Dear Sir or Madam:
May I add my name to the growing list of concerned people who stronglyoppose any action by the Government of Israel to suppress Gush Shalom’scampaign against war crimes? Noam Chomsky neatly summarizes my view onthis matter.
I am writing to express my support for the principled initiative of GushShalom to inform military personnel, who are publicly boasting of actsthat maybe war crimes, that they are rendering themselves liable to criminalprosecutionby appropriate international tribunals. The warnings are accurate, andit is aresponsibility of citizens to monitor such behavior and guard againstunacceptable and possibly criminal actions. Any effort of the governmenttoimpede such efforts is wholly improper.
The professor’s comment does not require my adornment, but I would liketo touch on some points from an informed Canadian point of view.
While fully supporting Professor Chomsky’s view, it is difficult formany Canadians to dignify Israeli oppression, murder, theft, andvandalism with the term ” war crimes. ” There is no war, and there hasn’tbeen for decades. A war, by definition, requires at least two viableopponents. In this case, what is called war is simply a violent andracist state embarked on the total extermination a people, along withevery trace of their infrastructure and culture. In this process, commonand predictable criminals within the Israeli government haveconsistently committed common and mundane crimes. Israel is guilty ofmurder, kidnapping, torture, and rape. Of course, common thievery is oneof the underlying mandates of the Zionist movement.
Let’s not glorify such obviously immoral and illegal acts with talk ofwar. It is not only the responsibility of every citizen to reportviolations of the law to the appropriate authorities, it is also a duty.In my country, a citizen who fails to report a criminal act to thepolice is liable to criminal prosecution. Any attempt by the Governmentof Israel to impede the efforts of Israeli citizens to report crimes tothe appropriate local and international authorities or to warn criminalsof their personal liability is obviously immoral, illegal, and totallyunworthy of a country that aspires to democracy.
Thanx
John Hogan, MCSD