THUS Magazine

Vengeful sky, Sunday 11 January, Gaza.

Tony Blair has come back from yet another much-needed holiday and New Year at his multi-million pound country seat, formerly owned by that other consummate actor, Sir John Geilgud, to go through the motions with beacon of democracy, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, earning his corn with insights such as: ”I am hopeful we can put an agreement together but it’s going to have to be worked on very hard and it’s got to be credible.” Amazing. We all thought an agreement that was knocked together and was entirely incredible would have done the trick, Tony. His sudden frenzy of diplomacy may be connected to criticism from various quarters, including the Telegraph and Sunday Times that he and the ‘Quartet’ have been remarkable for their absence since hostilities commenced (as pointed out by Thus on 27 December 2008). His headquarters – a floor of the appropriately named American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, which he rarely visits, are maintained at a cost of £700,000 per year, allegedly funded by none other than the UN Development Programme. Meanwhile, the world’s most lucrative after-dinner speaker (who’d listen to him before dinner?) will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W Bush as a reward for his unwavering toadying during the Iraq farrago, for the WMD Yellow Cake jape that helped start same, for the jumper he knitted for W and for walking like a cowboy during and after their meetings. Tommy Franks, Dick Cheney, Kissinger, Rumsfeld and other apocalypse jockeys have also received this prized gong. Who says war crime doesn’t pay?

38 more people died in Gaza on Sunday 11 January, 2008. As predicted, in what Israel terms as the 'final phase' or 'endgame' reservists are trundling into Gaza to have a crack at the shocked and awed locals. The body count is now 900 with 4100 wounded and rising. Seven Palestinians, including two women and two children, were killed this morning. 1500 should be just enough to secure another Intifada. Foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who told the world there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza then went on to cement one, said on Israeli army radio "I am not going to negotiate with Hamas and don't need them to sign anything for me. What they said is meaningless." So that's alright then. In other words, massacre away.

The world has largely tut-tutted as it watched the economic siege of Gaza move to ‘shock and awe’ air raids and now to ground troop massacres in a grotesque echo of Iraq. Whether Livni, Barak or Netanyahu, the odds have shortened on Israel’s chances of forcing the real ‘endgame’ – attacking Iran on the pretext of thwarting its nuclear ambitions, using the 20,000 weapons of mass destruction helpfully supplied by the US last year. Only a lunatic or a nihilist would see this as positive for peace in the Middle East or for enhancing Israeli security, but the evidence of this continued barbarity shows that there are plenty of these around. Not that anyone cares any more, but strictly for the record, here are some highlights from the Fourth Geneva Convention:

Civilians are not to be subject to attack. This includes direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks against areas in which civilians are present.

There is to be no destruction of property unless justified by military necessity.

Civilians must not be subject to outrages upon personal dignity.

Civilians must not be subject to collective punishment and reprisals.

Civilians must not receive differential treatment based on race, religion, nationality, or political allegiance.

Warring parties must not use or develop biological or chemical weapons and must not allow children under 15 to participate in hostilities or to be recruited into the armed forces.

The last part of the Convention relates directly to the alleged activities of Hamas: “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.” (Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949, 6 U.S.T. 3516, 75 U.N.T.S. 287, art. 28). Tony, you’re a lawyer (and your wife is a human rights lawyer). Advise your Israeli Neocon friends that they might be breaking the law, and while you’re at it, please turn yourself in to the ICC. A whip round at Bilderberg will provide sufficient funds for Cherie to defend you (and make sure you get off) then someone can make a film about it.  Strike that last part, someone already has.

John J Kelly