>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] IS THE ISRAELI MILITARY USING DEPLETED-URANIUM >WEAPONS AGAINST THE PALESTINIANS? > >International Action Center calls for an investigation > > >By John Catalinotto and Sara Flounders, > >Depleted Uranium Education Project of the International Action >Center > > >The International Action Center calls upon international >organizations, NGOs, environmental and health organizations to >investigate the Israeli military’s use of prohibited weapons in the >West Bank and Gaza, and to mobilize to stop it. These weapons >include dumdum bullets and CS gas. The IAC believes it also >includes depleted- uranium weapons. > > >The effect of dumdum bullets and CS gas is immediate, easily shown > and obvious. Using radioactive and toxic depleted-uranium >weapons is an additional crime that has an insidious long-term >effect, not only on combatants and civilians in the vicinity, but over >a broad area and to the general environment, as has been shown by >the Pentagon’s massive use of DU weapons in Yugoslavia and >especially in Iraq. > > >The International Action Center’s own investigative team on Nov. 1 >and 2 saw Israeli helicopter gun ships firing into densely populated >areas. According to international law these attacks on civilian areas >are war crimes--as is the long-term destruction of the environment >from DU contamination. > > >Mobilizing investigations, public challenges and mass protests >against the use of DU weapons can stop this crime against >humanity. > > >The aim of this paper is to show with supporting data that it is >credible that the Israeli military is using DU weapons in the >Occupied Territories. We know that Israel is DU-armed and >capable, and shielding on Israeli tanks is DU-reinforced. The IAC >urges scientists, doctors and soldiers who know of the use of DU >shells to come forward with definitive proof that the Israeli military >has at least tested DU weapons in its attacks on Palestinian offices >and homes. In addition, we urge environmental and other >organizations to demand an accounting from these authorities. > > >It will also show how following similar Pentagon or U.S. government > denials regarding test-firing DU weapons in Puerto Rico, Okinawa >Panama and south Korea, revelations and public pressure have >forced admissions and in some cases have won pledges to stop >firing DU weapons. In Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and in the >Persian/Arabian Gulf region this pressure has led to international >investigations and legal actions against DU use. > > >DU IS PART OF ISRAELI ARSENAL > > >U.S. arms make up the major part of the Israeli arsenal and Israel >has been the number one recipient of U.S. arms aid for decades. >These U.S. weapons include the M1 Abrams tank—which fires >DU shells and is armored with DU-reinforced metal. The “Apache” >and the Cobra helicopter gun ships are also equipped to fire DU >shells. Since this latest Intifada started, the U.S. has shipped Israel >“the newest and most advanced multi-mission attack helicopters in >the U.S. inventory,” as reported in the Jerusalem Post. These were >Apache helicopters. > > > > >The IAC delegation witnessed Israeli attack helicopters, which >people described to them as “Apache” helicopters from the U.S., >firing shells and rockets at targets in and around Ramallah on Nov. >1. They then examined a small office used by the Fatah organization >that the projectiles hit and destroyed. > > >The following day they saw machine guns on tanks being fired at >Palestinian youths in Ramallah armed only with rocks and slingshots. > They also visited a Fatah office near Nablus that Israeli rockets had > hit the night before. > > >The IAC delegation gathered up shell casings and metal fragments in > these areas. As they were preparing to leave from Ben Gurion >Airport in Tel Aviv, members of the IAC delegation were stopped, >searched and interrogated. The shell casings and metal fragments >were confiscated. While this prevented the IAC from arranging its >own tests, it made them even more suspicious that the Israeli forces >were using DU shells and trying to hide it. > > >Because of its great density, DU is also used to stabilize or balance >airplanes and missiles, including the Tomahawk Cruise missile. >When the missile explodes, or should the plane crash, the DU burns >and is released into the air just as it is when DU shells hit steel. DU >is also used to shield tanks, including the M1 Abrams tank used by >the U.S. and Israel. After 32 continuous days, or 64 12-hour days, >the amount of radiation