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21-The Myth of Human Shields

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

During the Israeli war on one of the mostly densely populated palaces on earth and with no escape or exit : Gaza, Western media propagated Israeli propaganda that the Palestinian resistance have been using their own family members as human shields. Sadly, Israeli propaganda is often presented in Western media as facts, and the Israeli version has been accepted with little verification. The goal is simple: dehumanise the Palestinians by showing that they don’t not care about their family members, and once that is done , it becomes much easier to accept them as legitimate targets. This dehumanizing campaign is as old as the Zionist movement; it was articulated by Golda Meir (a former Israeli Prime Minister) when she said: Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us. This racist and derogatory comment is often propagated in Western media without a second thought to its dehumanizing consequences. It paints the Arab as a sub-human creature, who has neither affection nor love towards his or her child.

To this date, the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) still refuses to comply with orders from the Israeli Supreme Court to stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields. {{{http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4333982.stm}}}

If the IOF is a “professional army” as it claims and it treats Palestinians according to International Law, then: I wonder why Israel’s highest court would issue such an order? I wonder why IOF refuses to stop using Palestinians as human shields?

Minor examples of the the use of Palestinian human shields by the Israeli army :

-Israeli Army continues to use Palestinian civilians as human shields By Josef Federman , associated press writer:

The young Palestinian man was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt on a cold winter morning as he walked in front of heavily armed Israeli soldiers on a door-to door sweep of three apartments in a crowded West Bank neighborhood. The scene caught by an Associated Press Television News camera has raised questions about whether the Israeli army is still using Palestinian civilians during military operations, despite a Supreme Court order barring the practice. Human rights groups call the tactic a violation of local and international law that places innocent civilians in the line of fire. In its initial reaction to the footage, the Israel Defense Forces said there appeared to be no wrongdoing by its soldiers. In a statement, however, the army pledged it would “pursue a thorough inquiry” into the case. The incident occurred Sunday in Nablus, where the army has been conducting broad arrest raids throughout the week. The army says most suicide bombings over the past year, including an attempted attack last week, have originated in the Nablus area.

In the AP video, the young Palestinian man is seen leading soldiers to the door of a home. He stands outside as troops move in, then leads the soldiers up some stairs to the apartment’s main entrance. The man enters the home ahead of the soldiers. Gunshots are heard as several soldiers stand guard outside. The man then leaves the home, walks down the stairs and escorts the soldiers around the side of the building, where m he said he led soldiers into two more apartments out of view of the cameras. Later, he is seen on the footage being led down stairs with several suspects. He and the other men are all placed into a military vehicle. In interviews with the AP, the Palestinian man, Sameh Amira, 24, said he was awakened at about 5 a.m. by soldiers and ordered to go with his family to a neighboring home. About an hour later, he said he was forced to lead troops into three apartments, including his own. He said he was not allowed to put on warmer clothes. “They asked me to walk in front of them against my will,” he said, adding that he was occasionally prodded along at gunpoint. Inside his home, he said soldiers opened fire at bedroom closets. “All the time, I was scared, terrified. Anything could happen,” he told the AP, pointing to bullet holes in the floor, closet doors and clothing in the closets.

Amira, who said he was released from army custody after several hours, said he is not a member of any Palestinian armed group, though he said he has a cousin who belongs to the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which has carried out numerous attacks on Israelis. He also said he was jailed by Israel for more than three months, but never charged with a crime. His cousin, the apparent target of the raid, is in hiding, he said. International law, including the Geneva Conventions and Hague regulations, prohibit placing civilians in harm’s way during military operations.

In its 2005 ruling, the Israeli Supreme Court barred the use of civilians in arrest operations, even if they volunteer to help. The court specifically banned using neighbors to knock on doors of houses with suspected militants. The ruling rejected the army’s assertion that the tactic of having civilians knock on their neighbors’ doors and warn them of an impending raid actually protected civilians by encouraging them to leave their homes. The army also contended the practice spurred militants to surrender peacefully.

