as homophobic. “None of this stuff is at all unknown – George Orwell in human being, shocker!” he told Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi. “This is just an attempt to grab headlines by the author in question.” Mr Murray praised George Orwell for contributing some of the most important works of the 20th century, some of the most important journalism and some of the most important fiction. "Perhaps as a gay man, maybe I have some privilege to say this – I don’t give a damn that...

Asymmetrical conflicts are fought between a state following the laws of armed conflicts or international humanitarian law, and organizations that almost never follow these rules and have very little incentive to do so. While the Geneva Conventions and their protocols were framed in an era of “classic” military engagements, when wars were fought between nations and by armies that observed the rules of armed conflict, we should examine whether these norms are suited to modern armed conflicts. In practice there exist two very different approaches to the interpretation of the principle of proportionality: the human rights model, which gives preference...

Dateline: January 3rd 1944 Fury continues to mount worldwide about the senseless loss of civilian life in Germany caused by England's callous bombing of German cities including Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden. As of today many innocent German women and children have died in these utterly brutal bombing missions. And now there are ground offensives starting on mainland Europe. The English have claimed that they are merely retaliating against the V-1 flying bombs being launched indiscriminately by Nazis at their civilian population in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Coventry and other cities. The English point out that their enemy is sworn to...

The recent carnage in Gaza has left little doubt that within the tortured dynamic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both the chicken and the egg have completely and utterly lost their minds. Regardless of who's to blame for the origins of the conflict, shame on both Hamas and Israel for their recent violations of international law that have led to a humanitarian inferno in Gaza and southern Israel. Hamas is to be blamed for its sophomoric provocation of its neighbor's military wrath by firing missiles into southern Israel. Israel also should be condemned for its disproportionately inhumane onslaught in Gaza, which...

HBCUs Fail Title IX by: Don Irvine, February 29, 2008 Compliance with Title IX which can even be a struggle for some of the larger colleges and universities in the country is a particular problem for the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) according to a new study released this week by the College Sports Council. According to the study there are nearly 212,000 students enrolled at the nation’s HBCUs with 61% being female, meaning that on the average, to comply with Title IX, 61% of all the athletes at these schools should be female. When applying the proportionality...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Bodyguards for the Palestinian prime minister opened fire outside the Gaza City parliament building Monday, trying to clear the way for him through a group of unemployed workers, police said. At least one woman was hurt in the melee, police said. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of the Islamic militant Hamas, was approaching the building for a Cabinet meeting when he was blocked by the protesters, police said. His bodyguards then opened fire to disperse the crowd, police said. Reporters heard the gunfire and saw a woman being taken away by ambulance.

"Disproportion" is the concept of the moment. Do you know how to play? Let's say 150 missiles are lobbed at northern Israel from the Lebanese village of Qana and the Israelis respond with missiles of their own that kill 28 people. Whoa, man, that's way "disproportionate." But let's say you're a northwestern American municipality -- Seattle, for example -- and you haven't lobbed missiles at anybody, but a Muslim male shows up anyway and shoots six Jewish women, one of whom tries to flee up the stairs, but he spots her, leans over the railing, fires again and kills her....

Was the Israeli strike at Qana village a disproportionate military response? According to International Law, not necessary The Israeli strike at Qana village resulted in a humanitarian disaster. The sight of the bodies of dead children is truly unbearable. Does this dreadful tragedy indicate "disproportionate" military response and exaggerated use of power by Israeli forces? Not necessarily. The International Humanitarian Law is becoming consistently irrelevant for the purpose of global combating terrorism. It deals with the laws of war between nations, not with terror organizations or individual terrorists who hide among civil population. It is impossible, therefore, to implement the...