The Senate of Bar Ilan University accused the International Red Cross today of being “an accessory to the Syrian government” in its mistreatment of Israeli prisoners of war in violation of international law. The accusation was contained in a strongly worded cable sent to the president of the IRC in Geneva with a copy to United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
The cable, signed by Bar Ilan’s Rector, Prof M.Z. Kaddari, declared: “The Syrian authorities are in clear and flagrant violation of the specific terms of the Geneva Convention, yet for months the International Red Cross did not unequivocally condemn this behavior. When your organization finally did speak out, it spoke half heartedly in muffled tones, condemning the Syrian outrages against Israeli POWs equally with Israel’s refusal to permit the return of Syrian civilians to the war zone, ignoring violations of International law.”
The Bar Ilan cable concluded: “Attempts to be “balanced” are not neutral objectivity but high forms of discrimination which aid and abet the very serious violations your organization is supposed to prevent. We hold the IRC responsible for loss of life and suffering of Israeli POWs in Syria as an accessory to the Syrian government.”
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