Israeli military practices became an issue in the spring of 2002, when the army carried out a major offensive in the West m Bank in response to suicide bombings by Palestinian militants. During arrest raids, soldiers would sometimes force Palestinian civilians to approach the homes and hideouts of wanted people.

In August 2002, a 19-year-old Palestinian student, Nidal Daraghmeh, was killed in such an incident in the West Bank town of Tubas. At the time, troops called Daraghmeh out of his house and forced him to knock at the door of a neighboring building where a senior Hamas fugitive was hiding. Gunfire erupted and Daraghmeh was killed. The Hamas fugitive later died in a shootout with soldiers. After the AP footage of the Nablus incident was broadcast on Israeli TV earlier this week, B’Tselem, a leading human rights group, sent a letter to the army requesting an investigation. “As you know, no doubt, the Supreme Court has prohibited any use of human shields in any possible form,” the letter said, adding that it was the fourth time the rights group has complained to the army about the practice.

Jessica Montell, B’Tselem’s executive director, said “the video raises serious concerns that the army is violating the high court judgment and forcing a Palestinian to … illegally take part in the military’s operations.”

She added, however, that known violations have been rare since the 2005 court order.

While the army declined to comment on the video beyond its statement, a military official said the army has carefully obeyed the Supreme Court ruling and would launch a criminal investigation into suspected violations. The official, who was not allowed to be identified under military rules, said he had not seen the video. Yaacov Amidror, a retired general who is a security specialist at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said the use of civilians in arrest raids remains the best way to protect soldiers and innocent people. “The procedure is the most moral and logical thing in the world,” he said. The court’s ban, he said, “seems liberal, but is in fact a bad decision for the residents of the house and for other civilians nearby.” Addressing the issue of Amira being taken to his own home by the soldiers, Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman for B’Tselem, said the issue is “danger to the m civilian,” not which apartment he is sent to by soldiers, even his own.

– In a military operation taking place in Balata Refugee Camp (Nablus, Occupied Palestine), IOF troops forced two youngsters to serve as human shields. A filmmaker from RJI caught the scene and other shots of the military operation and home demolition on tape.

In its 2005 ruling, the Israeli Supreme Court barred the use of civilians in arrest operations, even if they volunteer to help. The court specifically banned using neighbors to knock on doors of houses with suspected militants. The ruling rejected the army’s assertion that the tactic of having civilians knock on their neighbors’ doors and warn them of an impending raid actually protected civilians by encouraging them to leave their homes. The army also contended the practice spurred militants to surrender peacefully. Israeli military practices became an issue in the spring of 2002, when the army carried out a major offensive in the West m Bank in response to suicide bombings by Palestinian militants. During arrest raids, soldiers would sometimes force Palestinian civilians to approach the homes and hideouts of wanted people. In August 2002, a 19-year-old Palestinian student, Nidal Daraghmeh, was killed in such an incident in the West Bank town of Tubas. At the time, troops called Daraghmeh out of his house and forced him to knock at the door of a neighboring building where a senior Hamas fugitive was hiding. Gunfire erupted and Daraghmeh was killed. The Hamas fugitive later died in a shootout with soldiers. After the AP footage of the Nablus incident was broadcast on Israeli TV earlier this week, B’Tselem, a leading human rights group, sent a letter to the army requesting an investigation. “As you know, no doubt, the Supreme Court has prohibited any use of human shields in any possible form,” the letter said, adding that it was the fourth time the rights group has complained to the army about the practice. Jessica Montell, B’Tselem’s executive director, said “the video raises serious concerns that the army is violating the high court judgment and forcing a Palestinian to … illegally take part in the military’s operations.” She added, however, that known violations have been rare since the 2005 court order. While the army declined to comment on the video beyond its statement, a military official said the army has carefully obeyed the Supreme Court ruling and would launch a criminal investigation into suspected violations. The official, who was not allowed to be identified under military rules, said he had not seen the video. Yaacov Amidror, a retired general who is a security specialist at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said the use of civilians in arrest raids remains the best way to protect soldiers and innocent people. “The procedure is the most moral and logical thing in the world,” he said. The court’s ban, he said, “seems liberal, but is in fact a bad decision for the residents of the house and for other civilians nearby.” Addressing the issue of Amira being taken to his own home by the soldiers, Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman for B’Tselem, said the issue is “danger to the m civilian,” not which apartment he is sent to by soldiers, even his own. – In a military operation taking place in Balata Refugee Camp (Nablus, Occupied Palestine), IOF troops forced two youngsters to serve as human shields. A filmmaker from RJI caught the scene and other shots of the military operation and home demolition on tape.

