Combatant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A combatant is a person who takes a direct part in the hostilities of an armed conflict who upon capture qualifies for prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention ...

To qualify for Prisoner of war status persons waging war must have the following characteristics to be protected by the laws of war:

1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict
2. or members of militias not under the command of the armed forces
* that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
* that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
* that of carrying arms openly;
* that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
3. or are members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.


"Apart from the physical destruction of the enemy, the taking of prisoners has always been a significant objective of military operations in time of war. Prisoners taken represent a resource denied to the opponent. They can provide valuable intelligence concerning his strengths, weaknesses and intentions. .. In the Second World War this entailed the creation of vast bureaucracies dedicated to the administration of prisoners of war and civilian internees. As many as 35 million members of the armed forces who participated in the Second World War were at one time or another held as prisoners of war - 40% of the total number of combatants."
 http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/prisoners/essay.asp

Israels response to this legitimate act of war, was to shell civillian targets, a serious war crime outlined in the fourth Geneva convention.
With over 300 lebanese civilians killed in the last week,and the countries infrastucture heavily damaged by Israeli shelling, it is imperative that these issues questioned by the world's media, and that Israel be brought to justice.
However the g8 power elite's response has been a lengthy discussion on how to disarm Hisbollah from defending Lebanon's borders.

The international coverage of these events is heavily monitered by the Israeli government press office.

I recived this e mail Sent: 18 July 2006 09:50 To: Editorial Board; Newsg WDEs; Newsg World Asseds; TV News Eds As Eds Presenters; Radio News Direction Cc: Jerusalem Bureau ( GPO ).

Subject: Israeli censor

Technically, everything we do in Israel is subject to the approval for the military censor. In pratice, for the last ten years, this has been post-broadcast : they reserve the right to take action against us if they feel something has broken the rules. Yesterday they issued guidance on reporting the missile strikes in Israel. They also arrested the bureau chief of Al Jazeera. The two may be unconnected -- but it gives cause for some reflection.
Their main concern is that we should not be providing real time reporting on the exact location of rocket hits -- they say this must be strictly avoided.
We cannot report missile hits on IDF bases and/or strategic facilities.
We cannot report missiles that fall into the Mediteranean Sea.
We cannot report times periods when citizens are allowed to leave shelters. The Israeli authorities believes such times can be used by "the enemy" for timing of attacks.


If Missiles are dropped into the Mediteranean sea, are not citizens of Mediteranean countries entitled to be warned?

If Hizbollah carries out a successful miltary operation again is not the world entitled to know that Lebanon is resisting Israeli terrorism?

These sanctions show Israeli control over the global reporting in this conflict and illustrates news agencies fears of penalisation for refusing to comply.
One example of Israeli media sanctions was their refusal to allow BBC journalists entry to Gaza following the " Death in Gaza " Documentary and even now,only one BBC reporter is permitted inside the strip.
War is a hot topic and failure to provide coverage, can destroy a news outlets credibilty, so most press agencies accept Israel's dictates and report accordingly which means the global news angle is heavily directed by the Israeli GPO.