CHICAGO: Western leaders risk being complicit in war crimes if they continue to support Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, an MP from the UK’s governing Conservative Party told Arab News.
Crispin Blunt is co-director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, which announced a notice of intention last week to prosecute UK government officials for “aiding and abetting war crimes in Gaza.”
Speaking on the “Ray Hanania Radio Show,” Blunt said the purpose of the notice of intent is “to try and get the Israelis to pause, have her allies saying, asking her, to think again about the consequences of the scale of the action that they might be contemplating against Gaza.”
He added: “The Palestinians have been on the wrong end of history for about 100 years. You can’t go on like this.
“In the end, there has to be a measure of justice if both sides are to have security, and it’s only if we can find a route for justice for the Palestinians that the Israelis can find security along with the Palestinians.”
Blunt said he is urging “restraint” to prevent the killing of more innocent civilians.
“What we’re trying to do is actually to avert what would undoubtedly be a disaster, which is the crime from Hamas of the appalling assault on Israel and the killing of so many utterly innocent Israelis being responded to with another crime. That’s a path we should avoid going down,” he said.
Blunt added that although US President Joe Biden’s rhetoric might be milder than that of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the American government would not be immune from legal action.
Israel must “stay within the law,” and while it may be “tiresome,” the country has many “substantial advantages” that can be employed to target those responsible for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Blunt said.
“Heads of state don’t enjoy any immunity from action, for fairly obvious reasons in taking decisions that put them in the frame for complicity with these kinds of crimes, or indeed committing the crimes themselves.”
