AVNERY, Uri. Peace activist slams Israeli war crimes against Gaza, Palestinians and Arabs

Uri Avnery is a Jewish Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. He was a member of the Irgun terrorist organization and was a member of the Knesset in 1965-74 and 1979-81.Uri Avnery is the author of several books “1948: A Soldier’s Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem” (2008); “Israel’s Vicious Circle” (2008); and “My Friend, the Enemy” (1986) (see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Avnery ). .

Uri Avnery on Israeli war crimes against Arabs: “This is the principle that guided the Israeli army in the Gaza War, and, as far as I know, this is a new doctrine: in order to avoid the loss of one single soldier of ours, it is permissible to kill 10, 100 and even 1000 enemy civilians. War without casualties on our side. The numerical result bears witness: more than 1000 people killed in Gaza, a third or two thirds of them (depending on who you ask) civilians, women and children, as against 6 (six) Israeli soldiers killed by enemy fire. (Four more were killed by “friendly” fire.) … If we strip this [Israeli military] doctrine of all ornaments, what remains is a simple principle: the state must protect the lives of its soldiers at any price, without any limit or law. A war of zero casualties. That leads necessarily to a tactic of killing every person and destroying every building that could represent a danger to the soldiers, creating an empty space in front of the advancing troops. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this: from now on, any Israeli decision to start a war in a built-up area is a war crime, and the soldiers who rise up against this crime should be honored. May they be blessed.” [1].

[1]. Uri Avnery, “The Johnny Procedure”, Uri Avnery’s Column, 18 July, 2009: http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html .

Uri Avnery is a Jewish Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. He was a member of the Irgun terrorist organization and was a member of the Knesset in 1965-74 and 1979-81.Uri Avnery is the author of several books “1948: A Soldier’s Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem” (2008); “Israel’s Vicious Circle” (2008); and “My Friend, the Enemy” (1986) (see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Avnery ). .

Uri Avnery on Israel war crimes against Arabs: “This is the principle that guided the Israeli army in the Gaza War, and, as far as I know, this is a new doctrine: in order to avoid the loss of one single soldier of ours, it is permissible to kill 10, 100 and even 1000 enemy civilians. War without casualties on our side. The numerical result bears witness: more than 1000 people killed in Gaza, a third or two thirds of them (depending on who you ask) civilians, women and children, as against 6 (six) Israeli soldiers killed by enemy fire. (Four more were killed by “friendly” fire.) … If we strip this [Israeli military] doctrine of all ornaments, what remains is a simple principle: the state must protect the lives of its soldiers at any price, without any limit or law. A war of zero casualties. That leads necessarily to a tactic of killing every person and destroying every building that could represent a danger to the soldiers, creating an empty space in front of the advancing troops. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this: from now on, any Israeli decision to start a war in a built-up area is a war crime, and the soldiers who rise up against this crime should be honored. May they be blessed.” [1].

[1]. Uri Avnery, “The Johnny Procedure”, Uri Avnery’s Column, 18 July, 2009: http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html .

Uri Avnery (anti-racist Jewish Israeli, former MP and Israeli army officer): “What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints” (David Wilson, “From Albert Einstein to Noam Chomsky: famous Jews who have opposed Israel”, Stop the War Coalition, 12 August 2014: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/news-comment/1307-from-albert-einstein-to-noam-chomsky-famous-jews-who-have-opposed-israel ).

Uri Avnery: “What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet. In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the State of Israel” (“Jewish Intellectuals Who Have Opposed Zionism and/or Israeli Racism, Injustices, Occupation, Apartheid and/or Ethnic Cleansing”, Hypertext: http://www.thehypertexts.com/Jewish%20Intellectuals%20Who%20Opposed%20Zionism%20Israel%20Racism%20Injustices%20Apartheid%20Ethnic%20Cleansing.htm ).