–Israeli forces use Palestinian child as human shield in Gaza

-Human shield’ dies as Hamas man is killed by troops by Ha’aretz (Israeli media):

Despite state promises to the High Court of Justice that the Israel Defense Forces would cease using “human shields” during operations, a 19-year-old teenager was killed yesterday when a Border Patrol counter terrorism force moved in on a house in the Jenin area where a wanted Hamas man was hiding.

Nasser Jerar, who lost his legs and an arm a year ago during preparations of a terrorist attack,was one of the most wanted men on the IDF’s suspect list as the orchestrator of many Hamas attacks; most recently, he was the mastermind behind a plot to bring down a multi-story building in Tel Aviv.

Shin Bet information led the counter-terror unit to the village of Tubas in the pre-dawn hours yesterday, where Jerar was believed hiding in a building complex. The force surrounded the complex and called out with megaphones for Jerar to give himself up. When there was no response, the force took neighbor Nidal Abu Muhsein, the 19-year-old nephew of a B’Tselem field investigator, and had him go door-to-door calling on the residents to leave. In May, the state responded to several petitions to the High Court by human rights groups petitioning against the use of such “human shields” in military operations. In the state’s response, the army promised it would cease the use of the method, often used by the army to examine suspicious objects or move through areas suspected of being mined.

The youth knocked on several doors, calling on people to leave. They all did, but not in the case of one house. When Muhsein knocked on that door, said the IDF, a burst of bullets killed him. Tubas residents said the bullets did not come from inside the house.

In any case, troops opened fire, but unsure whether Jerar had been killed, and suspecting he may have booby-trapped the house, the army called in a bulldozer, which proceeded to knock down the house on Jerar.

Jerar, 44, was born in Wadi Burkin, in the northern West Bank, and was one of the Hamas military commanders in the Nablus and Jenin area, orchestrating many terrorist attacks carried out inside Israel over the past few years. Until year ago, he took part in many of those attacks, but in May 2001, on his way to ambush IDF forces, one of the bombs he had prepared blew up, taking his legs and an arm. Confined to a wheelchair, he continued playing a leading role in Hamas military activities in the Jenin area, becoming commander of the Hamas cells of the northern West Bank.

Based on information from various associates of his captured during the past several months, the Shin Bet discovered his hiding place – and the fact he was plotting a “mega-terror” type bombing: the collapse of a multi-story building in the center of the country. He had already collected intelligence on the operation, and recruited the operatives and was building the bomb for the mission. For Palestinians , Jerar is a brave freedom fighter who fought the occupation and died for his land.

The use of a “human shield” yesterday is likely to prompt new petitions to the High Court, which on the basis of the IDF promise in May did not issue a verdict on the issue. Inside the ä IDF there are senior officers who are vehemently opposed to the use of human shields, saying that it is better to risk the military force than innocent people.

The IDF Spokeswoman’s Office dryly reported the use of the neighbor, saying that the force surrounding the house used the Megaphone to tell the occupants a neighbor was approaching, and that Muhsein was shot by the terrorists inside the house.

-It has been an Israeli strategy from the start to use civilian targets as a strategic weapon.