a tank driver receives to his head from >overhead armor will exceed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's >standard for public whole-body annual exposure to man-made >sources of radiation. > > >Whether from shells or from the scrapings from tanks moving >around the countryside, radioactive materials enter into the land, the >water and the whole food chain, contaminating the densely >populated West Bank and Gaza, where water is a scarce resource. >Wanton radioactive contamination of this region is a crime against >all of humanity and a threat to the entire region now and for >generations to come. > > >According to the LAKA Foundation in the Netherlands, the Israeli >army first used depleted-uranium weapons in the 1973 war, under >direction from U.S. advisers. > > >The same 1995 report from the U.S. Army Environmental Policy >Institute mentioned earlier asserts that Israel is one of the countries >with DU munitions in its arsenal. These included at that time at least >Bahrain, Egypt, France, Greece, Kuwait, Pakistan Russia, Saudi >Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well > as the United States. This assertion has been repeated in the >Christian Science Monitor, the Jerusalem Post, the San Francisco >Chronicle and other newspapers. > > >Israel has a nuclear-weapons program more developed than that of >any country except the five major nuclear powers. For exposing this > nuclear program, Mordechai Vanunu, a nuclear-weapons >technician, was kidnapped by the Mossad and held in solitary >confinement 14 years. > > >Given Israel’s own nuclear program and well-developed military >industry, the likelihood is that Israel is a manufacturer of DU >ammunition. The firm Rafael of Israel is named in numerous reports >as being such a manufacturer. But even if this were not the case, >Israel has been able to import DU weapons from the United States. > > >DANGERS FROM DEPLETED URANIUM > > >DU, much like natural uranium from which it hardly differs, is both >radioactive and toxic. DU is a waste product of the process that >produces enriched uranium for use in atomic weapons and nuclear >power plants. Over a billion pounds of DU exists in the United >States and must be safely stored or disposed of by the Department >of Energy. With its half-life of 4.5 billion years, the radioactivity of >DU is effectively eternal. > > >It is so abundant it has been given away to arms manufacturers. >Because it is extremely dense—1.7 times as dense as lead--when >turned into a metal DU can be used to make a shell that easily >penetrates steel. In addition it is pyrophoric, that is, it burns when >heated by friction from when it strikes steel. > > >When DU burns, this spews tiny particles of poisonous and >radioactive uranium oxide in the air. The small particles can be >ingested or inhaled by humans for miles around, and even one >particle, when lodged in a vital organ, can be dangerous. > > >The Pentagon tested DU shells at various sites around the U.S., and > used it openly in combat against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf war. At >least 600,000 pounds of DU and uranium dust was left around Iraq, > Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by U.S. and British forces during that >war. > > >Although the U.S. government and military continue to deny or >minimize the environmental and health dangers from depleted >uranium weapons, they themselves have to admit these dangers >exist. A 1995 report from the U.S. Army Environmental Policy >Institute, entitled the “Health and Environmental Consequences of >Depleted Uranium in the U.S. Army” stated, “If DU enters the >body, it has the potential to generate significant medical >consequences. The risks associated with DU in the body are both >chemical and radiological.... Personnel inside or near vehicles >struck by DU penetrators could receive significant internal >exposures.” > > >DU is also considered at least a contributing cause to the 130,000 >reported cases of "Gulf War Syndrome.” Numerous international >studies in Britain, the United States and in Iraq have linked Gulf War > Syndrome to the use of radioactive weapons in the bombing. The >chronic symptoms of this ailment range from sharp increases in >cancers to memory loss chronic pain, fatigue and birth defects in the >veterans’ children. > > >The damage to the Iraqi people was even more severe. A >symposium in Baghdad in December 1998 found higher rates of >childhood leukemia and other cancers in people living around >Basra, Iraq, and attributed this to DU contamination. Data was >presented on the pattern