Death Toll In Gaza Reaches Over 1,000: White Phosphorous and International Responses

By: Jasper the Supertramp
Sources for facts/images are below the article

Do the ends truly justify the means?

The death toll in Gaza has reached an all new gruesome high today, with Palestinian casualties in the thousands. I ask you, how can this be allowed?! The Associated Press has decided to focus on the fact that Hamas militants opened fire from a UN headquarters within Gaza, yet this seems to me rather irrelevant, considering the amount of civilian casualties that the Palestinians have endured. As the parallel has been made time and time again, if a small group of individuals fired rockets on San Diego from the Mexican border, would it be right to massacre thousands of people in Mexico? Apparently, some nations think so, and continue to support Israel in their so called "retaliation". It is true a nation cannot live under occasional rocket attacks, but this in no way justifies the slaying of countless civilians, that have nothing to do with the conflict. (A.P. Yahoo News, pg 1)
According to the Guardian. the invasion of Gaza has taken the lives of 315 children, and 95 women, reaching a grim number of 1,010 people in total, that have been brutally massacred. All of these people, are Palestinian, many of them civilians. The head of the International Red Cross could only say that the situation was “shocking”. With this ridiculously high death toll, it is almost as shocking to hear that only 13 Israelis have been killed, 3 of them civilians. Bolivian President Evo Morales, following a growing trend in the international community, has denounced Israel’s actions, and cut ties with them. 315 innocent Palestinian children are dead, and Israel has lost only 13 people in total, this is not a war, it is a genocide. (Guardian.co.uk, pg 1)
The 20 day operation, appropriately called “Operation Cast Lead”, is in no way justifiable. Although numerous calls for cease fire have been requested, peace is still far from reality. With each day the Israeli war machine marches further into Gaza, leaving in it’s wake a trail of irreparable destruction and death. The infrastructure of Gaza has been annihilated, and even if a cease fire were to take place, at this point, it will take a long time for the interior structure of Gaza to mend.
It seems to me that we support Israel in an attempt to almost assimilate the Gaza region, to make it more like Israel, a more western friendly nation that will comply with the ever-growing demands of the United States. According to the “The Jerusalem Post”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that “Hamas cannot become legitimate until it accepts the terms of the international community”. Yet it was my understanding that much of the international community, especially within the Middle East, does not support Israel. Also, many of these countries are very displeased with both the invasion, and international support from the “western” nations. According to the “Middle East Times” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit denounced Israel’s invasion as “brazen defiance of international calls to end the fighting”. A Jordanian government spokesman said that the invasion “will have dangerous repercussions and negative effects on the regions security and stability”. As I said before, after this invasion, very little of an infrastructure will be left behind. Anytime a region is this thoroughly destroyed, the aftermath is a breeding ground for both terrorism and lawlessness. Where there was once a centralized government and public institutions, there will now be anarchy. (J.P., pg 1, M.E. Times pg 1)
Arab League Chief Amr Mussa declared that the UN security council was “ignoring” the crisis in Gaza. This has become quite apparent since the 20 day invasion has begun, with little talk of cease-fires and even less action. This major lack of international response is due largely to the United States that stated that it would not support a ceasefire that would return the “status quo”, according to the “Middle East Times”. Israel is a powerful ally of the United States, one that is creating even more powerful enemies. (M.E. Times, pg 1)
Throughout “Operation Cast Lead”, many human rights violations have occurred, one of the major ones being the use of phosphorous. This form of weaponry melts away the skin, and is used indiscriminately, meaning that children are just as likely as soldiers to be exposed to the phosphorous. In such a densely populated region, this weapon is sure to incur civilian casualties. According to “Al Jazeera English”, Human Rights Watch said it was clear that Israel was firing shells containing white phosphorous. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, stated that “Doctors here say that they are seeing unprecedented levels of deep burns.” This is an incredible act of cruelty, and must not be tolerated, when the phosphorous is dropped there is no way to prevent civilian casualties. Any man, woman, or child in it’s way will be either killed, or permanently and horribly disfigured. Not only is this act cruel, but it is also illegal. According to Human Rights Watch, white phosphorous is only legal when used to cover troop movements, however, it is illegal to use munition in densely populated areas. It violates international law that requires all feasible precautions to be taken to avoid civilian death or injury. Clearly these laws are not being followed. The international community has not seen such acts of cruelty and lack of discrimination since the Holocaust. Yet our government supports Israel. 1,010 casualties to 13, how is this fair? In a conflict with so many gray areas it is hard to see who the real terrorists are. Yet in this day and age, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and so the wounds grow deeper. (A.J. English, pg 1)


Images from top to bottom:

1.Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank city of Ramallah: "Middle East Times" (source referenced below),

2.Next is the aftermath of an Israeli air strike:
: www.thewe.cc/.../bbc_bias_towards_israel.htm

3.Photo from the "unrwa", a Palestinian child receiving aid:
www.un.org/unrwa/news/UN_agencies_8Jul06.htm

4.Photo of the white phosphorous being dropped on Gaza: "Al Jazeera" (source referenced below)


Sources:
Article Title: “Israeli Forces Shell UN Headquarters in Gaza”
Yahoo News/AP, Authors: Ibrahim Barzak and Amy Teibel
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians,

Article Title: “Ban: death toll in Gaza ‘unbearable’”
Jerusalem Post, Authors: J.POST.com Staff and Elana Kirsh
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231950861136&agename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Article Title: “Palestinian death toll in Gaza reaches 1,000”
Guardian.co.uk, Authors: Rory McCarthy and Peter Walker and Agencies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/gaza-city-fighiting-israel-un

Article Title: “Gazans fear Israel using phosphorous”
Al Jazeera.net, Authors: Unknown
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20091111392884765.html

Article Title: “Middle East nations condemn Israel’s Gaza invasion”
Middle East Times, Author: Samer al-Atrush
http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2009/01/04/middle_east_nations_condemn_israels_gaza_invasion/afp/