Moroccan Jews charge Israel with war crimes

Three Jewish intellectuals who are citizens of Morocco with deep ties to the most progressive sections of the Moroccan left filed charges of war crimes in early August against Israel’s Defense Minister Amir Peretz for his role in the recent invasion of Lebanon. Peretz is originally from Morocco and has dual citizenship.

Antiwar activist Abraham Sarfati, author Amran al-Malich and human rights group official Sion Assidon charged that Peretz is “leading a barbaric war and murderous siege using powerful means of destruction against Lebanon and its people since July, as well as against the Palestinian people, leadership, and government, while insisting on not reaching a cease-fire.”

Lodged while the invasion continued, this charge was one striking example of the outrage felt all over the world at U.S.-Israeli aggression. It has expressed itself in attempts to prosecute Israeli war crimes in Morocco, Britain, Belgium, Denmark and France. These attempts led Israel’s Foreign Ministry to warn civil servants and military officers to watch what they say while describing the invasion.

According to Reuters (Sept. 5), quoting an anonymous official, the memo singled out an official who called for “getting rid of a village in Lebanon” as a response to Hezbollah rockets striking Haifa.

“The type of language now considered off-limits includes ‘crushing’ the enemy, and ‘cleansing,’ ‘leveling,’ or ‘wiping out’ suspected enemy emplacements.”

The Foreign Ministry has set up a legal team to defend Israelis involved in the war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas and crackdowns on the Palestinian uprising against prosecution abroad. They are trying to keep the cases out of court.

Peretz is ‘terrorist’

Sarfati, an agronomist, had earlier spent 18 years in jail for opposing the feudal dictatorship of Hassan II, the king of Morocco. Both France and the United States supported this king because of Morocco’s strategic importance and because he was one of the few Arab leaders in the 1970s and 1980s willing to recognize Israel.

They also demanded an investigation of the Israeli defense minister in order to expose “all the crimes he committed against the Palestinians and against Lebanon.”

“The terrorist criminal Peretz kept his Moroccan citizenship. This man’s name still appears in Morocco’s records,” the lawsuit charges. The lawyers added that the Interpol should be tasked with bringing Peretz to justice in Morocco.

Moroccan law permits charges to be filed against its citizens for crimes committed outside the country.

Support for the suit in Morocco is strong. Morocco’s leading human rights group praised the lawsuit, asserting that Peretz is “in possession of Moroccan citizenship and a Zionist-terrorist identity.” The group accused Peretz of committing “the most despicable crimes against humanity, war crimes and extermination against the Lebanese and Palestinian people.”

Moroccan authorities are caught in a dilemma. Peretz visited Morocco during the recent Israeli election campaign and met with Morocco’s king, but he will have trouble making another visit. The lawsuit also paves the way for further lawsuits against Moroccan Israelis on charges of committing “war crimes” during their military service.

At the end of August, Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.

Frank Aaen of the small, left-wing opposition Red-Green Alliance said Livni should be detained upon arrival in Denmark, and he reported Livni to Danish police.

“I believe the minister should be detained while it is being investigated whether she can be charged for war crimes,” he said in a statement.

Aaen cited an Amnesty International report that accused Israel of war crimes, saying Israel broke international law by deliberately targeting Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure during its 34-day war with Hezbollah guerrillas.

Danish police refused Aaen’s request.