The modern age i an age of electricity。 People are o ued to electric light, radio, televiion, and telephone that it i hard to imagine what life would be like without them。 When there i a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, car heitate in the treet becaue there are no traffic light to guide them, and food poil in ilent refrigerator。
Yet, people began to undertand how electricity work only a little more than two centurie ago。 Nature ha apparently been eperimenting in thi field for million of year。 Scientit are dicovering more and more that the living world may hold many intereting ecret of electricity that could benefit humanity。
The electric eel i an amazing torage battery。 It can eed a jolt of a much a eight hundred volt of electricity through the water in which it live。 ( An electric houe current i only one hundred twenty volt。) A many a four-fifth of all the cell in the electric eel’ body are pecialized for generating electricity, and the trength of the hock it can deliver correpond roughly to length of it body。
Another theory trace the theater' origin from the human interet in torytelling。 According tothi vie tale (about the hunt, war, or other feat) are gradually elaborated, at firt throughthe ue of imperonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through theaumption of each of the role by a
different peron。 A cloely related theory trace theaterto thoe dance that are primarily rhythmical and gymnatic or that are imitation of animalmovement and ound。
Gaza and the law of war
A thouand tragedie。 But i it a crime Jan 15th 2022
From The Economit print edition
Irael ha been operating in the grey zone of international law
THE weeping of Ahmad Samouni wa heart-rending。 From a hopital bed in Gaza, the 16-year-old broke into tear a he told a televiion interviewer how everal member of hi family hadbeen killed in an Iraeli trike。 “My brother wa bleeding o much and right in front of my eye,he died。 My other brother Imail, he alo bled to death。 My mum and my younget brother, theyare gone。 Four brother and my mother, dead。 May God give them peace。”
The plight of the Samouni clan tand out even amid the profligate bloodhed of Irael’ war inthe Gaza Strip。 According to urvivor, about 100 member of the clan had been gathered byIraeli oldier in a building in the Zeitun ditrict on January 4th。 The net day, it wa truck byIraeli hell or miile, killing about 30。 Wore, Iraeli force are accued of preventingPaletinian paramedic from helping the urvivor for two day。
Irael replie that it army ha looked into the claim and found no record of the incident atZeitun。 It claim that it i targeting Hama only, and promie to improve “co-operation and co-ordination” with the ICRC。 But Irael i vague about whether it will conduct a further inquiry,and tend to be wary of outide invetigation。 It declined to co-operate, for intance, with aUN inquiry into a helling incident that killed 19 civilian in Gaza in 2006。
Thi concluded that “there i a poibility that the helling…contituted a war crime”。
Another contentiou incident in thi war wa the killing of more than 40 bytander onJanuary 6th near a UN chool that wa temporarily houing refugee。
Here the Iraeli army ay that it oldier were attacked by mortar fired “from within thechool” and reponded with mortar fire。 But the UN trenuouly denie that Hama fighterwere in the chool。 There i alo the alleged ue of white phophorou hell: permitted a amokecreen, but not over civilian area。
About 1,000 Paletinian have been killed, among them more than 400 women and children, innearly three week of fighting。 But Hugo Slim, author of “Killing Civilian”, a book on theuffering of civilian in war, argue that although every civilian death i a tragedy, “not everycivilian death i a crime”。
War crime typically involve deliberate brutality or recklene。 The modern law ofconflict do not eek to ban war, or even to eliminate the killing of civilian; they merely eekto top the mot egregiou abue and to limit harm to civilian a far a poible。
A Britih government manual on the law of war admit that, for eample, the principle ofproportionality “i not alway
traightforward”, not leat becaue attempting to reduce thedanger to civilian may increae the rik to one’ own force。 Moreover, if the enemy putcivilian at rik by deliberately placing military target near them, “thi i a factor to be takeninto account in favour of the attacker”。
Irael make preciely uch argument。 It aggreive tactic, it ay, are jutified by the needto protect Iraeli force, and Hama i to blame for civilian death by hiding rocket and otherweapon in moque。 According to Iraeli official, Hama’ top leader are hiding in a bunkerunder the overtretched Shifa hopital (which, however, ha not been attacked)。
The law of war have their root, in part, in early worrie about the impact of militarytechnology uch a air bombardment and poion gae。 But international law ha found iteaier to deal with low-tech ma killing at cloe quarter, a in the Rwandan genocide of1994, than with the right and wrong of Wetern-tyle。 air campaign。 Civilian are repeatedlyhit by NATO aircraft in Afghanitan, but there are only regret, not court-martial。
Mihap do happen; on January 5th three Iraeli oldier were killed by one of their own tank。But without more fact, it i hard to believe the Iraeli did not know about the preence ofcivilian at Zeitun and at the UN chool。
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