Award-winning environmental toxicologist:
US, Israeli use of banned uranium ammunition in Mideast war crime
‘One man, one vote; that is coming to Palestine’
It is now over a year since the Gaza Strip has been gripped in an Israeli aggression triggered by the Hamas resistance group’s attack on Israel. With over 40,000 people dead and many more injured, the war for Palestinians in Gaza means continuing misery under an Israeli campaign that has demolished much of the territory and driven almost the entire population – 2.3 million – from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are going hungry while living in squalid tent cities as the second winter of the war brings cold rains and flooding. Amidst this dire situation, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Meanwhile, the US, a key supporter of Israel, is set to swear in a new president, Donald Trump, in January. Against this backdrop, Iran Daily spoke with Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an advocate for justice in Palestine. Based on her research in the region, the award-winning environmental toxicologist shares insights on the use of banned depleted uranium ammunition in the Middle East by the US and Israel and its devastating consequences for the region’s children, which constitutes a war crime. The Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan also expresses her optimism about the end of the Gaza war and the prospects for freedom for the people in the Middle East. Here is the full interview:
By Zohreh Qanadi
Staff writer
IRAN DAILY: Do you think the US President-elect Donald Trump will break with the policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden, on the Gaza war, given that he campaigned as an anti-war candidate?
Savabieasfahani: Donald Trump showed us his essence the first time he became the president of the United States. He is the guy who said Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Trump has done everything even more for Israel than Biden has. So, I do not expect anything different and what I do expect is worsening of the situation under Donald Trump. So, it would be a mistake to think that the policies of the United States are going to change towards the Middle East at all between Biden and Trump.
The truth is that over the past 30-40 years, the Republicans and the Democrats have handed each other policies and they all followed each other specifically about the Middle East. So, I don’t think that there will be much of a difference. It would be more violence; it would be more massacres, and more slaughter. The only way this war can end is with international bodies and the resistance of people across the globe to force a cease-fire and stop this genocide. Other than that, I do not have any hope for any sort of governments in the European Union or the United States to make any changes in their behavior.
With several European countries vowing to uphold the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant, do you believe this development could be a turning point in curtailing the Israeli prime minister’s aggressive actions?
The fact that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant is an example of success of global resistance against apartheid, against colonialism. The International Criminal Court, as you know, is a very conservative body and if they were actually on the side of the oppressed, they would have immediately [called for the arrest of these killers]. It wouldn’t take them a year and a half to call for the arrest of these killers. It would have been immediate. Because they are conservative and [so,] they don’t respond to the needs of the population. Typically, financers here are European rich countries, therefore it has taken them a year and more to say that this genocide has to stop and those who are perpetuating it should be put in jail. This should have been done a year ago.
But the fact that they have actually done this (issuing an arrest warrant) and the fact that the global community is taking this – as such an important step – is very promising.
Throughout the past year and few months when this slaughter has been happening in Gaza, and also in Lebanon, and Syria, Europeans who have been calling themselves champions of legality and democracy have been forced by the public to say we have to observe this; we have to obey the rule of the law, which the ICC is putting forward, which is to arrest these people (Netanyahu and Gallant).
So, I think it’s a very significant step, which tells us that mass protest and mass resistance, which has been happening in favor of both Gaza and Lebanon is the only way we can stop these wars and aggressions; we can stop genocide and apartheid.
The only tool that the global population has is mass resistance, which is in the form of mass protest and things like that which has been happening.
So, I’m very hopeful and I think that it’s the sign that we have won. Humanity has won over apartheid, genocide, and colonialism. Humanity has won over torture, rape, and mass murder. We should be very happy. And this will continue. I think we have learned a big lesson.
You’ve emphasized the importance of mass resistance and global protests against Israel as a crucial means to end the war and genocide. Notably, such protests in the United States across the universities have gained momentum. What’s your take on this significant shift in public opinion and its potential impact on the war?
The student protest in the United States is ongoing. It’s ongoing on the campus of University of Michigan where I interact with. It’s ongoing on the campus of Columbia University and many universities in the United States.
What’s more important than this student protest is a massive change of mind among student bodies across the United States.
A few years ago, maybe 3-4 years ago, while Israel was massacring people in Palestine and was doing all kinds of nasty stuff to Palestine, if you talk to [the American] students, they would say, “Oh we’re not political. We don’t want to talk about”.
Israel had a very clean face only a few years ago. Today that mask is off and the students are clearly a 100% against Israel and apartheid, and Zionism. [They are] against colonialism and racism and they see those connections with each other.
There has been a qualitative change in the minds of American students about global relationships and it comes from the fact that they see how their government has been lying, how their government has been hiding a genocide and massacre, torture, and rape. They can see that all of that has been happening and their government, the one that they put their trust in, has been hiding the truths from them.
So, they are questioning, “Is this democracy? Is this human rights?” So, they are questioning all these things that the government of the United States was insisting. They’re questioning it, saying, “Are you?” “No, you’re not”.
If you (US government) support this genocide, and continue to fund it, if you continue to give weapons to it, while watching children burn to death, then we know what the fabric of you is. We know that you lie and that you are on the wrong side of history.
