The U.N. Human Rights Council voted Friday to endorse a Gaza war crimes report and send it to the Security Council, possibly setting up international prosecution of Israelis and Palestinians accused of war crimes.

A U.N. investigation concluded Tuesday that both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, raising the prospect that officials may seek prosecution in the International Criminal Court.

Brief comments on a variety of topics currently in the news . . . .

• With the Obama administration springing Guantanamo-housed terrorists and, e.g., funding Hamas-dominated Gaza to the tune of $900 million (etc.), how far we have come from George Bush’s admonition: “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.“

Intense images of terrified, bloodied children, Israeli tanks and demolished buildings elicited sad sighs in the darkened meeting space of a Hanover County church. More than 50 people gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Glen Allen on Saturday to raise money for American Near East Refugee Aid, a nonprofit organization that is providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Hinkle substitutes inflammatory rhetoric for facts and reporting. The dead and mangled people of Gaza were forced to be shields, he claims. The primitive rockets coming out of Gaza are part of an existential threat to Israel and have nothing to do with the 1.5 million people pushed into what can best be described as a concentration camp. Criticism of Israel’s violation of international law is part of a “wave of anti-Semitism worldwide.“ Why talk about the facts when one can wave the bloody shirt?

Last week the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution endorsing a cease-fire in Gaza. The content was one-sided, as usual. It did not call on Hamas to halt its rocket attacks against Israeli civilians as a condition for the suspension of Israel’s anti-terror offensive. Despite assurances that it would oppose statements that failed adequately to censure Hamas, the U.S. abstained on the motion. By not exercising its veto, the U.S. allowed the resolution to pass 14-0.

On Nov. 14, I was touring Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Israel, with Ellen Chernack, the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, when we came under attack from Grad rockets sent from Gaza. I was there in my role as a vice president of the federation and because of my professional interests. As an emergency room doctor who now teaches health care policy at VCU, I had helped organize conferences in Israel and Richmond on disaster-planning—and Barzilai hospital, unfortunately, offered a unique perspective.

Another Israel-Arab war has erupted and again Western supporters of both sides have divided into predictable camps. Israel supporters cite the indisputable fact that missiles launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza have been slamming into Israeli towns at increasing distances and with increasing accuracy. Palestine supporters cite the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip, which is dependent on Israel for electricity, fuel, and even basic foods.

About 180 people attended last night’s interfaith vigil at Bon Air Presbyterian Church to pray for peace in the Gaza Strip and Israel. Jews, Muslims and Christians joined to raise awareness about the conflict and to pray for peace.

Local faith leaders are urging the community to engage in prayers and conversation—not division—about the turmoil in the Gaza Strip.

A half-dozen years ago, Rania Kharma of Gaza was my classmate. In October 2007, Rania wrote me and others she knew at Eastern Mennonite University to ask for our help in breaking “the siege on Gaza.“

With more than 350 people killed in Israel’s deadliest attacks against Palestinians in decades, Virginia’s congressional delegation is split on whether the bombardment of Gaza is justified.

Israel is acting in self-defense, as any country in its position would. If Gaza had not served as a launching pad for terrorism, then Israel would not have struck at the source.