#Boucliers_humains
▻http://warincontext.org/2014/07/25/a-morality-lesson-on-israel-and-hamas-from-an-american-four-star-gener
The human shield, as a concept, is a mainstay of American movie and TV drama. We all know how it works.
The bad guys hold women and children at gunpoint and the good guys hold fire because they don’t want to kill the innocents.
It’s an expression of the moral depravity and cowardice of evil men who know how to exploit the good intentions of righteous men. (It’s also a narrative in which the heroes and villains are all men and the powerless women can do no more than hope they fall into the right arms.)
So how does this work in Gaza. The evil Hamas fighters hide behind the women and children and then the Israelis kill the women and children.
Wait a minute! That’s not how it’s supposed to work. What’s the point of holding a human shield if your adversary has little interest in protecting the life of that supposed “shield”?
This gets to the nub of the issue: the only kind of human shield worth holding is one whose life is valued by your adversary.
The Israelis understand this. That’s why, as has been well documented, they have been seen using Palestinians as human shields.
The closest Hamas can come to making forcible use of human shields is by taking prisoners. Which brings us to the tunnels.
(...)