Yesterday, Hamas committed approximately 80 war crimes against Israel. Each and every rocket and mortar attack constitutes, under the rules of conflict that forbid intentionally targeting civilians, a war crime and a human rights violation. Meanwhile, the Hamas parliament approved Sharia punishments for Palestinians:
[Palestinian courts] will be able to condemn offenders to a plethora of violent punitive measures in line with Sharia Law.
Such punishments include whipping, severing hands, crucifixion and hanging. The bill reserves death sentences to people who negotiate with a foreign government “against Palestinian interests” and engage in any activity that can “hurt Palestinian morale.”
According to the report, any Palestinian caught drinking or selling wine would suffer 40 lashes at the whipping post if the bill passes. Thieves caught red-handed would lose their right hand.
Groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are famous for their obsessive coverage of Israel and the Palestinians; and it is clear that in both its foreign and domestic policies Hamas is gratuitously abusing human rights. So I visited the HRW and AI websites, hoping to see some of their self-congratulatory moral indignation sent Hamas’ way. There is none to be found.
This is not the least bit surprising, but it is nonetheless worth noting, as if more evidence was needed to illustrate the utter bankruptcy of the leading human-rights hustlers. As the IDF prepares to strike back at Hamas, I predict that in the coming weeks we will hear quite a bit from HRW and AI — but the reports will not be about Hamas’ abuse of Palestinians or its war on Israeli civilians. The reports will instead deploy moral micrometers with which to measure the alleged imperfections of Israeli self-defense.
As we prepare to be bombarded with another round of tendentious indignation, it is worth recalling two devastating pieces published in the wake of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war: “Human Rights Watch vs. Human Rights” by Joshua Muravchik, and “What Are They Watching?” by Alan Dershowitz.