Israeli leaders assume this would cause the civilian population to pressure Arab leaders to submit to Israel. Sadly, this Israeli tactic has been historically effective with the corrupt and unpopular Arab leaders who are more interested in protecting their corrupt regimes than defending their countries. The “Grape of Wrath” agreement between Hizbullah and Israel in 1996 which restricted both sides from hitting civilian targets. This agreement signaled the end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon, and as a result, a new era in the Arab Israeli conflict have begun where Israel’s deterrence power suffered a major setback. It should be noted that Israel has been determined not to fall into this trap again; that would explain why Israel rejected signing similar agreements with Hamas. The allegation that Palestinian resistance use their own family members as human shield has been concocted by Zionists to delegitimise any Palestinian resistance, and to deflect from the war crimes that are being perpetrated on the people of Gaza. Palestinians are no different than other colonized people; they’re simply defending their homeland from foreign aggression.

-Amnesty International, for its part, did not find evidence that Hamas or other Palestinian groups violated the laws of war to the extent repeatedly alleged by Israel. In particular, it found no evidence that Hamas or other fighters directed the movement of civilians to shield military objectives from attacks. By contrast, Amnesty International did find that Israeli forces on several occasions during Operation “Cast Lead” forced Palestinian civilians to serve as “human shields”. In any event, international humanitarian law makes clear that use of “human shields” by one party does not release the attacking party from its legal obligations with respect to civilians. Amnesty International delegates interviewed many Palestinians who complained about Hamas’ conduct, and especially about Hamas’ repression and attacks against their opponents, including killings, torture and arbitrary detentions,but did not receive any accounts of Hamas fighters having used them as “human shields”. In the cases investigated by Amnesty International of civilians killed in Israeli attacks, the deaths could not be explained as resulting from the presence of fighters shielding among civilians, as the Israel army generally contends.In all of the cases investigated by Amnesty International of families killed when their homes were bombed from the air by Israeli forces, for example, none of the houses struck was being used by armed groups for military activities. Similarly, in the cases of precision missiles or tank shells which killed civilians in their homes, no fighters were present in the houses that were struck and Amnesty International delegates found no indication that there had been any armed confrontations or other military activity in the immediate vicinity at the time of the attack.

While the presence of Hamas and other fighters and weapons within civilian areas is not contested, this in itself is not conclusive evidence of intent to use civilians as “human shields”. The presence of weapons in residential areas is likely, for instance, to be more the result of a growing gun culture in Gaza ( same in WB or Texas ) and the increasing internal tensions between Palestinian factions, which have led Hamas and Fatah, as well as some other groups, to keep weapons supplies close at hand to fight each other in recent years. The close proximity of the military and weapons to civilian areas is also not unusual in Israel. The headquarters of the Israeli army is in a densely populated area of central Tel Aviv. In Ashkelon, Sderot, Bersheva and other towns in the south of Israel, as well as elsewhere in the country, military bases and other installations are located in or around residential areas, including kibbutzim and villages. (In other words , they also fire from nearby civilian areas and are present around it , so why the hypocrisy? ) Additionally, Gaza is one of the mostly densely populated areas in the world , hamas would probably store their weapons in civilian built up buildings cause it would be illogical for a city state with no Air Force, to put them in a warehouse with a big red X on top. Israel has the luxury of storing these items in military bases, while Hamas does not. They are not going to put a big a red mark on all their military apparatus given they have no Air Force. During Operation “Cast Lead” there were more Israeli military positions and activities than usual close to civilian areas in the south of Israel, and Israeli forces launched daily artillery and other attacks into Gaza from these areas along Gaza’s perimeter.

Source : Amnesty International , it is a neutral global movement of more than 10 million people in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end abuses of human rights.

