By Kenneth J. Theisen
On Monday, March 23rd the Israeli Army was accused by two different sources of using children as human shields in its recent war against Gaza. The British website guardian.co.uk reported that Israel was accused by three Palestinian teens of using them as “human shields” during the recent Gazan massacre. During the war, Israel frequently defended its killing of Gazan civilians by claiming that Hamas was deliberately hiding among the Palestinian population and that civilians were merely 
“collateral damage.” But now the Guardian is reporting that Israel is in breach of the Geneva conventions by putting civilians deliberately in harm’s way.
“collateral damage.” But now the Guardian is reporting that Israel is in breach of the Geneva conventions by putting civilians deliberately in harm’s way. Three teenager brothers (Al’a al-Attar, age 14, Ali, age 15, and Nafiz, age 16) told the Guardian that on January 5th they “were taken from their home at gunpoint, made to go in front of tanks to prevent Hamas fighters from firing, and sent by Israeli soldiers into Palestinian houses to clear them.”
Article 28 of the fourth Geneva Convention states, "[T]he presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." This has been interpreted to prohibit the use of “human shields” in military operations.
The Israelis have unwittingly supplied their own incriminating evidence to corroborate the stories of using civilians as shields. An Israeli Army magazine shows Nafiz, shortly after his kidnapping, bound and blindfolded. His brother, Al’a al-Attar, told the Guardian that “They would make us go first, so if any fighters shot at them the bullets would hit us, not them." Ali and Nafiz also told the Guardian that the three of them were taken through their town of Attartra by an Israeli Army patrol. The children were ordered to stop by the soldiers who then would fire their weapons over the boys’ shoulders and between their legs. The boys also told of being forced to march along with Israeli tanks.
Ali and Al’a were used as shields for five days by the Israelis before they were released in the midst of an ongoing firefight to fend for themselves. Nafiz was taken to Israel where he was interrogated and beaten. After three days of this abuse he was finally released.
In the same magazine’s online edition there is a piece entitled, "For a week and a half they lived with a family of Palestinians whose home became their stronghold." In the article, an Israeli Army officer brags of using the house as his military base while keeping the Palestinian family downstairs. He states, "At the top floor of the house we have established an improvised operational room and soldiers’ bedroom, we have opened firing positions and observation points in the three additional rooms. In addition, we have established another guarding position on the entrance door of the family home." This is also a violation of international law and puts civilians in danger.
As if the kidnapping and use of the three brothers was not bad enough, the Israelis were also accused by a U.N. human rights expert of using an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield for several hours on January 15th. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy for protecting children in armed conflict, stated that the Israeli Army forced the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in Gaza. The child was forced to enter buildings before the soldiers and further forced to open the bags of Palestinians apparently to protect the Israelis from possible explosives.
This accusation was included in a 43-page report published on March 23rd. Coomaraswamy also stated that Israeli soldiers shot Palestinian children, bulldozed a home with a woman and child still inside, and shelled a building they had forced civilians into just the day before. Coomaraswamy was one of nine U.N. members of a team that entered Gaza after the war to document human rights abuses committed during the war. They then compiled the U.N. report.
Coomaraswamy stated the “Violations were reported on a daily basis, too numerous to list.” She had heard the allegations on a visit to Gaza and Israel in February. She said the incident involving the 11-year-old was a violation of Israeli and international law.
Coomaraswamy also reported on another case where a father was ordered out of his home and shot. Israeli soldiers then fired on the family still inside, killing one child and wounding the mother and an additional three children. She said the report contains "just a few examples of the hundreds of incidents" that had been verified by UN officials in the Gaza Strip.
During the Israeli invasion of Gaza, 440 children, 110 women, and dozens of elderly people were murdered by the Israelis. In total, more than 1400 Palestinians were killed. The invasion was supported by the U.S. government which has supplied Israel with a vast military arsenal and billions of dollars in aid.
Despite repeated and documented violations of international law, this U.S. support continues to this day. President and Commander-in-Chief Obama, his Chief-of-Staff Rahm Israel Emanuel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, self-proclaimed Zionist Joe Biden, and various other top U.S. officials, have gone out of their way to defend Israel since the war against Gaza began late last year. They have consistently stated that Israel was only acting in self-defense against the terrorist actions of Hamas. Of course the U.S. has used the same excuse to launch its imperialist wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. How many more war crimes will be committed to “defend against terrorism? When will we stop the war criminals that keep using this lame excuse?