of a more than five-fold increase in many >cancers, a ten-fold increase in uterine cancer and a sixteen fold >increase in ovarian cancer and the high incidence of still births and >congenital deformities, especially in Southern Iraq. > > >U.S. USE OF DU WEAPONS WORLDWIDE > > >The only admitted use of DU in combat has been in the 1991 war >against Iraq, the 1995 NATO bombing of Bosnia and the massive >NATO assault on Yugoslavia in 1999. There have, however, been >other instances when the Pentagon has test-fired DU shells in such a > way that it has endangered nearby civilians. Besides the many tests >conducted within the United States, these include DU testing at sites > in Vieques, Puerto Rico; Okinawa, Japan; Panama and South >Korea. > > >VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO > > >Vieques, an island near and part of Puerto Rico, has been a >Pentagon target-practice site since 1940. For the past few years >and especially since an errant U.S. bomb killed a Vieques resident >in April 1999, people in Vieques and all Puerto Rico have >mobilized to stop the testing on that island. As part of this mass >mobilization, they have demanded that the U.S. Navy fulfill its >responsibility to the local environment and clean up depleted- >uranium shells it fired on the island. > > >While first denying it did such testing, in January 2000, Navy >spokespeople admitted firing 263 shells reinforced with DU during >practice runs in Vieques, claiming they did so "by accident." They >said Navy forces were able to recover 57 rounds, leaving 206. >Removing the DU contamination has remained one of the demands >of the movement in Vieques. Dr. Doug Rokke, former Director of >the Pentagon's Depleted Uranium Project, has condemned the >Navy’s use of DU in Vieques and called in a Feb. 9, 2000 news >release for “complete environmental remediation of all affected >terrain and medical care be provided for all affected residents of >Vieques." > > >OKINAWA > > >The U.S. government never notified Japan it was testing DU >weapons near Okinawa. Yet it turned out that a U.S Marine Corps >AV-8B Harrier jet in late 1995 had test fired 1,520 rounds of DU >ammunition. The Pentagon finally admitted this in an article published > in the Washington Times on Feb. 10, 1997. This created such a >national outrage including angry denunciations in the Japanese Duma > that the U.S. government apologized, agreed to remove the >weapons from bases on Okinawa and make an extensive clean-up >of the site. > > >As reported in the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun, Pentagon >spokesperson Kenneth Bacon said the U.S. military has moved all >depleted-uranium bullets deployed in Okinawa to south Korea. He >also reportedly said that in south Korea, the shells are closer to a >"potential battlefield. > > >According to the Mainichi Shimbun article, a South Korean foreign >ministry source said the U.S.-puppet government in Seoul had not >been informed of the transfer. "If it is the case that the move was >made to avoid further controversy in Japan, it could disturb >sentiments of the [south Korean] people," the source reportedly >said. > > >SOUTH KOREA > > >And it did. U.S. Air-Force veteran turned peace activist during the >war against Vietnam Brian Willson reports on his May 2000 visit to >South Korea: > > >“For Example, in May 2000, Koreans discovered that U.S.Air >Force A-10s were practice bombing at a 50-year-old >bombing/strafing range (Koon Ni) near the village of Maehyang Ri, >fifty-five miles southwest of Seoul. On May 8, due to an in-flight >emergency, one of the A-10s quickly dropped six bombs outside >of the prescribed bombing area, damaging some houses in the >village and injuring seven residents. > >“Local Korean villagers have been vehemently opposed to the use >of their historic farmland for U.S. bombing and strafing practice >ever since the Korean government first provided the 5900-acre >Koon Ni site free of charge to the U.S. military in 1951. The >Korean government does not even collect from the U.S. the utility >fees entailed for operating the range, now leased by the Pentagon >to the world's largest arm's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. When >people inquired into the purpose of the A-10s, and asked for >explanations for the errant bombing, they discovered that A-10s >were heavily used in Kosovo and Serbia delivering DU-coated >weapons. > >“The local people of Maehyang Ri demanded an answer from the >Korean government and U.S. military in Korea as to whether DU >weapons were being stored in Korea or used in any way