Read full article here

–Euro-mid observer for human rights : This report presents documented cases of Palestinian civilians used as human shields by Israeli military forces during the 50-day conflict in the Gaza Strip, 8 July-26 August, 2014(Operation protective edge). It also discusses Israeli claims that Palestinian armed factions used their own civilians as human shields. After interviewing Palestinians who reported being used as shields by Israeli forces, and documenting the testimonies of additional eyewitnesses, EuroMid Observer concluded that the Israeli army committed this violation of international law in at least six cases in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. These civilians were held against their will for hours or days to protect Israeli soldiers from fire, and in the meantime were subjected to inhumane and abusive treatment such as beating, humiliation and exposure to the hot sun while naked for long periods of time. Israeli authorities deny using Palestinian civilians as human shields. However, the testimonies documented by Euro-Mid prove the lie. Moreover, it seems that using Palestinian civilians as human shields is an Israeli policy, since other, similar cases have been documented in the West Bank. In contrast, the Euro-Mid team did not find any evidence of Palestinians who were forced to stay in their homes or to use their bodies for the protection for Palestinian resistance factions. Likewise, the Israeli army did not provide any evidence to substantiate their accusations. Moreover, the UN’s Goldstone Report issued following Operation Cast Lead in 2009 exonerated Palestinian armed factions from previous claims by Israeli forces that Palestinians used their own people as human shields. ** The use of human shields is a form of cruel and inhumane treatment, and constitutes a flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law and a war crime according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights calls on Israels military prosecutors to carry out a serious and reliable investigation of the cases discussed in this report, and to hold the individuals found guilty to account. Euro-Mid also calls on the Fact Finding Committee on the Gaza Conflict recently established by the UN Human Rights Council to make every effort to focus international attention and pressure on all parties found to be guilty of this crime. Euro-Mid observer/Euro-Med HRM is an independent, nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights.Its main objective is to raise the level of awareness toward the human rights law in the area and to influence the international law to take action against human rights violators.

Other quotes than those previously mentioned in the corner from Israeli leaders legitimizing targeting civilians:

-in the war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, the Israeli chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said to the New York Times that he wanted to deliver : “a clear message to both greater Beirut and Lebanon that they’ve swallowed a cancer and have to vomit it up, because if they don’t their country will pay a very high price.” {{{NYTimes July 15th, 2006}}}

-Moshe Dayan (a former Israeli Defense Minister) wrote in the 1955 regarding the collective punishments imposed on Palestinian civilian population by the Israeli Army: “The only method that proved effective, not justified or moral but effective, when Arabs plant mines on our side [in retaliation]. If we try to search for the [particular] Arab [who planted mines], it has not value. But if we harass the nearby village . . . then the population there comes out against the [infiltrators] . . . and the Egyptian Government and the Transjordan Government are [driven] to prevent such incidents because their prestige is [assailed], as the Jews have opened fire, and they are unready to begin a war . . . the method of collective punishment so far has proved effective.” {{{Righteous Victims, p. 275-276}}}

-And in the 1950s Dayan also stated on the same subject : “We could not guard every water pipeline from being blown up and every tree from being uprooted. We could not prevent every murder of a worker in an orchard or a family in their beds. But it was in our power to set high price for our blood, a price too high for the [Palestinian] Arab community, the Arab army, or the Arab governments to think it worth paying. . . . It was in our power to cause the Arab governments to renounce ‘the policy of strength’ toward Israel by turning it into a demonstration of weakness.” {{{Iron Wall, p. 103}}} The “too high” of a price Dayan is referring to is the collective punishment such as house demolition, uprooting trees,..etc

Read more about the subject here

We have also have other documents that conclusively prove the use of the Israeli army of Palestinians and especially the children as human shields : 1) Use of Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields in Violation of High Court of Justice Order By B`TSELEM : It’s proven in this report that for a long time, the IDF has been using Palestinians as human shields and ordering them to carry out military tasks that pose a threat to their lives. In implementing this policy, Palestinian civilians have been forced to carry out tasks such as removing suspicious objects from roads, ordering people to leave their homes to be arrested by the IDF, and standing in front of soldiers who were fi ring from behind them. These tasks were forced upon civilians who were chosen at random and could not refuse the orders given to them by armed soldiers. B’Tselem is an Israeli Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied territories, combat denial of the existence of such violations, and help to create a human rights culture in Israel. 2) Recruitment and Use of Palestinian Children in Armed Conflict By Defense for children international(DCI): The key findings here are : -In 16 out of the 17 cases involving the use of Palestinian children as human shields, the event occurred after a ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice declared the practice illegal under domestic law. This would suggest that the Israeli army is either ignoring the court’s judgment, or not properly ensuring compliance with its ruling. It is also significant to note that in only one case was anybody held accountable for using a child as a human shield.

