Keep Amira Al-Qirim in your prayers

Kawther Salam

Netherlands/ The Hague, Amira Al-Qirim, a Palestinian girl aged 15, a victim and survivor of the Israeli massacre in Gaza last January, held a press conference together with her lawyer Gilles Devers in The Hague, in front of the building of the International Criminal Court, ICC, during which she stated: “I am here to present a complaint and to hand to the office of prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in the ICC a file requesting an investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli Zionists against the Palestinian civilians of Gaza Strip in which my father, my brother aged 14, and my sister aged 16, all civilians, were murdered by the IOF in the Tel Al-Hawa area south of Gaza city”.

Amira’s lawyer, Jill Davir from the Court of Lyon (France) said “This was a crime against humanity, and we are here to raise the case to the International Criminal Court, against the Israeli politicians and the military leaders who must take responsibility of what they did. They murdered hundreds and injured thousands more of civilians”.
Amira herself was injured seriously, she survived and arrived in France for medical treatment.
Over the period of 27 December 2008 until the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, the criminal Israeli IOF deliberately dropped on Gaza more than one million and a half tons of explosives during their so-called “Operation Cast Lead”. With over 1.5 million inhabitants, Gaza is the most crowded area in the whole world. The IOF executed Palestinians in their houses in cold blood, either by shooting them directly or by launching missiles and rockets at them. The cold-blooded executions of these “prisoners of war” is clear violation to the international humanitarian treaties and conventions.

Since February 2009, the attorney general of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is making a “preliminary study” of the charges of war crimes against Israel. According to his press office, the attorney general has received more than 360 letter, petitions from persons, association of human rights, and casualties in this regard.

The Israeli military massacre in Gaza had the purpose of ethnic cleansing of the civilians and murdering politicians in Gaza. According to the former cabinet chief of Ehud Olmert, the criminal Ehud Barak, and the chief of the Israeli intelligence, Yuval Diskin, the military Operation “Cast Lead” had the purpose of putting an end to some political activists, Palestinian resistance activists and their families as the only solution to “decrease the terror” of revenge against Israel. The war criminals stated that the murder of the families of Palestinian political activists and resistance fighters was very important for the security of Israel. By murdering their families, Israel would guarantee that no revenge would be possible in the future. Another motive for this willfully planned crime was for it to secure votes for its organizers.

During the Israeli war crime in Gaza, most of the murdered and the causalities were civilians. Israel dropped phosphor bombs on civilians, and the victims have been found to be contaminated with depleted Uranium.

Simultaneously, and in solidarity with Amira Al-Qirim, another press conference was held by children in Gaza on Tuesday September 1 2009 in the “Small Journalist Club”, during which they demanded that the International Criminal Court and peace-loving people around the world “criminalize the Israeli occupation” and its officials, and sue them before to the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes against the civilians of Gaza.

The children demanded an international intervention to lift the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and to provide Gaza with the humanitarian supplies which can guarantee a human life for the children there, just like all other children around the world.

During the conference in Gaza, the children accused Israel of committing war crimes, genocide and of targeting the Palestinian people. The children called for international protection for them and for an end to the the violations of their rights.

During the Israeli crimes against humanity in Gaza, the so called “Operation Cast Lead”, over 1400 Palestinians were murdered and thousands more were injured, among them over 420 child who were murdered, and over 1600 more children are among the causalities.