>>Mideast lies
Why do we never hear of war crimes charges against Arafat?
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN -- Toronto Sun
As Israel once again battles for its very survival, the world's
anti-Semites are yet again crawling out from under their rocks to
spread lies and disinformation.
You can hear it on the Toronto airwaves right now as the Jew
haters race to the hotline shows to rant - ad nauseam - that
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is under investigation in
Belgium for war crimes in connection with the 1982 massacres at the Sabra and
Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
This isolated "factoid" - usually unchallenged by radio hosts who clearly have no
idea of the background - is being repeated like a mantra by the propagandists,
who never point out other facts any fair-minded person would see as relevant.
For example, that the entire case against Sharon is in huge trouble, as is the
Belgian law itself, given a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice in The
Hague.
Following an ICJ ruling on Feb. 14 that questioned the legitimacy of the Belgian
law and concluded, in a case unrelated to Sharon's, that serving ministers are
immune from prosecution anyway, Jan Devadder, legal adviser to the Belgian
foreign ministry, said the ICJ's decision would likely prompt Belgium to drop the
case against Sharon. Government ministers predicted the law will be amended
and proceedings against Sharon and 40 other world leaders dropped.
Last month, in light of the ICJ decision, a Belgian court postponed ruling on
whether to put Sharon on trial for war crimes at the request of the plaintiffs - 23
survivors of the massacres - to give their lawyers time to argue the IJC ruling
does not affect the Sharon case.
The second point - one anti-Semites also never mention - is that Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat is also being investigated for alleged genocide, war crimes
and crimes against humanity under the same Belgian law in a case brought
forward in November by victims of Palestinian terrorism. Also being probed under
this law, are, among others, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Iran's former
president, Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.
All these cases have been filed under the same controversial law passed by
Belgium in 1993 which permits its courts to try cases alleging war crimes,
genocide and crimes against humanity, regardless of where they took place or
the nationality or residence of the victims or the accused.
The law has prompted a wave of complaints, many, critics argue, politically
motivated. Anti-Israel propagandists have been making hay with it by constantly
citing the Sharon case while carefully avoiding any mention of similar complaints
lodged against Arafat and other Arab and Mideast leaders.
The anti-Israeli, liberal-left media, of course, focus almost entirely on the Sharon
case.
Israel haters have repeatedly implied the war crime allegations against Sharon
stem from the fact he arranged, while Israel's defence minister, for the massacre
of hundreds of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
This, too, is false.
First, the attack was carried out by Lebanese Christian militiamen. An Israeli
inquiry launched immediately after the massacre concluded Sharon should have
foreseen it and was thus indirectly responsible. Sharon was forced to resign as
defence minister as a result but he later sued Time for claiming he knew in
advance the massacre would occur. In 1985, a New York jury found Time's
reporting defamatory, false, negligent and careless, but threw out Sharon's suit
on the grounds he hadn't proven Time published the story knowing it was false,
as U.S libel law requires.
The hypocrisy of those who always cite the 1982 massacres and the allegations
against Sharon in connection with the Belgian law is revealed by the fact that not
only do they never mention the similar allegations made against Arafat under this
law, but also never point out the difference in Israel's response compared to the
Arab world.
Eleven years before there even was a Belgian law, Israel itself ordered an inquiry
into Sharon's actions at Shatila and Sabra and punished him for them. As Israeli
spokesman Ran Ichay has noted: "Israel didn't wait 20 years for a Belgian court.
The case was investigated in Israel right after the massacre was committed."
So when can we expect a similar investigation by the Palestinian Authority, or,
for that matter the Arab states, into the countless crimes against Israel of which
Arafat has been accused over the years? We all know the answer. Don't we? <<
canoe.ca
Lawsuits against Sharon and 40 other world leaders? Doesn't this seem like the plaintiffs are using the Belgian court for political purposes? |
