Phosphorus Charges Rebuked

Original article
COMMUNIQUE: 15 January 2009

Accusations that Israel employs sinister and "illegal" weapons are not new. Now, the politicized non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch has condemned Israel for allegedly using white phosphorus weapons unlawfully in the conflict with Hamas. NGOs such as HRW enjoy the "halo effect", whereby, because of their humanitarian focus, they are insulated from scrutiny and are regarded as above reproach by the media. In this case, media including The Guardian, Times of London, Christian Science Monitor and CNN have repeated HRW's claims.

However, this charge has been disputed by the International Red Cross, which stated that it had no evidence to suggest that white phosphorus is being used improperly or illegally by Israel. As the AP reports:

"In some of the strikes in Gaza it's pretty clear that phosphorus was used," [Peter] Herby told The Associated Press. "But it's not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it's being used in any other way." ...

Herby said that using phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is legitimate under international law, and that there was no evidence the Jewish state was intentionally using phosphorus in a questionable way, such as burning down buildings or consciously putting civilians at risk."

White phosphorus has, however, been used as a weapon against civilians during this conflict... by Hamas. On Tuesday a mortar shell fired from Gaza into Israel contained white phosphorus. As the regional council's security chief said: "the potential danger of using such a rocket is enormous. It is far more dangerous than other Qassam rockets and mortal shells. This is an escalation in the type of explosives the Palestinians use on civilians."

We challenge Human Rights Watch to condemn this attack in the same way it has (falsely) condemned Israel. Send your comments to HRW - hrwnyc@hrw.org.

See NGO Monitor for more on HRW and its role in spreading the white phosphorus charge in the media.

Will the international media condemn or even report on this development? We won't hold our breath.