Switzerland thaws out, immediately criticises Israel.

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Switzerland comes out of mothballs to thump Israel.

Israel to Swiss: "We are disappointed that the Swiss government did not issue such statements when Israel's civilian population was constantly under attack from the Gaza Strip."

Additionally, "Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional $820,000 to provide medical supplies to civilians in Gaza."

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a bit errr liberal with the title editing there

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Yeah. I have to get my chuckles where I can. Very Happy

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Re: Switzerland thaws out, immediately criticises Israel.

Lash wrote:

Additionally, "Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional $820,000 to provide medical supplies to civilians in Gaza."

Well, thats cool.

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Where were they when my peeps were getting killed every day for a couple of months on buses?

Seems a little one-sided, eh??

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I dont think Israel lacks medical supplies.

This reminds me of one of the most surreal laws ever adopted in Holland, which has had a large impact on the character of our education system. Once upon a time, in our country where, especially then, Catholics, Protestants and seculars were at fierce loggerhands, the powers that be thought up a historic compromise that was to "pacify" tensions between the groups, but also lead to some of the silliest government spending in history. They decided that Protestant, Catholic and public schools all had an equal right to exist, and all had an equal right to support from the government, which after all was supposed to represent all their communities.

The mutual suspicion being as it was, the "equal" in "equal right" was taken very literally. The result was that for every penny a government office gave to a Catholic school, it was obliged to give the exact same amount to the locality's Protestant and/or public school, depending on which were present. Eg, if someone broke a window in the public school, the Protestant school received money for a new window too - eve though there weren't actually any broken windows in its building.

Gaza is dirt poor. It is overpopulated, living conditions are horrid, unemployment is near-total, public services are squalid or non-existent, and infrastructure is bombed out. Whatever mix of local corruption and mismanagement, Israeli repression and retaliation, and destabilisation by extremists is at the roots of that, this is the plan fact: Gaza direly lacks medical supplies. Tel Aviv very clearly does not.

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Helping one side in a war makes a definitive statement. There's no way around it.

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Re: Switzerland thaws out, immediately criticises Israel.

Lash wrote:

Additionally, "Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional $820,000 to provide medical supplies to civilians in Gaza."

Emphasis added.

Anyone who, during a war or otherwise, comes to the aid of civilians who lack basic medical supplies, is OK with me.

Or, to argue in more detail: It would be silly to either stop a country or organisation from aiding civilians who are lacking basic supplies, altogether, or to force it to spend the same $$ on people who dont actually lack any, over an argument of sides.

Bottom line: Humanitarian aid should be steered by humanitarian considerations, not political ones. Give emergency relief to those who are acutely in need of it, regardless of which side they're on. Tel Aviv is not acutely in need of emergency relief - it is a prosperous middle-class metropolis. Gaza is.

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Israel's ambassador to Bern said Switzerland's criticism was unfair, noting that Israel was supplying Gaza's people with electricity, water, fresh food and medicine even though the ruling Palestinian Hamas group is sworn to the Jewish state's destruction.

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Imagine if Israel had sworn to seek the destruction of Palestine.

This is clearly favoritism.

Friggin Swiss.

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PS-- Nobody here is under the impression Hamas will use that mil for healthcare, are they??

It will be used to kill Israelis.

Switzerland enters the ME war.

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Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

Walter Hinteler wrote:
Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

Why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of a few extremists?

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InfraBlue wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

Why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of a few extremists?

Because it's not a few extremists. It's been the official policy of groups like Hamas.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

InfraBlue wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

Why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of a few extremists?

Because it's not a few extremists. It's been the official policy of groups like Hamas.

So, why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of groups like Hamas who number perhaps a couple thousand or so, compared to millions of innocent civilians?

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InfraBlue wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

Why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of a few extremists?

Because it's not a few extremists. It's been the official policy of groups like Hamas.

So, why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of groups like Hamas who number perhaps a couple thousand or so, compared to millions of innocent civilians?

Bcause the various political organizations who have committed atrocities and war crimes against Isreal for years don't make themselves available for individual punishment.

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Bottom line: if you can't get the evil guys at the top, it's okay to punish innocent civilians....

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Brandon9000 wrote:

InfraBlue wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Lash wrote:

Switzerland enters the ME war.

Hmm, they said international law was broken and don't want the military operation by Israel to cause serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

But, of course, international law is not broken when a suicide bomber blows himself up in an Israeli marketplace.

Why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of a few extremists?

Because it's not a few extremists. It's been the official policy of groups like Hamas.

So, why should innocent civilians be punished for the actions of groups like Hamas who number perhaps a couple thousand or so, compared to millions of innocent civilians?

Bcause the various political organizations who have committed atrocities and war crimes against Isreal for years don't make themselves available for individual punishment.

So, innocents serve Israel as whipping boys, eh? All the while it incites and perpetuates more extremist responses.

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Context:

1) Switzerland is the depository state of the Geneva Conventions.
2) The Geneva Convention proscribes targeting of civilian infrastructure.
3) Isreal's foray into Gaza has included systemic targeting of the civilian infrastructure (targeting a power plant took out electricity and threatens the water supply, bridges were targeted that isolate Gaza regions, sequestration of officials, destruction of public offices).
4) Switzerland has spoken out against the "collective punishment" in this campaign, as such actions are illegal under international law (note: the Geneva Conventions that politically-neutral Switzerland champions).

Switzerland's cautions to Israel are just a bit harsher of a criticism than the US' caution to Israel over the same actions. The context of Geneva is why they are speaking out. It makes no sense to try to make political fodder out of it and ask for a countercriticism of Palestinian terrorism. They are acting with interest to the Geneva Conventions that govern the actions of states in conflict.

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Well said, Craven.

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Switzerland thaws out, immediately criticises Israel.

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