Israeli Generals, Amir Eshel and Benny Gantz, Taken to Netherland Court for their 2014 War Crimes in Gaza By Stuart Littlewood Redress, Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, February 11, 2019

Israeli war criminals Amir Eshel, left, and Benny Gantz (right), sued in the Netherlands on February 2019, for killing  2,200 Palestinians, including 547 infants and children, in July-August 2014 (file photo, 2012).	Husni abu Dubaika and his brother were among the victims of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, July 7, 2014

 

Israeli genocidal bombing of Gaza in July 2014	Ziada-war-crimes-lawsuit-fund, matched by Roger Waters, February 2019

 

Israel's Military Bombed his Family to Death, Now Ismail Ziada is Taking the Bastards to Court

At long last someone is making a move to bring two of the most wanted Israeli war criminals to book. Will you help?

The Ziada family from Gaza was all but wiped out by Israel’s murderous bombardment during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, when a bomb buried them under three storeys of rubble. Among the dead lay Ismail Ziada’s mother, three brothers, his sister-in-law, a 12-year-old nephew and a visiting friend. Ismail himself happens to be a Dutch citizen resident in the Netherlands, so he wasn’t in Gaza at the time. 

And fortunately the Netherlands, unlike the spineless UK, still upholds a system of universal jurisdiction in civil proceedings for its citizens who are unable to gain access to justice elsewhere.

According to an informed source, Ziada hired a lawyer specialising in support for victims of war crimes and human rights violations, and papers were served on the Israeli military’s chief of General Staff at the time of the bombing, Benny Gantz, and the commander of the Israeli air force, Amir Eshel. It was assumed that neither would respond and court proceedings would be conducted in absentia. Surprisingly, Gantz and Eshel both submitted a response claiming immunity and alleging that the Dutch court had no jurisdiction. They argue that Ziada can access justice in Israel. But the recent Israeli court ruling against Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish, who filed for compensation against the Israeli state over the killing of three of his daughters in Israeli army shelling in 2009, nails that lie.

“So far Ziada has used his own funds and contributions from friends and supporters to pursue the case on behalf of all the victims of Israeli war crimes. But to achieve justice he’ll need wider moral and financial support. The target is 50,000 euros.”

The Ziada writ focuses on the fact that the bombing of the family home was illegal and a war crime under international law. Next month, we’re told, there will be a court hearing – the first of its kind. If it works out well for Ziada it is anticipated that Gantz and Eshel will push the matter up to the Dutch Supreme Court, which could take years and incur significant expense.

The good news is that the circumstances are such that this case has the potential to blow a hole in the Zionist regime’s arrogant belief that it is exceptional and above the law. Pressed home with enough determination and cash it could be the game-changer that creates the legal precedent decent folk around the world have prayed for. The word is that any compensation received will go into a fund for Palestinian war crime victims in general and children in particular. 

If you wish to contribute, click here. Roger Waters will match you.

Gantz and Eshel are military thugs of a particularly loathsome kind. Both waged war on Lebanon and played leading parts in the series of genocidal assaults on Gaza, the worst being Operation Protective Edge which, according to Israel’s B’Tselem, killed over 2,200 Palestinians, including 547 infants and children. 

Gantz is a wannabee political leader challenging Netanyahu in the coming Israeli elections. Heading his new Israel Resilience Party, he pledges to strengthen illegal Israeli settlement blocs and says that Israel will never leave the Golan Heights, stolen from Syria. How nice is that?

https://www.redressonline.com/2019/02/israels-military-bombed-his-family-to-death-now-hes-taking-the-bastards-to-court/

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