http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090101/FOREIGN/191323848/1011/NEWSUS leaders close ranks in favour of Israel
Erika Niedowski, Washington Bureau Chief and Steven Stanek, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: January 01. 2009 9:30AM UAE / January 1. 2009 5:30AM GMT
WASHINGTON // The message from official Washington – including the White House and top leaders in the US Congress – has been clear: the United States stands by its staunch ally Israel and its right to defend itself against rocket attacks by Hamas.
But at least one congressional legislator broke ranks this week by strongly condemning Israel, calling for a UN investigation of that country’s offensive in Gaza, saying it is “indiscriminate mass violence” and in violation of international law.
Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat in the House of Representatives and a former US presidential contender, sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, asking for an independent inquiry into Israel’s military actions. Israel says it launched the air strikes in self-defence.
“The perpetrators of attacks against Israel must also be brought to justice, but Israel cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible,” Mr Kucinich said in a statement. “The Israeli leaders know better. The world community, which has been very supportive of Israel’s right to security and its right to survive, also has a right to expect Israel to conduct itself in adherence to the very laws which support the survival of Israel and every other nation.”
Mr Kucinich, a longtime critic of the Iraq war and the man who launched it, George W Bush, said the attacks on civilians violated Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in that they constitute “collective punishment” of the citizens in the Gaza Strip. Article 33 states, in part: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.”
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