Hamas used children to help them dig numerous tunnels into Israel and
Egypt, a 2012 paper written for the Journal of Palestine Studies reported.
The paper, titled Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of
Israel's Siege says that little had been done to stop the phenomenon of
child labor during the digging of the tunnels by Hamas in Gaza.
In December 2011, the paper's author Nicolas Pelham accompanied a police
patrol in Gaza and reported that "nothing was done to impede the use of
children in the tunnels, where, much as in Victorian coal mines, they are
prized for their nimble bodies."
He continued and said that "at least 160 children have been killed in the
tunnels, according to Hamas officials."
Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge 21 days ago, IDF forces
have uncovered 31 tunnels leading into Israel.
More than 1,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, have been killed
during the offensive.
Originally posted by Seitse [i]Hamas used children to help them dig numerous tunnels into Israel and
Egypt, a 2012 paper written for the Journal of Palestine Studies reported.
The paper, titled Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of
Israel's Siege says that little had been done to stop the phenomenon of
child labor during the digging of the tunnels by Hamas in Gaz ...[text shortened]... the above is not relevant and shall be ignored if finnegan
and his minion, dutchress69, say so.
they aren't defending hamas, you douche, they are defending the right of the palestinian people to not be bombed. they are defending their right to a country of their own.
Originally posted by Zahlanzi they aren't defending hamas, you douche, they are defending the right of the palestinian people to not be bombed. they are defending their right to a country of their own.
They Do not have a right to a country of their own. Jordan is the country for them.
Originally posted by Zahlanzi they aren't defending hamas, you douche, they are defending the right of the palestinian people to not be bombed. they are defending their right to a country of their own.
He continued and said that "at least 160 children have been killed in the
tunnels, according to Hamas officials."
The conditions under which these unfortunate children live and under which it appears they have died are disgraceful. I do not support Hamas and clearly they do not share my humanitarian values in the manner of their operations. The sacrifices to be made in war are not to be willingly imposed on the shoulders of children. But it is worth recalling that for those children, the alternatives to working in the mines - and presumably feeling that they have value - are not enticing ones. Life in Gaza has been reduced to brutality by the Israeli imposed blockade, preceded as SH76 so carefully reminded us by an embargo, which is quite different despite being much the same. Child labour and dangerous working conditions are the direct products of poverty and economic blockade. The occupying power has the resources to improve and remedy these conditions, both directly and by channelling the international aid that is available but which the Israelis prevent from reaching the people.
More than 1,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, have been killed during the offensive.
Actually, more than 1,3000 have now been listed and the number grows every hour. Killing so many more children by targeting civilians with sophisticated weapons funded by American taxpayers suggests that Israel and the IDF entirely discount the humanity of children in Gaza. Certainly Seitse has dehumanized the Palestinians in Gaza and in the process displays no evidence of compassion in himself. I am not sure why he is such a damaged and inhumane being. It seems he thinks he sounds impressive when he seems to anyone sane to have slipped his mental moorings some time back. Some of his posts ought to be removed from the site if it had any decency but that is not my decision to make.
The scale of Gaza's humanitarian crisis has alarmed human rights organisations. Last week, Israeli NGOs warned that more than half of Gaza's 1.8 million people were now affected by a lack of adequate access to water and sanitation services, with raw sewage spilling on to the streets from damaged pipes. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are without power. Hundreds of thousands more face severe shortages.
Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel have been disabled, some by Hamas rocket fire. Maintenance crews have been unable to reach them to carry out repairs. Refrigeration and hospital services that are close to breaking point will also suffer. Civilian suffering looks set to boost international anger over the crisis. "No power, no water, no hope," tweeted the film star Mia Farrow. "Poor, poor Gaza and it's people."
If the power station attack was deliberate it may signal the application of the so-called "Dahiya doctrine" – the idea that Israel will use its overwhelming technology and firepower to destroy far more than strictly military targets. If it was accidental it will likely raise new questions about Israel's claims to be accurate in its targeting.
