Petitions and alerts
Members of Israeli academics signed a statement (Exhibit 19 with initial signatures released on 22 September 2002) warning of possible war crimes by Israel. Indeed Israel did engage in war crimes as several human rights groups attested to (including for example in April 2003 when over 120 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians and thousands were made homeless). Yet it is difficult to gauge whether such statements also may have prevented even more atrocities such as the population transfer that was being openly discussed by the highest levels of the Sharon administration. Similarly resolutions were introduced in city councils regarding these issues and passed (for example in Ann Arbor, see Exhibit 20). |