the truth about violations of international law

by Jim Babka

If violations of international law justified war then we might have to invade Israel, and no American wants to do that. We would also have to repudiate many of our government's past and current actions.

A study by Stephen Zunes of the University of San Francisco shows that Israel has violated 32 UN resolutions since 1968—nearly twice as many as Iraq.

Many of these violations relate to illegal Israeli settlements on land reserved by the UN for the Palestinians on the occupied West Bank. These settlements are the major barrier to peace between Israel and Palestine. If they were dismantled the Palestinians would lose their only justification for continued resistance against Israel. They would have to make peace, or risk losing the support of the world, and possibly even their Arab neighbors for whom the long Palestinian conflict has become very destabilizing.

Our government has quite correctly criticized the violence of the Palestinians, but has remained strangely silent about Israel's illegal settlements.

Israel is also known to have "secret" nuclear weapons. Apparently we invoke international law only when it suits us.