On Monday Jan. 13, Arab nations released a statement claiming that Israel had used ammunition that had depleted uranium in it. Israel denied it. Before we go any further it should be known that somebody screwed the pooch on this one.
Israel has also been using white phosphorous in their latest Gaza invasion. The use of white phosphorous as a weapon was banned during the Geneva Convention. However, using white phosphorous as a smokescreen or for illumination is not prohibited by international law.
If a nation is using depleted uranium in a military conflict, it is a travesty. Uranium has been shown to affect the normal functioning of the brain, heart, liver and kidneys. If somebody is simply crying wolf about Israel using depleted uranium, then that person or persons is a moronic idiot.
If a nation makes it so the international community disregards one’s pleas for military aid when Israel or some other country actually uses depleted uranium against another country or occupied territory, then that nation is doing your children, family, country, elders, etc. a disservice.
Richard Falk, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has stated that Israel is guilty of committing war crimes according to Iran’s press.
Of course, there is the off chance that this is a genuine mistake. In 2006, during the Israel and Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, similar allegations were made against Israel but there was no proof that they did in fact use nuclear material in their weapons.
The fact that these allegations have been made before led me to think that someone is in fact crying wolf. However, these allegations simply cannot be ignored if we are to be responsible citizens.
Because this is not a strictly military conflict, it goes beyond militarism into a conflict greatly affecting the Arab population living in Gaza, where over 100 wells have been destroyed. So, it needs to be examined more thoroughly and sincerely.
Which is why such allegations cannot be ignored, and thankfully, they are not.
Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas leader, and political adviser to Ismail Haniya, who became the Palestinian prime minister in 2006, has stated that he will take Israel to court—an international court.
This is a correct course of action for Hamas because Israel has not only denied these accusations but spokesman Mark Regev has argued that Hamas has caused white phosphorous casualties as well.
So, thank you, Yousef, you may be the leader of an alleged terrorist group, but thank you for letting a neutral court decide this.
There has been fighting in the region for who knows how long. And letting an international court decide this is a step in the right direction.
I am unsure about who is right in this conflict, but I do know that somebody has to be the bigger person, or nation, and accept that they were wrong and an international court will provide that opportunity.
Both sides will have an opportunity to present evidence to a judge who will decide whether that evidence is enough to convict someone. Someone will lose in that court and the way that loss is handled will show the world whether progress can or cannot be made.
The one thing that I do know is that Yousef has decided that a result and resolution can be made about this terrible ordeal.
Unless, of course, Yousef is crying wolf.