Israel legalizes assasinations

Overshadowed by yesterday’s tense run-up and bloody aftermath of Prime Minister Haniya’s return to Gaza (Haniya was delayed for 8 hours by the Israelis b/c of the money he brought back with him for the Palestinian people…later, in an attempt on his life by Fateh gunmen, Haniya’s bodyguard was killed and twenty others injured, including his son), Israel’s High Court of “Justice", also known as the “Kangeroo Court” in Israeli legal circles, ruled unanimously to legalize assassinations by Israeli forces against Palestinians.

A three-judge panel ruled that they could not prohibit in advance every Israeli “targeted killing”, a now-popular euphemism for assassination against Palestinian figures.

The ruling gives legitimacy to a practice that, though illegal under international law, is routinely used by Israeli forces against members of the Palestinian factions. According to the Israeli human rights organization B'tselem, 339 Palestinians have been extra-judicially killed over the past six years, almost half of those bystanders.

But let’s not kid ourselves-the Israeli Army does not need the approval of its Kangeroo Court to exrtra-judicially kill us. So what’s the real reason behind the decision?

According to Reuters and Haareatz, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak said the ruling would assist Israeli military officers in defending themselves against a slew of war crimes lawsuits filed against them in foreign courts.