The concept is named after the southern suburbs of Beirut, (Dahiya in Arabic) where Hezbollah has its strongholds, hit by intensive Israel bombing in the 2006 war as the militant Lebanese Shia organisation fired rockets into Israel. The idea is to use disproportionate force to damage civilian property and infrastructure in the hope of undermining popular support for the armed group in control of the area. Haaretz's military correspondent Amos Harel was reminded of the Lebanese example as he surveyed the devastation in the Gaza suburb of Shujaiyeh, at the weekend.
In the past, influential Israeli politicians have called for power to Gaza to be shut off. Zeev Elkin, chairman of the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee, asked Binyamin Netanyahu, about cutting off water and electricity from Israel into the strip. Netanyahu responded that government legal advisers would not permit that. The issue has also come before Israel's high court. Israel did however target the Gaza power plant in 2006 and in 2009 and hit a Lebanese plant in the 2006 war.
Gaza produces a lot of its own food and staples are allowed in despite the overall blockade. But shortages are growing as residents try to stock up during lulls in the fighting and farms on the eastern edge of the strip have become inaccessible. Stocks have come under pressure with the end of Ramadan and this week's Eid holiday. Banks are closed. Cash is in short supply.
Three weeks of combat have also restricted the number of trucks entering Gaza from Israel. According to Gisha, an NGO that monitors access, an average of 81 truckloads have entered Gaza per day compared to 194 a day in June, – a 58% decrease. Israel has limited the inflow of types of permitted goods to food, medicine and fuel, along with humanitarian supplies.
The World Food Programme says more than 115,000 people in Gaza are in urgent need of food assistance. It has reached more than 100,000 with emergency rations since the crisis started but is running low on stocks of ready-to-eat food.
No. We do not have to excuse Hamas for their use of children. Even if it was unavoidable and ethically justified in the circumstances, which I think I fairly considered in my own comment above, and which I doubt, I am not convinced that the adults supervising their tunnelling work could do no more to make their conditions safe.
This can be criticized as long as it is then placed in a fair balance against what the Israelis are doing to the children of Gaza, which is vastly more harmful and vastly less excusable. As the occupying power, it is Israel that has the full responsibility of securing the human rights of these children, if need be through appropriate and legal police work. Gaza, remember, is a tiny enclave entirely under Israeli supervision. If these children were safe, housed, fed and in education, all of which are basic human rights of which they are deprived by Israel, then perhaps there would be a prospect of a more humane future for them and for Israel.
As the occupying power of the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Territories more broadly, Israel has an obligation and a duty to protect the civilians under its occupation. It governs by military and law enforcement authority to maintain order, protect itself and protect the civilian population under its occupation. It cannot simultaneously occupy the territory, thus usurping the self-governing powers that would otherwise belong to Palestinians, and declare war upon them. These contradictory policies (occupying a land and then declaring war on it) make the Palestinian population doubly vulnerable.
The precarious and unstable conditions in the Gaza Strip from which Palestinians suffer are Israel's responsibility. Israel argues that it can invoke the right to self-defense under international law as defined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. The International Court of Justice, however, rejected this faulty legal interpretation in its 2004 Advisory Opinion. The ICJ explained that an armed attack that would trigger Article 51 must be attributable to a sovereign state, but the armed attacks by Palestinians emerge from within Israel's jurisdictional control. Israel does have the right to defend itself against rocket attacks, but it must do so in accordance with occupation law and not other laws of war. Occupation law ensures greater protection for the civilian population. The other laws of war balance military advantage and civilian suffering. The statement that "no country would tolerate rocket fire from a neighboring country" is therefore both a diversion and baseless.
Israel denies Palestinians the right to govern and protect themselves, while simultaneously invoking the right to self-defense. This is a conundrum and a violation of international law, one that Israel deliberately created to evade accountability.
Originally posted by Seitse HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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awesome debating. i like how you defended your position with solid arguments and then went on to make a counterpoint.
At least 160 children died digging tunnels for Hamas
30 Jul '14 13:081 edit
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