One year on from Operation Cast Lead: Greens call for justice for war crimes in Gaza
08 January 2010
The 6th January marked the 1st anniversary of the Israeli airforce bombing of al-Fakhora school in Jabaliya refugee Camp in Gaza. The assault was part of ‘Operation Cast Lead’ which included airstrikes and a land invasion of the Gaza Strip killing more than 1,300 Gazans, including more than 300 children over the course of 22 days.
Caroline Lucas MEP and Green Party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion added: “One year on from the bombardment, we demand justice for the war crimes committed on the people of Gaza.
“Israel must be subject to the Geneva Convention concerning the rights of individuals and communities, in the same way that other states are.. The resort to ‘collective punishment’ in defiance of those requirements is completely unacceptable. While we condemn the actions of the Israeli Defence Force, we also condemn the Hamas qassam rocket attacks: Greens firmly believe that there cannot be a resolution based on the use of violence.”
Phelim Mac Cafferty joint International Coordinator of the Green Party stated: “One year on from the start of Operation Cast Lead, it is clear that the Israeli Defence Force believes it can act with impunity, committing what the UN described as war crimes in the bombing of the United Nations school in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp.(1) Over 40 died in the attack on the school which was packed with hundreds of people who had been ordered out of their homes with Israeli Defence Force leaflet drops and loudspeakers, in what the UN described a 'complete absence of accountability.' The Israeli action has been completely counterproductive to the prospects for peace."
Throughout Operation Cast Lead:
--Israel refused to act on the instructions of the UN Council which requested that it stop its bombardment;
--The explicitly illegal bombing of built-up areas with white phosphorous was widespread;
--Such significant damage was caused to the infrastructure of Gaza, that Green MEPs, Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas, wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK calling on the Israeli Government to refund the EU for its investment in the Gazan infrastructure.
“Gaza is a country where the poverty rate stands at 76% and the unemployment rate at 45%.(2) Geographically, it’s about the size of the Isle of Man except with a population of 1.5million where over half are aged under 15.
Phelim concluded: “The Green Party demands an immediate lifting of the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel which has caused a humanitarian crisis with food, fuel and medicine being blocked now since June 2007. (3) There is no military solution to the Middle East conflict. Peace is the common need of all people in the region but will only be sustained when there is justice felt by both Palestine and Israel.”
| (1) http://www.palestinecampaign.org/files/4MayGltrtoSCBrd.pdf |
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