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Jan. 20th, 2009 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamer_easyETA: Forgot to link to the piece in question, which is an op-ed (a blog, an opinion column), rather than the paper's editorial. Here it is: Defining war crimes.
Here's an example of what drives me slightly crazy about the Middle East conflict. It's a 19 January editorial from the Jerusalem Post, which says in part:
Closely related to this tactic is the oft-heard cry of "Feminists / Amnesty International / you / etc condemn X, but don't condemn Y!" This is merely another way of shifting the spotlight - this time to your mum in the front seat, rather than to your kid brother in the back. Not only is it irrelevant, but long experience has shown me that it's almost never true: the person making the claim neither knows nor cares what NOW or HRW or whomever have had to say on the subject. Since it hasn't been spooned into their mouths by whatever section of the media they follow, it didn't happen.
The existence of Google only makes this disingenous laziness even less excusable: search for hamas "war crimes", and just the first page of results includes "Hamas' war crimes" (LA Times, 10 Jan) and Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes (Human Rights Watch, June 2007, commenting on "serious violations of international humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes").
IMHO it's perfectly reasonable to point out that both sides are guilty of behaviour which may amount to war crimes. It's not reasonable to refuse to take responsibility for your own side's behaviour by ignoring it, by saying the other guy does it too so that makes it OK, or by whinging that everyone is hypocritical and unfair and mean. (The latter is only the more annoying when it comes from the enormously more powerful side in any conflict.)
In short: don't make me turn this car around.
Here's an example of what drives me slightly crazy about the Middle East conflict. It's a 19 January editorial from the Jerusalem Post, which says in part:
"The coupling of 'war crime' and Israel is not new, and indeed much of the international media and foreign leadership favors using the term to describe Israel's current offensive operations in the Gaza Strip. Based on the above definition of war crime, one must then ask why the international community and the international press refrain from calling Hamas's actions against Israel--war crimes."When I was a fire-breathing feminist on Usenet, we called this shifting the spotlight. If someone brings up the subject of wife beating, start talking about child abuse. Similarly, the editorial makes no attempt to address the question of whether Israel is committing war crimes. Instead, it turns to what is apparently the stock response from too many of of Israel's supporters: never mind what we're doing, look what they're doing. For heaven's sake, you wouldn't accept this excuse from a child.
Closely related to this tactic is the oft-heard cry of "Feminists / Amnesty International / you / etc condemn X, but don't condemn Y!" This is merely another way of shifting the spotlight - this time to your mum in the front seat, rather than to your kid brother in the back. Not only is it irrelevant, but long experience has shown me that it's almost never true: the person making the claim neither knows nor cares what NOW or HRW or whomever have had to say on the subject. Since it hasn't been spooned into their mouths by whatever section of the media they follow, it didn't happen.
The existence of Google only makes this disingenous laziness even less excusable: search for hamas "war crimes", and just the first page of results includes "Hamas' war crimes" (LA Times, 10 Jan) and Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes (Human Rights Watch, June 2007, commenting on "serious violations of international humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes").
IMHO it's perfectly reasonable to point out that both sides are guilty of behaviour which may amount to war crimes. It's not reasonable to refuse to take responsibility for your own side's behaviour by ignoring it, by saying the other guy does it too so that makes it OK, or by whinging that everyone is hypocritical and unfair and mean. (The latter is only the more annoying when it comes from the enormously more powerful side in any conflict.)
In short: don't make me turn this car around.
