Will the murder of children result in a war crimes commission?

In my article “Christmas Shopping: Shoes are the perfect present” I wrote,

“Let’s try and and talk about something we should all be able to agree on.
KILLING CHILDREN IS A WAR CRIME PLAIN AND SIMPLE
STAND FORWARD ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE”

This article was posted on the 16th December and was tragically prophetic of the invasion of Gaza by Israeli military weeks later. The consequences of that invasion of a dense civilian population using fighter aircraft, tanks and missiles did not need a prophet to forsee. Any military man would have been able to state clearly that civilians would die. Most certainly the use of such force would kill children.

I can say this categorically as I have just spent two days with a highly experienced ex military officer. Captain Doctor Nick Swift saw active service in Bosnia as a military doctor and has extensive training in weapons, weapon wounds and combat medicine. I have known “Swifty” since we were at Girton College together and our friendship is based on an intellectual humanitarianism. As we sat in his house he started to show me images of the Gazan conflict and I can honestly say that I have never seen him so angry.

“You see these Jack, these are images of air burst weapons. leaving aside any claim of phospherous use, the very idea of launching air burst weapons into a densely packed civilian population has to be a war crime. This is not a point any sane military officer would debate, air burst weaponry over civilian populations will cause indiscriminate civilian fatalities and every soldier will know that before they launch the weapon. “

Swifty took time to explain to me that an air burst weapon showers shrapnel down to the ground in a devastating shower of red hot steel. There is no possibility of aiming that shower and there is no possibility of discriminate targeting of individuals. If you are a baby sleeping in a cot below that air burst then you are a target. For Swifty this was simply an inappropriate use of force and an unforgivable crime against humanity.

“Look Jack, as far as I am concerned Hamas is a terrorist organisation however that does not in any way excuse the Israeli military. Imagine if we had responded with air burst weapons over the population of Ireland and claimed that we were only targeting terrorists!”

In Northern Ireland we suffered more casualties in a year than the Israelis have suffered from terrorist rockets in the last year but the British military never considered using tanks, aircraft and air burst weaponry against the IRA. I can hear a voice saying “THIS IS NOT A SIMILAR SITUATION TO NORTHERN IRELAND.” And yes they would be right, the people of Gaza are densely packed into a small space whereas the Irish population is mostly spread between towns and open countryside. The difference is that you are absolutely certain to kill innocent civilians in Gaza whereas in Ireland people would have a greater chance of survival, not a good or ‘just’ chance merely a greater one.

Are we getting the point here? Without doubt the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military breached the human rights of the Gaza civilian population. There were many war crimes committed and, unfortunately, it is unlikely anyone will be called to answer for them. Why? Well one reason is that not enough people are complaining about these crimes.

A tank had parked in front of the house, where around 30 people were taking shelter.

The women and children – mother, grandmother and three little girls – came out waving a white flag and then, he said, an Israeli soldier came out of the tank and opened fire on the terrified procession.

Samar’s two sisters, aged seven and two, were shot dead. The grandmother was hit in the arm and in the side, but has survived.
source: BBC website.

Allow me to re-itterate:

KILLING CHILDREN IS A WAR CRIME PLAIN AND SIMPLE
STAND FORWARD ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE”

“There were no fighters here,” he added, picking up crisp bags printed with Hebrew lettering that the soldiers seemed to have left behind. “Do you think soldiers eat crisps sitting on their tanks when there is incoming fire?”

Samar’s father and her uncle have not spoken to each other since she left Gaza for treatment in Egypt, yet in separate interviews they told us the three girls were outside the house, in plain view, when they were shot.

We toured the part of Jabaliya where the Abed Rabbus lived. In an area that must cover at least a square mile, there are no houses left – no mosques, no factories and no orchards. The entire neighbourhood has been devastated.

It may be true that fighters were hiding in the alleys of Jabaliya. It is possible that rockets were being fired from here towards Israel.

But for the people who lived here, this is a story of wanton destruction. The world must now decide whether the Israeli action here was justified under the rules of war.

source: BBC website as quoted above.

If we all stand by and simply allow this dreadful set of atrocities to go unquestioned, unchallenged and unpunished then we should be ashamed of ourselves. Estimates show that over 400 children were killed in Gaza. Please explain how that helps the Middle East situation and exactly how it avenges the 28 Israelis killed by terrorist rocket fire into “Southern Israel” over the last 14 months.

When has it been rightful or just to murder children?

Please don’t allow these acts to be confined to the dustbin of history.

Jack Adams
Historian
Project Leader
HumanRights TV

Tags: air burst weapons, bbc, civilian casualties, Gaza, Hague convention, Hamas, human, Human Rights, human rights abuse, human rights tv, Human Rights Video, IRA, jack adams, killing children, murder, Nick Swift, Northern Ireland, shelling of civilians, war crimes, war crimes tribunal

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