| ID | 095429 |
| Title Proper | Fearful asymmetry |
| Other Title Information | reading the goldstone report |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Traub, James |
| Publication | 2010. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In the first minutes of Israel's assault on Gaza on December 27, 2008, F-16s fired missiles into the police headquarters and three police stations, killing ninety-nine policemen (and nine civilians). Israel viewed Gaza's police as an ancillary wing of Hamas, the political and military force which governs Gaza, to be mobilized as soldiers in times of war. The wave of attacks thus constituted a preemptive strike at Hamas's military infrastructure. Israeli strikes would kill a total of 248 members of Gaza's police force in the course of the Cast Lead operation. But these men were, in fact, policemen; had Israel not invaded Gaza that day, many would have gone off to direct traffic and do the other things police officers do elsewhere. Were they civilians or were they combatants? The report of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report (after Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who served as chief investigator), concluded that the attack on the police stations violated principles of international humanitarian law, which require those who wage war to minimize harm to civilians. The report cites the attack as only one of many instances where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may have committed war crimes. |
| `In' analytical Note | World Affairs US Vol. 172, No. 4; Mar-Apr 2010: p28-37 |
| Journal Source | World Affairs US Vol. 172, No. 4; Mar-Apr 2010: p28-37 |
| Key Words | Asymmetry ; Goldstone Report ; Gaza ; Human Right ; Israel |