I am currently reading a book on international law which saw the United Nations, together with its Charter, set up after the second world war in order to try and ensure a more peaceful world for its citizens.
I was quite intrigued to read about the crime against peace — which includes the planning, preparation and the waging of war.
War crimes specifically relate to the murder and ill-treatment of a civilian population in an occupied territory and the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages.
And finally crimes against humanity, which includes inhumane acts against any civilian population during a war or the persecution of them on political, racial or religious grounds and including the deprivation of food, water, medical supplies and energy.
This seems to be something I and others have been reading about or seen on our television screens over the last year or more.
It is a sad reflection on mankind that some countries will not accept the provisions of international law and have opted out.
Suddenly with the murder of three British aid workers in an air strike in Gaza along with another four the IDF is seemingly condemned for this, although nearly 200 others have also been killed. Yet little has been said by western governments over the 33,000 Palestinians that have been killed in the devastation of Gaza itself since last October.
Now we learn that Israel apparently attacked the Iran consulate in Damascus and that US President Biden, rather than seeking a peaceful settlement to the ongoing situation, is now stating that he is “iron clad” in support of Israel! Such rhetoric, ill chosen, can only extend and escalate this conflict across a wider area.
It is time for Israel’s allies to reflect on this situation and broker a peaceful solution to the current events in the Middle East.
It was at the end of the Second World War that Sir Winston Churchill stated that as a nation we should embrace co-existence between all peoples, their culture and their faiths.
How right he was; and it is something that the world and its global citizens should be striving for. — A. M. WADDINGTON, Sutton-on-Trent.
