Political posturing
On/around the day the ICC prosecutor was seeking the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu — for so-called war crimes in Gaza; the UN Security Council had a minute’s silence for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi — the "Butcher of Tehran". The hypocrisy of these global organisations can sometimes be laughable.
At any rate, the ICC prosecutor’s decision to apply for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu is a political gesture.
Who is going to take Netanyahu to court?
- The Israelis — like India, Russia, US, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China — don’t recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction. They didn’t sign any treaty & don’t recognise its authority.
- Palestine is not recognised as a sovereign state. And under the ICC, the Palestinians must arrest anyone indicted by the ICC. The Palestinians couldn’t have expected this. Their political ambition, on joining, was not “suing” the Israelis. They never expected the ICC to indict the top leadership of Hamas also. Are the Palestinians ever going to arrest them? Never.
No warrants issued against anyone for the slaughter of 300,000+ innocent civilians in Syria. Where is the justice there?
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Israelis are defending their nation, there is no equivalence
It is anti-Jewish to compare these Hamas terrorists to the Israeli PM and his defense minister.
The ICC judges must reject this application. Hamas is guilty of the worst and severest of war crimes — while Israel is acting in self-defence. It is Israel which takes precautions to limit the number of civilian casualties. It is Israel that draws distinctions between military and civilian; and Israel which owns up to her mistakes.
The ICC should NOT draw some misplaced equivalence between a democratic-state legitimately defending itself and a genocidal fascist terrorist organisation who perpetrated the awful attacks of Oct 7 (and continue to hold hostages) and committed to the destruction of that democratic state.
We should not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October. They killed, injured and kidnapped thousands of innocent people.
It is outrageous to suggest that Israel is using starvation against civilians as a means of warfare, or intentionally directing attacks against civilian populations, or committing other crimes against humanity. It is a gross misrepresentation of a justifiable battle against very dangerous terrorists.
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The improper legal basis for the ICC arrest warrant
Former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler gave an interview with The Times of Israel and said:
- “One of Cotler’s key criticisms is that Khan appears to have paid scant regard to a foundational principle of the ICC — that it is a court of last resort, meaning that a state with an independent judiciary that is willing and able to hold senior officials to account for crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction must be given the opportunity to exercise that authority ...”
- “Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara herself has strongly criticized Khan, accusing him of ignoring Israeli judicial independence and the legal review of potential criminal misconduct currently underway, ignoring the review of petitions against the government’s humanitarian aid policy currently before the High Court of Justice, and failing to give the Israeli legal system sufficient time and opportunity to complete these processes.”
- Israeli officials were preparing to host ICC officials on the very day Khan announced his request for arrest warrants in order to plan an official visit by the prosecutor himself ... During Khan’s visit, he would have met with Israeli officials to better understand the judicial and legal oversight over the conduct of the war against Hamas, including Israeli policy on humanitarian aid to Gaza, a key issue behind his allegations that Israel is intentionally starving Gazans. Moreover, Cotler pointed out, the prosecutor has himself recently embarked on such a cooperative path with Venezuela.
- “I find this asymmetry and false moral equivalence [with the Hamas leaders] incomprehensible,” he continued. “The very issuance of arrest warrants criminalizes Israel and singles its leaders out for opprobrium and indictment in the international arena.
Israel must continue to try and defeat Hamas, whose declared intent is genocide of the Jews. It beggars belief that the ICC cannot see this.
ReplyDeleteA joke, isn't it.
DeleteThis is such a difficult feeling of helplessness in the face of the hypocrisy of so many people in the world who were supposed to behave differently. Indeed, the court completely ignored the crimes of Hamas.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we support Netanyahu ? As Moshe Zuckermann explains very clearly that Israel is a fake democracy and Apartheid country with a different law for Jews and Palestinians, that the majority of the Palestinians are in Israel prisons without any judgment ( not possible in a democracy) and whatever you try to explain and justify , yes Netanyahu is committing WAR CRIMES and should be arrested. Even Germany agrees to this. You try to put any protest under the label antisemitism, which is just ridiculous and an excuse to agree with the Neranyahu government. A bunch of radical murders , Why do you put under the carpet the fact that Netanyahu supported through many years Hamas, we know why.
ReplyDeleteChantal
Released the hostages then. Something you haven't mentioned.
DeletePeople like you need to tell apart the moral difference between actual atrocities and collateral damage.
The IDF targets military Hamas targets. Since Hamas uses a lot of human shields, and hide in or under, e.g., a civilian apartment building. Hamas hiding among civilians is a war crime, and makes that apartment building a legitimate military target.
Defending a corrupt , radical person who tried to change the laws in his favour shows your strange understanding of democracy and be sure Netanyahu cares a shit for the hostages , the Israelis know this very well. He only struggles to keep his position and as long as he claims to destroy Hamas he will be in his political business. When the moment will come to explain how october 7th could happen , he will be in trouble.
DeleteChantal
PS: Discussing and aguing is the way to compromise.
I agree with your viewpoints. There is something going on with the world's universities without logical thinking. Like what taxi drivers usually told me, these protestors need to get a paying job.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Netanyahu - he seems a wicked man.
ReplyDelete