It is has been argued that during war, there is no such thing as a war crime. It doesn't hold in the international community, but the international community isn't there being shot at, watching friends and countrymen die and holding a gun and the power to do something with it.
I'm sure that some war criminals have argued that there is no such thing as a war crime, in the same way that some rapists have argued that there is no such thing as rape. So what?
Do I think they should face sanctions? Sure. But then so should the US for the many killed in Pakistan by our drone strikes who were not terrorists or members of Al-Qaeda. We should face war crimes for the civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yes.
The point I'm trying to make is, you cannot look to the past. At some point someone just has to say "Enough" and mean it. And neither side will do that, because neither side believes the other will actually stop. No one is willing to halt their attacks and suffer the enemy's because they simply are no longer willing to commit to the cycle of violence. And....should they? I can't answer that. My people aren't dying. When they were America's wars, I wanted them to stop. And even that came with a price (see: ISIS and Iraq right now.) But as a stupid American with a government who will not sanction Israel, looking in from the outside, that's the only way it can stop. Is for either side to be tired of having blood on their hands, for whatever reason. I don't see Hamas ever doing that. And I don't see the current political leadership or security situation in Israel allowing for it.
The thing is we aren't "looking to the past". This is happening now. Another group of children were killed inside their own home by Israel today.
The
only way this can stop is if Israel enters honest negotations and ceases the clear injustices it's inflicting upon people in Gaza and the West Bank. The actions of Hamas don't really come into it. If Hamas decided to renounce violence and surrender peacefully tomorrow that would do fuck-all in the long term, because there would still be a huge violent separatist feeling in Gaza that would just transfer itself to some other group (maybe Islamic Jihad, maybe IS, maybe some secular organization like the PLO. It doesn't really matter). Ultimately, if you give people the choice "starve to death slowly in your ghetto or go down fighting" some will choose the latter.
And they call us, far-rights, neo-nazies....
Reminder that a couple of days ago you were advocating the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians