Netanyahu has exposed the ugly side, not only of the Israeli brutal military occupation but its underpinning: all has been done until now to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s Likud party platform states that “between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty…. a ‘Palestinian State’ jeopardizes the security of the Jewish population, endangers the existence of the State of Israel. and frustrates any prospect of peace.” Labour party leader Yitzhak Rabin was murdered because he deviated from this road map.
Western leaders had willingly overlooked the clear signs that Israeli government had no intention of letting go of occupied lands, instead encouraging “[S]ettlement, both urban and rural, in all parts of the Land of Israel … focal point of the Zionist effort to redeem the country…”[Likud party platform].
Western Mainstream Media (MSM) are no less guilty. While many complaints have been filed against Israel in the name of Palestinians in Gaza, an internet search has brought few results in MSM. Almost all the information I found was from the Global South Media. There is something wrong when those who should inform us do so selectively.
On October 31, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against 34 Palestinian journalists in Gaza and against an Israeli journalist, killed and wounded in the course of their work.
November 7, Colombia joined Algeria in filing a legal complaint against Israel with the ICC.
On November 9, three Palestinian human rights groups filed a complaint with the ICC, urging it to investigate Israel for “apartheid” as well as “genocide,” and issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
On November 13, French lawyer Gilles Devers filed a complaint “in the name of associations and unions [over 200 associations worldwide] for Israel’s commission of genocide, and the Palestinian case will be presented in all national and international courts.”
On November 13, Photographers Without Borders (PWB) filed a complaint for war crimes committed against Palestinian journalists and media workers in the State of Palestine–most specifically in the Gaza Strip.
November 13, it was announced that US President Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin are being sued by the Center for Constitutional Rights’ (CCR) for complicity in genocide, in Gaza. The complaint was filed in federal court in California, on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals.
November 14, Turkey filed a case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the ICC, accusing him of committing genocide against the Palestinians.
November 16, South Africa has filed a referral to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. CTV carried the written article by Mogomotsi Magome, but the video above it shows an interview of Hillel Neuer, UN Watch, by Sandy Rinaldo that puts all the blame on Palestinians.
November 16, the Legal Working Group for Canadian Accountability (ICJP LWGCA) has written a notice of intention to seek prosecution of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Minister of National Revenue Marie-Claude Bibeau and Minister of Justice and Attorney General Arif Virani for aiding and abetting war crimes in Gaza.
The families of nine Israeli victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre have lodged a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected war crimes against Hamas leaders.
On October 10, 2023, the Commission of Inquiry collecting evidence of war crimes committed by all sides in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories since 7 October 2023 found that “[T]here is already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza, and all those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable for their crimes.”
Israel enjoys the unconditional support of the US. Both Israel and the US reject the jurisdiction of the ICC over their citizens. Israel will refuse to cooperate with a potential investigation by the ICC, as it did before, but as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, it is obligated to investigate and prosecute war crimes, including any committed by its own forces.
Should the prosecutor prove to the ICC that there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes have been committed in Gaza, warrants for those responsible will be issued, as happened in the case of Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
The arrest warrants are very important symbolically and practically. The ICC does not have the means to enforce its decisions. However, those named in the warrants will be subject to arrest if they travel to a country that is a member of the ICC.
The ICC has an ongoing investigation into the situation in the Palestinian Territories it started in 2021, but most of its resources seem to have been directed towards the Ukraine investigation. Will the new filings give a new impetus to the ICC investigation?
Israel has lost control of the narrative in spite of its army of foot soldiers. It cannot claim to be the victim anymore as the number of civilian victims of Israeli deadly airstrikes continues to rise.Canada backed Israel in previous ICC challenges. Will Prime Minister Trudeau listen to the call by Canadian lawyers and legal scholars, or will he persist in supporting a rogue state, as he and three of his ministers are called to account by the ICJP LWGCA?
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