WEBSITE LISTS ISRAELI ‘WAR CRIMINALS’

A US-based website has published names and photographs of 200 Israeli soldiers, calling them “war criminals.” The website also published the home addresses and ID numbers of many of the Israelis. They included senior commanders and low-ranking soldiers who the site said participated in the three-week offensive Israel launched in Gaza in late 2008. It was put up this week by anonymous activists in Britain and hosted by a US-based Web service, which took it down by November 19 citing “breach of terms”. The website said the information came from an anonymous source who was “presumably” serving in the Israeli military. The military is investigating the possibility that the information was leaked by a soldier. “The people listed here held positions of command at the time of the attack,” the website said. “Therefore, not only did they perform on behalf of a murderous state mechanism but actively encouraged other people to do the same.” It also included what appeared to be an implied threat to harm the soldiers, urging readers, to “do your bit so that this virtual list may come to bear upon the physical.”