Micah.6:8 “He has told you, O man, Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God
Boston Globe, Sunday, April 8, “PALESTINIANS SAY ATTACK BROKE CEASE- FIRE An Israeli helicopter attack in the Gaza Strip yesterday that killed a member of a militant squad was one of the most serious breaches yet of the four month old cease-fire, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said the air attack was aimed at militants planting a bomb along the border fence and did not amount to a cease-fire violation.”
So when the Israeli government “suspects” that a group is planting a bomb along the border fence, the response is to send in a helicopter and assassinate them. Interesting definition of justice, isn’t it?.
I wonder what else the Israeli government could do. How about arresting them and trying them in an Israeli court? What a novel approach!!! Of course, you might have a problem with pesky matters such as facts and proof which assassinations avoid. From reading this article one can see why the Israeli military authorities would not want to bring the accused before an Israeli court
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/jewishethics/capital.shtml
Ethics of capital punishment
Judaism and capital punishment
Someone who reads the Old Testament list of 36 capital crimes might think that Judaism is in favour of capital punishment, but they'd be wrong. During the period when Jewish law operated as a secular as well as a religious jurisdiction, Jewish courts very rarely imposed the death penalty. The state of Israel has abolished the death penalty for any crime that is now likely to be tried there.
The classic Old Testament texts quoted to justify capital punishment are these:
... life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth ...
A man who spills human blood, his own blood shall be spilled by man because God made man in His own Image
Although they seem clear these texts are commonly misunderstood. To really understand Jewish law one must not only read the Torah but consult the Talmud, an elaboration and interpretation by rabbinical scholars of the laws and commandments of the Torah. The rabbis who wrote the Talmud created such a forest of barriers to actually using the death penalty that in practical terms it was almost impossible to punish anyone by death. The rabbis did this with various devices: interpreting texts in the context of Judaism's general respect for the sanctity of human life; emphasising anti-death texts such as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'; interpreting texts to make them very narrow in their application ; refusing to accept any but the most explicit Torah texts proposing the death penalty; finding alternative punishments, or schemes of compensation for victims' families; imposing procedural and evidential barriers that made the death penalty practically unenforceable (Blogger’s Note – One requirement was the need for two eye-witnesses before the accused could be given the death penalty. Numbers 24:30 “If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.”
Think about the targeted assassinations. What is their purpose? To kill those “suspected” of being murderers (“combatants”? “persons worthy of death”?) The Government of Israel allows the IDF to be the investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner? This is not a place governed by any rule of law that I am familiar with. This area is occupied. This is not a war. There are individuals in the territories who are committing crimes including murder. They should be found and tried before a court of law.one of which is a requirement that there be two eyewitnesses to a murder or killing)
The result of this is that there are very few examples of people being executed by Jewish law in rabbinic times.
Israel
In 1954, Israel abolished capital punishment except for those who committed Nazi war crimes. In the 54 years that Israel has existed as an independent state, only one person has been executed. This person was Adolf Eichman, a Nazi war criminal with particular responsibility for the Holocaust.
That being the case, if the accuseds had been convicted of planting a bomb, the court could not have imposed the death penalty.
What justification in Jewish law or ethics is there for such targeted assassinations? What is their purpose? To kill those “suspected” of being murderers (“combatants”? “persons worthy of death”?) The Government of Israel allows the IDF to be the investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner? This is not a place governed by any rule of law that I am familiar with. The Gaza Strip is occupied. This is not a war, or if there was, there is a cease-fire. There are individuals in the territories who are committing crimes including murder. They should be found and tried before a court of law. What is the justice system in the Gaza Strip? What are the human and civil and legal rights of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip?
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you”
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you”
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