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UK Issues War Crimes Warrant for Israeli...

...but takes it back when it turns out that Tzipi Livni isn't visiting

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 15, 2009 8:33 AM CST
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(Newser) – A British court issued an arrest warrant against former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Sunday, at the behest of victims of Israel’s Gaza attack. But the warrant was quickly rescinded when the court realized Livni had abandoned plans to visit the UK to attend a conference that day, the Guardian reports. Livni would have been charged with war crimes under “universal jurisdiction,” for helping to plan the three-week Gaza offensive, which Palestinians say left 1,400 dead, mostly civilians.

Israel says it acted legally to defend itself from Gaza rocket attacks, and that war crime allegations are politically motivated. By its count, 1,166 died in the assault, mostly combatants. An embarrassed British Foreign Office said it was “looking urgently into the implications” of the warrant episode, saying the UK sees Israel as a “strategic partner” and hopes to foster Mideast peace. “Israel’s leaders need to be able to come to the UK.”

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni speaks to reporters after her meeting with Frencg President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009.
Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni speaks to reporters after her meeting with Frencg President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 30 comments
wwwonderer
Dec 16, 2009 7:11 AM CST
@rocky. Palestine doesn't get $Billions in aid from the USA. They don't get to buy tanks and jets and military facilities and uniforms. And I'm sure the average Palestinian 'soldier' is the average Palestinian. In the context of the civil rights movement, could you separate the rights workers from the people whose rights they are working for? Could you possibly bomb any SCLC or NAACP location WITHOUT hitting a civilian facility? Any 'counter strike' by the police on the Black Panthers would no doubt involve a residential area, as well as civilians. C'mon!!!! HUNDREDS dead compared to 13 dead. Really??? That's my thing. It seemed like an overblown reaction.if a mosquito tries to bite you you don't put on armor do you? if a 9 year-old tried to hit you would you go and get your brass knuckles?
fancygapva
Dec 16, 2009 1:10 AM CST
@wwwonderer Yeah, who IS David and who IS Goliath here. My problem also, and that of the UN applied to unequal retribution.
fancygapva
Dec 16, 2009 1:08 AM CST
@pragmatic--excellent comparison. Both unhappily occupied, both broken into factions set against eachother by a foreign power (in Palestinian case, Israel and US, In case of Iraq, Iran, Syria

 
Israel • Gaza • war crimes • Tzipi Livni • Gaza war

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