Now it seems that Human Rights Watch’s Marc Garlasco, who contradicted the IDF’s findings on the recent Gaza beach explosion, is backpedaling. According to this Jerusalem Post piece, HRW “could not contradict” the IDF’s finding that “unexploded ordnance” caused the blast. However, HRW continues to demand an independent inquiry, and rightly so. And Israel’s initial claim — that a Palestinian mine caused the blast — seems to be off the table. That Israel made this false claim at all doesn’t speak well of its openness and honesty in the matter.
[Update: The latest HRW report (June 20) makes clear that they are not backpedaling and that the Jerusalem Post article linked to above is highly misleading.]
Since I’ve been asked to clarify my views, I deplore Israel’s reckless shelling of Palestinian territory and I’m long on record saying so. In 2002, when Israel killed Salah Shehada of Hamas along with over a dozen civilians, I denounced the killing in a published letter to the NY Times.
In the current Gaza context, Israel’s shelling is wildly disproportionate to the threat posed by Qassam rockets. The shelling also poses an unacceptable risk of harming Palestinian civilians. However, Israel is not deliberately targeting civilians. Palestinian militants are. True, these Qassams don’t succeed in killing very often. But that is their intention. The tactic of lobbing inaccurate rockets toward civilian areas is deplorable, no matter who does it.
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