This is savagery and butchery by Israel. – Sir Richard Dalton
December 9, 2023Sir Richard Dalton, former UK Consul General to Jerusalem labels Israel’s actions in Gaza as “savagery” and ‘butchery’ in this recent nterview with BBC News.
Dalton criticised the international response and called the United States to reconsider its support for Israel, emphasising the need for a ceasefire to prevent further civilian casualties. Dalton asserted that the situation requires a shift in the U.S. stance to align with its claimed ideals for humanity and human rights.
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English Script:
BBC interviewer: Well, we can speak live now to Sir Richard Dalton, former British consul general to Jerusalem and also a former ambassador to Iran and Libya. Thank you for joining us here on BBC News. Let’s talk first of all about some of the international response to this renewed military operation in Gaza. We’ve heard the US in the last few days, and also you were saying that the ICC’s chief prosecutor as well, publicly saying that Israel needs to follow international humanitarian law. Do you think they’re saying this explicitly because they have concerns that that is not happening at the moment?
Sir Richard Dalton: Absolutely. And that concern has been clear since the first troops entered Gaza and indeed before that under the weight of Israeli bombardment. This is savagery. This is butchery by Israel directed at the civilian population as well as at alleged military targets. And it must stop. It must stop through a ceasefire, as has been called for by so many people for so long. The question of accountability and international law is live, and it will take obviously a long time to gather the necessary evidence. But this matter of using overwhelming force, way beyond the necessity of self-defence, must be examined at the right time.
BBC interviewer: Israel are pointing to things like this new map that they have produced that shows civilians in Gaza where they can move to safer areas. Do you think that they are addressing or trying to address some of those issues? They say that that they’re trying to combine that with this this stated promised aim of Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Hamas from Gaza altogether.
Sir Richard Dalton: They’re not making the maximum effort as they allege. They’re making a minimal effort. They are doing what they intended to do with one or two tiny concessions to the United States, knowing that those concessions will have virtually no effect on reducing the butcher’s bill for the destruction of civilian infrastructure, civilian buildings, civilian life, women and children. Indeed, it’s good to see the Americans at last saying that Israel risks or is probably already creating a strategic defeat while maybe able to move a little way towards a tactical victory. That strategic defeat has been evident in other Israeli campaigns in the Middle East, where they’ve used overwhelming force, and it has never worked. It won’t work again in Israel. When people are in the kind of distress which is now being inflicted on the people of Gaza, naturally, they turn to religion in the same way that we heard Mr. Netanyahu allude to the biblical precedent, biblical justification for slaughter of women and children. In extremist, that is what happens, that’s human nature. So the idea of resistance, the idea of religiously justified resistance, is going to be passed down to subsequent generations of radicals, extremists and fighters within the Palestinian community.
BBC interviewer: You have a strong history and background in this region. We saw a seven day cease fire agreement, but that appears to have broken down irretrievably for now. What is your assessment of what might happen next?
Sir Richard Dalton: Well, it’s clear that the United States and Qatar and other regional countries are trying to reestablish those links and find a further base for initially a pause in the fighting, which is all that we had. But what should happen is that the United States should withdraw its protection from Israel, that it shows by its consistent endorsement and resupply with weapons of this Israeli campaign. It protects Israel from criticism or from action to promote a cease fire in the United Nations Security Council. And for the sake of humanity and for the sake of their claimed ideals.
The United States must swing round to calling a halt to this carnage. Unfortunately, China, Russia, who have been calling for a ceasefire, have no influence. The Europeans and Britain have been saying the same sorts of things about taking care with civilian lives, but that’s been meaningless in the eyes and ears of the Israeli state. It’s only the United States putting its bilateral relationship with Israel on a footing with its claimed ideals for humanity and the observance of human rights. It’s only that shift which could help change minds in the Israeli government and there is no sign whatsoever of that happening, and that is the tragedy of the Palestinians.