-The report identifies 16 cases in which attempts were made by Israeli authorities to recruit children as informants, most recently in November 2011. Most attempts at recruitment occur during interrogation following arrest and the report identifies a number of methods, including the offer of money and early release. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject and the reluctance to talk, it is difficult to ascertain the scale of the problem, although there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the practice is widespread.

-Finally, the report identifies 26 cases involving the recruitment and use of children by Palestinian armed groups during the reporting period. It is significant to note that in 23 out of 26 cases (88 percent), the children were from the Gaza Strip. It is also significant that in all 26 cases (100 percent) the evidence indicates that the children were not forcefully conscripted, but volunteered to join a group or to participate in hostilities. When asked why they volunteered, the children gave reasons ranging from patriotism to the ‘oppression’ of the occupation and the killing and imprisonment of family members. The report finds that the recruitment and use of children by Palestinian armed groups increases during large scale incursions by the Israeli army, but such involvement does not appear to be either widespread or systematic.

Defence for Children International – Palestine Section is a national section of the international non-governmental child rights organisation and movement, Defence for Children International (DCI), established in 1979, with consultative status with ECOSOC. DCI-Palestine was established in 1991, and is dedicated to defending, promoting and protecting the rights of Palestinian children in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as other international, regional and local standards. As part of its ongoing work to uphold the rights of Palestinian children, DCI-Palestine provides free legal assistance, collects evidence, researches and drafts reports and conducts general advocacy targeting various duty-bearers.

3)Gaza: Human Shields | Al Jazeera World : For 50 days, more than 6,000 air strikes, 14,500 tanks shells and 45,000 artillery shells were fired on Gaza as Israel decimated the Palestinian enclave in Operation protective edge.

More than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children were killed, as Israel attempted to end rocket attacks and destroy tunnels used by Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

As shells, bombs and rockets laid waste to Gaza, both sides were engaged in a propaganda battle as the civilian death toll continued to rise.

The Israeli government repeatedly claimed that Palestinian groups were to blame, accusing them of using women and children as human shields as they fired rockets into Israel.

In Gaza: Human Shields, we speak to civilians, academics and human rights advocates who have accused the Israeli military of employing the tactic as they battled Hamas.

We hear testimony from Palestinians being forcing them to walk in front of Israeli soldiers at gunpoint and enter potentially hostile buildings.

We examine evidence alleging Israel’s long-standing practice of human shields and explore whether Hamas used residential buildings and civilian areas to launch attacks.

“They [the Israeli army] took me and put me on top of a tank”, Anas Najjar, a resident of the battered southern town of Khuazaa says; while Ramy Abdu of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says there is “enough files to condemn Israel and prove it’s committed war crimes by using civilians as human shields.”

Showing both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the use of human shields, Gaza: Human Shields follows on from a recently-published UN enquiry into war crimes during the July-August 2014 war.

Read more about the subject here

Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor: “I saw no evidence during my week in Gaza of Israel’s accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields.” The Guardian: “In the past week, the Guardian has seen large numbers of people fleeing different neighbourhoods.. and no evidence that Hamas had compelled them to stay.” The Independent: “Some Gazans have admitted that they were afraid of criticizing Hamas, but none have said they had been forced by the organisation to stay in places of danger and become unwilling human-shields.” Reuters, 2013: “A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields.”

Israel-Gaza conflict: Myth of Hamas’s human shield. Gazans deny being put in line of fire by by Kim Sengupta in Khan Younis

Tired of “human shield” bullshit by Naveen Srivatsav

Read more about the subject here

As well as the following three sources:

  1. Human Shields, B’tselem Articles
  2. List of recording instances of use of Palestinian children as human shields by Israel
  3. The fallacy of Israel’s human shields claims in Gaza, Al-Jazeera

Updated on June 7, 2023

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