War criminals not welcome in South Africa!

southern africa | imperialism / war | non anarchist press Friday July 31, 2009 16:08 by Palestine Solidarity Committee

Media Release, 28 July 2009

The Palestine Solidarity Committee supports the position taken by Zackie
Achmat and Jonathan Shapiro in their call to Jewish organisation Limmud to
withdraw its invitation for war criminal David Benjamin to speak at its
events next week. We also support Achmat’s call on people who support
justice to withdraw their participation if Benjamin remains on the
programme. In particular, we call on those who stand for human rights and
social justice – especially within the legal fraternity – to be consistent
in their positions.

South African-born Lieutenant-Colonel David Benjamin, who obtained his law degree from the University of Cape Town, has worked for the Israeli Occupation Forces for the past 17 years. He is currently in the Military Advocates Corps, which provides legal advice to the Israeli Army.

Benjamin has been credited with giving the Israeli army the legal go-ahead for the use of white phosphorous in its attacks against Gaza in December 2008-January 2009. Israel’s use of white phosphorous in Gaza is illegal under international law; the Geneva Convention bars its use against civilian targets.

Benjamin is also guilty for all the war crimes committed during the Gaza massacre, by his own admission. He told Bloomberg News that the Gaza “campaign was a long time in the works, and we [the Military Advocates Corps] were intimately involved in the planning... Approval of targets which can be attacked, methods of warfare – it all has gone through us.” Thus, Benjamin bears responsibility for the attacks against civilian targets, the massacre of more than a thousand civilians including hundreds of children, the bombing of universities, and of United Nations offices and schools.

John Ging, a United Nations official in Gaza, said that Israel had deliberately targeted five schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency, killing scores of civilians. And, according to Human Rights Watch: “Israel’s use of heavy artillery in residential areas of Gaza City violates the prohibition under the laws of war against indiscriminate attacks.” All credible humanitarian and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, and the Red Cross, and respected individuals such as the professors of law Richard Falk and our own John Dugard, also condemned these actions as war crimes.

All of these actions are war crimes under international law, and Benjamin is, therefore, a war criminal. South Africans should feel outraged to have such a war criminal visiting our country, with the express purpose, according to Limmud, of providing South African audiences with the Israeli army’s justification for their war crimes. The arrogant refusal by Limmud organisers to respond positively to Achmat’s and Shapiro’s request perhaps suggests their support of these war crimes.

The PSC calls on the South African state, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, to pursue legal action against war criminals such as David Benjamin when they set foot in our country.

Organisations representing the vast majority of Palestinians have – like us during our struggle against apartheid – called on the world to boycott Israeli state officials and Israeli institutions. We should respect this call just as many around the world respected and responded to our call to boycott apartheid state officials.