Shooting down the rockets in mid-flight presupposes both malicious intent and actual damage or harm.
Credit: Emanuel Yellin via Wikimedia Commons
New York, November 14 – Human rights groups denounced Israel today for its use of a missile defense system against weapons launched from the Gaza Strip, describing the defensive measures as out of proportion to the threat.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Btselem, and other organizations demanded an immediate session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss and condemn the Jewish State for its repeated deployment of explosive rockets to interdict incoming explosive projectiles, measures that rely on what the groups characterized as unwarranted violence against the rockets.
“Israel has once again resorted to military activity in excess of that necessary to defend its citizens,” read a joint statement by the organizations. “Instead of violently intercepting the incoming rockets, Israel could have chosen to negotiate with them, or use non-violent means to contain and subdue them. One can only conclude that Israel has consciously chosen to disregard these other, less destructive means.”
The organizations asserted that shooting down the incoming rockets added to a long line of Israeli actions that violate others’ rights. “Palestinians have suffered enough restriction and privation at Israeli hands, and this additional indignity constitutes but the latest atrocity,” stated Amnesty researcher Richard Burns. “To those of us in the human rights community, this is hardly news, but the world must take action to stop such unconscionable Israeli behavior.”
A Human Rights Watch representative added that shooting down the rockets in mid-flight presupposes both malicious intent and actual damage or harm. “It’s not until a rocket hits something that you can say for sure it was going to damage, maim, or kill,” insisted organization director Ken Roth. “Shooting them down in midair is the equivalent of extrajudicial execution. Ostensibly, Israel has laws and procedures to address when harm is perpetrated, but somehow, when it comes to these helpless Palestinian rockets that have no control over their destination, Israel conveniently forgets to wait until actual harm occurs, thus short-circuiting the entire notion of due process.”
Btselem compared the interception of the missiles to attempts to restrict the entry of migrants into Israel from Africa, or into the US from Mexico and Central America. “In the last several days alone, almost 500 rockets have embarked on the journey to Israel,” explained director Hagai El-Ad. “Only the heartless would assume every single one will land in a populated area or cause damage – yet they are uniformly characterized by Israel’s political and military leadership as dangerous, much in the way immigrants face the blanket stigma of ‘criminals’ and ‘rapists’. It’s just wrong.”
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