“Fajon’s statement is not a surprise, it just needs to be understood in the context of the politics from which the current Foreign Minister comes. A person who bows down to the statue of Boris Kidrič is also bowing to the ideology of Titoist Yugoslavia, which has always been anti-Israel,” believes university professor and political commentator Boštjan M. Turk.
A few days ago, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon was a guest on a show on CNN, in which she lashed out at Israel, saying that it was violating international humanitarian law in its attacks on Gaza. Official Israel strongly responded to her statements – the country’s representatives said, among other things, that Israel was doing everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, but that this was extremely difficult because Hamas was deliberately using civilians as human shields. Former Prime Minister Janez Janša also commented on Fajon’s actions, accusing her of “obvious shallowness and bias, which borders on thinly disguised support for terrorism.” The renowned diplomat Božo Cerar also presented his views on Fajon’s performance in the eyes of the world public.
Fajon could have been more careful in her judgement
Cerar: “I think it is perfectly legitimate to shudder at the news of thousands of Palestinian casualties in Gaza during the fighting there between the Israeli army and Hamas. We have to, we must care about the lives of innocent people.” He also questioned whether Israel fully respects the principles of international law of war or international humanitarian law. By this, he means the principles of distinction (between civilians and soldiers), of precaution and proportionality. However, he does not have enough precise information to make a definitive judgement and would, therefore, be more cautious when making broad statements on the matter. A judgment will be given by an independent body after all the facts have been examined. Until then, we can talk about indications. The matter is not as simple as it may seem at first sight. Gaza is an extremely densely populated area. Hamas is known to use civilian buildings (hospitals, schools, residential buildings, churches – mosques) for its shelters and storage facilities.
It is a war crime for Hamas to use civilians as human shields
Hamas has also built a labyrinth of tunnels under the said buildings. “To launch attacks from their immediate vicinity or even from them, using so-called human shields. All of which is prohibited by international law, or would constitute a war crime,” Cerar was clear. He went on to say that as our hearts break because of the suffering of Palestinian civilians, we must not forget the Israeli victims of the Hamas massacres of the 7th of October and the sexual abuse of Israeli women and girls. He further believes that, in condemning the Netanyahu government’s attitude towards the Palestinians and its refusal to accept the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we must not forget Hamas, which has continued to fire rockets at
Israel since the 7th of October and has not backed down from its destruction. The actions of one side and the other must be approached in the same way and with the same principles. “Palestinians have the right to self-determination and Israelis the right to live in peace. We must do everything to ensure that this realisation prevails on both sides as soon as possible,” he concludes.
“Tito was in a permanent alliance with the Arab world, and Israel was at his disposal!”
University professor Boštjan M. Turk also presented his view of the situation: “Fajon’s statement is not a surprise, it just needs to be understood in the context of the politics from which the current Foreign Minister comes. A person who bows down to the statue of Boris Kidrič is also bowing to the ideology of Titoist Yugoslavia, which has always been anti-Israel.” In his book Kotor 101, Turk analyses the matter and concludes that Israel has always defended itself against Soviet weapons, many parts of which were delivered via Yugoslavia. Tito, through the Non-Aligned Movement, was in a permanent alliance with the Arab world, and Israel was at his disposal. Fajon is restoring the position of a non-aligned Yugoslavia, and she cannot act any differently from a politician who came out of the party that ruled Yugoslavia all the time. On the other hand, Israel’s action is logical. Turk: “We know another date which contains the number seven, that is the 7th of December 1941, the year in which the United States of America was brutally attacked by the Japanese Empire.”
Turk went on to say that the USA simply could not have responded and acted differently than it did. “This is a great analogy for the 7th of October 2023, because Israel could not have acted differently than it did,” Turk believes. Hamas attacked civilians without any warning, simply to commit crimes. And as long as Hamas or Hezbollah is present in the region, crimes will continue to be committed. “Israel cannot do anything other than try to eradicate Hamas by any means necessary, and that is what it is doing,” he explained. At the same time, Israel should try and make sure that there are as few civilian casualties as possible on the Palestinian side, which is difficult to achieve because it is the civilian infrastructure of the Palestinian people that Hamas uses for its military needs. We know, for example, that hospitals are the main bunkers and supply centres for weapons, and that humanitarian and medical organisations are often just a transmission of military structures. “It is very difficult to wage a just war in such a situation, but Israel cannot do things differently than how it is doing them now. If it had not acted in this way, I am sure that by now there would have been several more 7th Octobers,” he concluded.
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