As the BBC has reported, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has angrily condemned the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for seeking arrest warrants for him alongside Hamas's leaders over alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict … he rejected with disgust that ‘democratic Israel’ had been compared with what he called ‘mass murderers’”. Why seek the warrants?
“The chief ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza … The ICC is also seeking a warrant for Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for war crimes”. Hence Netanyahu imagining the equivalence.
Some commentators have dismissed the ICC move because Israel has not recognised the ICC, and so its remit cannot apply in that country. However, Palestine HAS recognised the body, and unless the Israeli Government is trying to suggest that Gaza is already part of Israel, anything their armed forces get up to there can be legitimately scrutinised by the ICC.
But if the IDF has observed the rules of war, and the various Geneva Conventions, what’s the problem? The investigation runs its course and that’s that. Except some do not want that investigation to proceed further. The vicious hostility, smears, and outright threats against the ICC started up as soon as the news that warrants were being sought emerged.
Elsewhere in our free and fearless press, demonising of Palestinians is being ramped up, with over-promoted former Royal hack Camilla Tominey, now at the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph, claiming “Admitting Gazan refugees would be proof that Britain has a death wish … We have no idea how many Palestinians support their murdering, raping masters”.
It wasn’t going any better over in DC. Andrew Solender of Axios observed, “Speaker Mike Johnson confirms a vote to sanction the ICC is under consideration over the Netanyahu arrest warrant application. ‘Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed.’”. However.
As Sarah Leah Whitson pointed out, “Efforts to retaliate against the [ICC] are themselves a violation of the Rome Statute (Art 70) for which the prosecutor can bring charges and sentence offenders for up to 5 years, and urge other states to criminally prosecute them”. Johnson is from the Republican right. And he’s done everyone a favour, by saying the quiet part out loud.
Tom London summarised the Oh What A Giveaway moment from those threatening the ICC. “Cynical, arrogant US & Western exceptionalism laid bare … Billions of people live in the Global South and see very clearly the reality of Western ‘law and rules apply for YOU but do not apply for US’”. Not only US, but OUR PALS. Three Hamas leaders are also in the ICC’s sight, but that fact is lost amid the storm at Netanyahu being named.
Accusations of anti-Semitism are also being made. No change there, then.
https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton
At this rate fascist USA is going to "sanction" the rest of the world for not agreeing with it's ranting rightly politicians.
ReplyDeleteAt which point the rest of the world will burst out laughing and saying, "Fuck you and the cowboy horse you ride in and out on". Which will also be levelled at their chicken shit British equivalents, blue, red and yellow.
www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024
ReplyDelete'Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it', so they say. Once again the Western World and its allies lurches to the right, its leaders preach isolationism, and collective security is exercised only when it suits those leaders.
ReplyDeleteInternational law, seen as so important prior to 1989, is now seen as a 'hinderance' and something to be railed against. Tolerance of conflicting ideologies is no longer accepted, peaceful protest slowly ground down.
In order to preserve their own miserable hides, rotten to the core politicians fear monger on the one hand, while encouraging the sale of weapons on the other. Convenient bogey men are promoted by the press, allowing the slippery politicians to blame everyone but themselves, persecute minority groups, or massacre their national neighbours.
It all sounds depressingly familiar, and so it should. Its road well travelled. In the words of the mighty Arnold Rimmer, "you never learn do you". Indeed, we do not.
Aren't you dead yet, Paul?
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ReplyDeleteThe ICC is bound to fail as Israel has the US Evangelicals on its side and the US Evangelicals have God on theirs, the Republican party in their pocket, 30+% of US presidential voters and a vested interest in the hastening of an apocalyptic war, Armageddon and, after a brief pause for some obesity replenishment, lift-off to heaven in The Rapture.
See this recent BBC Storyville on Zionist Nationalist Christians* if you really want to cheer yourself up:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001z96s
* Yes, we know, Anonymous, but try to resist the obvious.
You can't beat a bit of God. Literally. Arguing with facts against people who base their reality on an invisible friends is a waste of time. As for stating the obvious, sometimes the obvious needs re-stating.
DeleteBit rich quoting far right Thatcher "regard" for law after she fronted for Establishment rigging of the legal system in their favour.
ReplyDeleteThe woman was an utter hypocritical disgrace, a tinpot Eva Braun with tears for her own redundancy but not for the millions of ruined lives caused by urfascist policies. A tenth rate Del Girl.
Biden's record on Zionism:
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=86Nrv5izaTs&pp=ygUSSm9lIEJpZGVuIFppb25pc3Qg
A fanatical nutjob.
Who knows whether the dispicable zionist president will receive justice in our world and be prosecuted, but in the undiscovered country I bet his ancestors are looking upon his actions with anger and disgust with some wanting to expel him for dishonouring them.
ReplyDelete"America and Iran against Israel"??? This is absolute lunacy! But then I think at this point all the self serving psychopaths long understood that there is nothing to gain by backing Israel leaving only the lunatics to do the cheerleading.
ReplyDelete“Ireland has formally recognised the State of Palestine and has reiterated that the two state solution is the only path to peace” according to Sinister Agent R, who adds that Norway and Spain have done likewise. In a tremendous display of being all grown-up the Israeli ambassadors to those countries have been instructed to take their ball and go home.
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