And that is a qualitative change in the minds of – I want to safely say – a 100% of students in the United States, from University of Michigan to UCLA, Columbia University and Ohio State University and all of these places and as a result of that there’s continuous protest.
You mentioned the protests in Columbia University. As I know these students are not from the ordinary class of the American society; rather, they are the children of congressmen, senators, businessmen, and the ruling political class in the country. In fact, these students will be the new leaders of the US. This revolution has started in a prestigious American university such as Columbia University in New York — the city that is a stronghold of the Zionist lobby. Does this suggest that the future generations of the US may not be influenced by Zionism like their fathers and ancestors were.
I think that’s completely true. Columbia University is a very expensive University. It’s a private university and the tuition is extremely high. So, the students, who make it to Columbia come from extremely rich echelon of society. Yes, they usually are children of the ultra-rich. What has happened is that even their minds have been changed because they can see what the structure of liberal democracy is. They can see what liberal democracy accomplishes - death, genocide, weapons manufacturing, and bombing all over the world. They can see that and they put two and two together. They’re very smart students. They can see that, and as a result, this kind of US policy is becoming extremely distasteful.
Another point is that at Columbia [University], where US policymakers claim to uphold the bastion of free exchange of ideas and free speech, they have banned students from wearing Keffiyehs or displaying Palestine solidarity emblems on their computers. For example, students are banned from using posters of Palestine or little stickers “Free Palestine” on their computers at the library, because these things are illegal. So, what kind of freedom of speech is there? What kind of freedom of expression is it, if you can’t even put a sticker on your computer and sit in a library?
So, these things have really made it vividly clear that Columbia University is not about from the freedom of speech. Columbia University is not about freedom of exchange of ideas and these things have been a big blow to the minds of young people, who for all of their lives thought they were living in a society that free speech is cherished and all of this is encouraged. So, when I tell you that this events in Gaza have been a huge wake-up call to the student body all over the United States, this is what I mean.
Over the past year, over 44,000 people in Gaza have been killed, tens of thousands injured, and millions displaced. Meanwhile, the narrative of the Palestinian people’s victimhood and the Israeli aggression has become more apparent to the world. Do you also think like many others in the world that the Palestinian outburst on October 7 was inevitable?
First of all, there is a lot more than 44,000 dead people in Gaza. Because there was an estimate study done by Lancet that wrote in July, “In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported [by June 19, 2024, according to the Gaza Health Ministry], it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2 375 259, this would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip. A report from Feb 7, 2024, at the time when the direct death toll was 28 000, estimated that without a cease-fire there would be between 58,260 deaths (without an epidemic or escalation) and 85,750 deaths (if both occurred) by Aug 6, 2024.”
And your question. The outburst is inevitable. The outburst - the October 7th event - is a result of what happens in a society when it has been tortured, abused, jailed, and had its children and parents killed in front of each other for 75 years. What happens to such a society is that it becomes a construct of the mind where the only response is to break out. And a portion of that society will inevitably break out.
Imagine the mental picture of the world for the youth, who attacked Israel on October 7. They’ve grown up under extreme limitations. The Gaza Strip is completely closed off, and Israel has imposed severe sanctions, effectively turning it into a closed death camp. They have no control over their lives, and every few months, Israeli forces break in, kill hundreds, and leave.
What does that do to your mindset? You don’t see the world as having the worst to offer; instead, you’re driven to get out. And when they break out, it’s not a surprise. This is something that could happen in any society that’s been pushed to the brink. The population has been resisting, and they’ve been doing so without regrets. They knew this resistance was inevitable, and they knew it would happen. And now, it’s happening.
I think the burden of this death and destruction is not only on the Palestinians, but also on the Lebanese, Syrians, and Yemenis, as they’re all entangled in this war. It’s also on the Iranians, because we’re constantly aware of it. We’re constantly thinking about what’s happening in the world.
Yes, the outburst was inevitable. It wasn’t something that could have been prevented, because the mental state of nearly three million Palestinians had reached a point that you could not choose. You had to break out. So, this event was not preventable.
How do you envision the end of this war?
I think that very positive things are coming to the Middle East. The total dismantlement of Israel will happen just like in South Africa. South Africa was an apartheid state and it was dismantled and it was replaced by a popular government. One man, one vote; that is coming to Palestine. It will be one person, one vote. There will be no distinction between who is Jewish, who is Muslim, or who is Christian, and that is a very good thing. Freedom for Palestine means freedom for the Middle East. It means across the Middle East countries that their governments are in the grip of Western imperialism, my guess is that they would fall or they would weaken if not fall. They would become weaker and at the end of it the situation will improve for people of the Middle East when once Israel is gone.
Israel and Zionism will be dismantled and a lot more freedom will come to the Middle East. So, there will be huge political changes in the Middle East. It is coming - and it’s coming fast, not slowly. I think it will come quickly. What it will mean is that in the Middle East, people will be better in charge of their lives. They will have the freedom to manage their resources as they please, and that will be very good for the Middle East. Freedom for Palestine means freedom for the entire Middle East.