THE PHANTOM MASSACRE National Post Critics of Israel are up in arms about the "massacre" that took place in the Jenin refugee camp earlier this month. Palestinian sources originally claimed that up to 500 were killed -- many through "summary executions." Terje Roed-Larsen, a senior United Nations envoy who visited the camp, said Israeli actions in Jenin were "illegitimate and morally repugnant." Svend Robinson, the NDP's Foreign Affairs critic, said "It appears there was a massacre in Jenin at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces and if that happened, that is a war crime." And Amnesty International has declared: "The evidence compiled indicates that serious breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed, including war crimes." But as of this writing, only about 50 Palestinians from Jenin are confirmed dead (not counting the 23 suicide bombers from the area who attacked Jews in the last 18 months). Amnesty has backed off from its "war crimes" alarmism. And The New York Times, which has slanted noticeably against Israel since its March 29 invasion of the West Bank,concedes: "Dozens of interviews with residents of the camp, hospital officials, Israeli soldiers and officials, and Palestinian fighters produced no solid evidence of large-scale, deliberate killing of civilians in the camp. Palestinian claims of hundreds of dead appear to be exaggerated." If there was no massacre, why were all those homes in Jenin destroyed? Ask the terrorists themselves. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly recently published an interview with an Islamic Jihad bombmaker who helped booby trap the refugee camp. "We had more than 50 houses booby-trapped," said the terrorist. "We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them ... We cut off lengths of main water pipes and packed them with explosives and nails. Then we placed them about four meters apart ... in cupboards, under sinks, in sofas." This puts the scenes of devastation in perspective. Rather than lose its men in booby-trapped buildings, the Israeli army sensibly bulldozed suspect homes after using bullhorns to warn occupants to get out. No doubt innocents were killed during the operation, and allegations that some residents were given insufficient time to flee seem credible. But the charge of a systematic "massacre" is clearly propaganda. If Israeli troops wanted to kill Palestinians in large numbers, they would have used bombs, not bulldozers. They also would have destroyed more homes. >From press reports, one would think all of Jenin was leveled. In fact, the destroyed area was small -- just 1/30th of the camp. Indeed any "war crimes" committed in Jenin were likely committed by the Palestinians. The Geneva Conventions prohibit "the feigning of an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce or of a surrender" and "the feigning of civilian, non-combatant status" by fighters. The Palestinians themselves claim to have done both. This is how Al Ahram tells the story of the Jenin ambush that killed 13 Israeli soldiers: " 'They were lured there,' [the bombmaker] says. 'We all stopped shooting and the women went out to tell the soldiers that we had run out of bullets and were leaving.' The women alerted the fighters as the soldiers reached the booby-trapped area. 'When the senior officers realized what had happened, they shouted through megaphones that they wanted an immediate ceasefire. We let them approach to retrieve the men and then opened fire.' " The UN has authorized an investigation of the Jenin "massacre" that may begin as early as this weekend. In principle, Israel should welcome an objective inquiry. But Mr. Sharon believes the investigating committee's mandate is too broad, and that it is dominated by individuals who may prove overly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. After watching the UN and the rest of the world embrace tall Palestinian tales of mass graves and cadaver-carting trucks, Mr. Sharon and his Cabinet are concerned the investigation will become a tool of Arab propaganda. Such concerns aren't entirely unwarranted, and until the United Nations can satisfy them, Israel should refuse to participate. The world is all too eager to swallow Israeli atrocity tales. The last thing we need is for the United Nations to (once again) lend them the organization's official imprimatur. http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20020425/27 927.html Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