during >practice bombings. Though at first officials denied presence of DU, >incessant pressure by doubting Korean people finally elicited an >admission from officials of both the Korean government and U.S. >forces that, indeed, DU was present in Korea. It had been moved >there in February 1997 from bases in Okinawa, after the Japanese >complained of its presence there. And though Korean and U.S. >officials denied that they used DU in practices at the Koon Ni range, > they did admit that on two occasions in 1997, DU weapons were >inadvertently expended in Korea.” > > >PANAMA > > >According to an article in the Aug. 20, 1997 Christian Science >Monitor, Rick Stauber, A member of the seven-person team that >prepared the US Department of Defense's report on leftover >ordnance at three military firing ranges in Panama, says during his >investigation he was handed a report, listing all US weapon testing >from the 1960s to the early 1990s, that showed that 120mm >depleted- uranium projectiles were fired on Empire Range. > > >At first, U.S. Ambassador William Hughs denied Stauber’s report. >When the Fellowship of Reconciliation brought this to the attention >of Panamanian daily newspapers, the strong reaction forced >Washington to admit that the military had at least stored DU shells >in Panama to test their deterioration in tropical climates. Stauber, a >military consultant, said that they would then be obliged to test fire >at least some of the shells to see if they were functional. > > >KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA > > >Early in NATO’s war against Yugoslavia, on April 1, 1999, the >International Action Center sent out a news release charging the >U.S. with using DU weapons against Yugoslavia. While the >Pentagon was trying to avoid comment on this, Pentagon >spokespeople had already told the media that the A-10 Warthog >anti-tank plane was being used against Yugoslav tanks in Kosovo. >Finally pressure on this question from the media forced the >Pentagon to acknowledge use of DU. > > >Still, NATO headquarters and especially the Pentagon withheld >cooperation with investigations of DU contamination of Kosovo. >On Oct. 14, 1999, a United Nations official who chairs the task >force investigating the impact on the environment of the 78-day >U.S.- NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia said that >NATO officials had refused to cooperate regarding their use of >depleted- uranium weapons. Pekka Haavisto, task-force >chairperson, said his team was unable to determine the extent of >pollution caused by uranium-tipped weapons. He said NATO >refused either to admit using the weapons or to cooperate with the >task force. > > >Finally though, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan >from NATO Secretary-General, > Lord Robertson, it states: > > >“DU rounds were used whenever the A-10 engaged armor during >Operation Allied Force. Therefore, it was used throughout Kosovo >during approximately 100 missions… A total of approximately >31,000 rounds of DU ammunition was used in operation Allied >Force. The major focus of these operations was in an area west of >the Pec- Dakovica-Prizren highway, in the area surrounding Klina, >in the area around Prizren and in an area to the north of a line >joining Suva Reka and Urosevac. However many missions using >DU also took place outside these areas.” > > >According to articles written October 2000 by Rainer Rupp in the >Berlin daily, Junge Welt, and by British journalist Felicity Arbuthnot, > concern over DU dangers have created problems involving both >UN personnel and NATO-country troops occupying Kosovo. > > >“Last week [Oct 14-20] the French government followed its Italian >counterpart and launched an investigation of the effects of spent >depleted uranium shells on its soldiers in Kosovo. Two Italian K- >FOR (occupation) soldiers who were stricken with cancer and who >showed symptoms similar to those with Gulf War Syndrome are to >be flown from Kosovo to Rome in the near future. > > >“The Rome military prosecutor followed his colleagues in Milan, >Turin and Venice and set underway an investigation of the effects of >DU- shells on Italian troops in Kosovo. With this in the background >the Portuguese defense minister has decided to withdraw the >Portuguese troop contingent from Kosovo. (Junge Welt, Oct. 24) > > >Notice that in all these cases the military authorities at first either >stonewalled or denied that DU was being used, then wound up >having to admit it. > > >ISRAELI EL AL JET > > >A flaming crash of an El Al cargo jet in Bijlmer, a suburb of >Amsterdam on Oct. 4, 1992, killing 43 people has been the target >of ongoing research. The health consequences for people in a >whole section of Amsterdam has created an ongoing movement of >the Dutch Greens on the chemical and radiological toxicity of >depleted uranium. > > >The El Al Boeing 747 jet had on board tons of chemicals, >flammable liquids, substances used in the manufacture of nerve gas >and 1,500 kilograms of DU in the form of counterweights. Both the >nerve gas chemicals and the DU have long been a topic of debate. >The Dutch Ministry of Defense report “Health risks during >exposure to uranium” documented the radiotoxic effects of DU in >the human body. > > >THE GULF WAR > > >U.S. veterans organizations have campaigned to demand >investigation and compensation for their extremely high incidence of >chronic sicknesses among Gulf War veterans. The U.S. government >has denied their claims. > > >IS ISRAEL USING DU IN COMBAT? > > >Some may argue that because the Israelis are not firing against >tanks—the strongest military justification for using DU shells—but >against unarmed or at the most lightly armed and virtually >unprotected opponents, there is no special reason for them to be >using DU shells. > > >This is true. But the same could be said for U.S. forces in Vieques, >Panama, Okinawa and south Korea, yet DU weapons were tested >in all those places. Like the Pentagon brass, the Israeli general staff >would want to try out their weapons under all conditions, especially >in combat. Now that they are firing at homes and offices in an >attempt to punish the Fatah leadership, they would want to see if >DU shells penetrate concrete as they do steel and if this makes a >difference in battle. > > >The Israeli military has already shown its racist contempt for the >Palestinians by firing to maim thousands and kill hundreds of young >people protesting the occupation of their country, people armed in >the great majority with stones and slingshots. As of Nov. 20, over >240 people have been killed and over 8,000 wounded. > > >And the Israeli officers have a strong reason to use DU-shielded >tanks. They want the Israeli soldiers and their families to think that >they are invulnerable in their tanks and armored personal carriers >shielded with DU armor. If the troops grow ill months or years later >from their constant exposure to radiation, that is no longer a political > problem for the generals. The same is true when they handle shells >and fire rounds from tank guns. > > >The Israeli peace movement and the families of the troops, should >know that the illusion of invincibility comes at a price. There has >already been the beginning of resistance among individual Israeli >troops to playing the role of oppressor. This movement should >seriously consider the dangers of DU. > > >The first step to exposing and stopping this crime and its long-term >impact is to start a serious investigation of Israeli use of depleted- >uranium weapons. > > >______________________________________________ > > >Sara Flounders and John Catalinotto are editors and contributors to >the book “Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium” and organizers of >the Depleted Uranium Education Project based at the International >Action Center in New York City. Flounders returned Nov. 3, >2000, from a five-day fact-finding trip to the West Bank and Gaza. > > >The DU Education Project of the IAC is not a scientific research >organization. But it has based its published material on the work of >many prominent scientists and anti-nuclear organizations to create an > awareness of the Pentagon’s reckless disregard for all human life >and for the future even in their limited and conventional wars against >small and developing nations. > > > The International Action Center is an organization committed to >building resistance to U.S. militarism, war and racism. The IAC >attempts to link together through information and concrete solidarity >many different struggles. > > >Information on the campaign against the U.S. use of DU weapons is > available on the IAC web site: www.iacenter.org. “Metal of >Dishonor: Depleted Uranium" is available from the IAC or may be >ordered on line from: www.leftbooks.com. To contact the IAC on >this question, call 212-633-6646 or email them at >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: http://www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT SITE > http://www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889 >*To make a tax-deductible donation, >go to > http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
