Tuesday night, just when Hamas got ready to launch rockets on Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion airport, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Ken Roth took to Twitter to put in a good word for the terrorist organization. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">So it seems that according to Roth, international humanitarian law allows Hamas to build and use tunnels in order to attack or capture combatants, i.e. IDF soldiers. Only if Hamas uses the tunnels to attack civilians, they would be illegal under international humanitarian law – at least as interpreted by Roth, who is paid over $ 400 000 per year for his expertise. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Due to a long list of terrorist attacks, Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization not only by Israel, but also by the US and Europe. The group's virulently antisemitic charter states already in its preamble: “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.” The charter's article seven includes the notorious Islamic teaching: <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">There are countless statements by prominent Hamas officials that reaffirm the group's intense hatred for anything Jewish. Most recently, Hamas released a song that included the following lines: <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">“Annihilate all the Zionists! … Raze it [Israel] to the ground, exterminate the cockroaches' nest, and banish all the Zionists.” <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Perhaps Ken Roth is appalled by these statements, though I haven't seen his protests. If you have, please note so in the comments and I will update this post. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">However, just in the past 24 hours, Ken Roth has repeatedly made it very clear that he is appalled by what Israel's supporters say and write: it's just “so much squirming and screaming.” <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Indeed, why can't Israel's supporters simply accept that the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch pronounces Hamas tunnels as perfectly legitimate under international humanitarian law as long as the genocidal antisemitic terrorist group will do its very best to avoid civilian casualties while attacking from the tunnels? <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">But Ken Roth's verdict on the Hamas tunnels has actually far-reaching implications, particularly since he also clarified today that acts of aggression are not necessarily a violation of international humanitarian law as long as non-combatants are not the target of the aggression. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This is definitely good news for Hamas and other jihadist groups all over the Middle East and beyond. It would mean, for example, that Hamas can tunnel with Ken Roth's blessings under the Egyptian border to attack Egyptian soldiers. Hezbollah also knows now that Ken Roth sees nothing wrong if it tunnels into Israel to attack the IDF. And the blood-drenched jihadists of the newly formed Islamic State (IS) may now want to consider tunneling into Jordan to attack the Jordanian army. All these terror groups can feel confident that the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch will speak up for their right to tunnel wherever they want to attack the defense forces of another country. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">There are also implications beyond the Middle East. The tunnels dug from North Korea to attack South Korea would presumably also get a nod of approval from Ken Roth; and while they are often described rather negatively as “Tunnels of Aggression,” we know now that the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch is very careful not to denounce aggression as long as it is done right. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">That could also be good news for Iran and Hezbollah: since they have a well-known presence in South America, they could perhaps make use of the smuggling tunnels under the US border with Mexico to attack the US, and as long as they are careful to target US army units (or maybe border guards would also be OK?), they should be able to count on Ken Roth to defend the legitimacy of their attack. <span style="line-height:115%;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Welcome to the brave new world of Human Rights Watch, where even the most depraved terrorist groups get a chance to exercise their human right to build and use tunnels to attack those who fight terrorism.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)