ADC Action Alert: Michael Kelly Endorses Murder, Death Squads, War and Expulsions

August 29, 2001

Washington Post columnist Michael Kelly is at it again. In his latest column, Kelly repeats his call for Israel to "destroy, kill, capture and expel the armed Palestinian forces that have declared war on Israel." For a detailed explanation of how this constitutes the advocacy of war crimes, see ADC's update on the issue www.adc.org/action/2001/17august2001v002.htm.

Kelly also strongly endorses the campaign of murder and extra-judicial executions by Israeli death squads against Palestinian political leaders and activists, calling these murders Israel's "right" and "duty." Kelly also argues that Israel has used "restraint" in its attempts to suppress the uprising, arguing that "Israel has used its planes, tanks and missiles only in a limited and targeted fashion. This is restraint." By this logic, which lacks any sense of proportion whatever, any state that possesses nuclear weapons but doesn't use them in a conflict, or only uses them in a limited manner, could still be said to be exercising "restraint." Of course, this "limited and targeted manner" has resulted in the deaths of almost 600 Palestinians in less than a year, the vast majority of them unarmed civilians and many of them children.

Kelly's fatuous arguments about Israeli "restraint" rest upon the patent falsehood that "The only way in which Israel has used lethal force with clear lethal intent is in the targeted killings of Palestinians identified by Israel as directly involved in attacks on Israelis." This claim is refuted by the reports of almost all human rights groups who have examined Israel's actions during the intifada, including:

LAW's Report to UN Inquiry Commission www.lawsociety.org/Reports/reports/2001/warcrimes.html;

Amnesty International's report on Israel's Excessive Use of Lethal Force web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE150412000?OpenDocument& of=COUNTRIES\ISRAEL%2FOCCUPIED+TERRITORIES;

Human Rights Watch's Center of the Storm report www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel/

and Report of October 4 through October 11 www.hrw.org/reports/2000/israel/;

B'Tselem's Report: Illusions of Restraint www.btselem.org/Files/site/e_publications/Full_Text/Illusions_of_Restraint/Index.asp

to name but a few, as well as the work of most reporters covering the conflict, including in the Israeli press.

Kelly's latest demands for war and endorsement of murder can be read at the Washington Post's website at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10821-2001Aug28.html.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the Post's own editorial today does not endorse any massive Israeli attack on the Palestinians, although only on the grounds that this would "would simply play into Mr. Arafat's hands." The Post editorial can be read at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10829-2001Aug28.html.

Letters on either article can be sent to the Post at letters@washpost.com.