By Professor Hossein Askari
As it undermines the UN to the point of no return
Let’s begin with the latest ruling from the United Nation’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ): Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal. The ICJ rendered its all-encompassing judgment on Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and its settlements, calling for an end to Israel’s presence there. Under United Nations charter, the opinion, while not binding, carries legal weight.
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Even earlier, South Africa had filed with the ICJ, in a case which was joined by dozens of other countries. The BBC summarized South Africa’s case:
“The 84-page initial filing, brought by South Africa three months into the Gaza war, says that by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious mental and bodily harm and creating conditions of life "calculated to bring about their physical destruction," Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. The claim also highlights Israeli public rhetoric, including comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as evidence of "genocidal intent." Under international law, genocide is defined as committing one or more acts with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Those acts include:
* killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
* deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
* imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
* forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
Israel's breaches are alleged to include: killing Palestinians in Gaza, (70% of those killed are said to be women and children); causing the forced displacement and evacuation of about 85% of the population; causing widespread hunger, starvation and dehydration by impeding sufficient humanitarian aid; destroying Palestinian life in Gaza, its cultural, religious and educational institutions; and imposing measures intended to prevent Palestinian births. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67922346)
How has the United States responded to the case brought by South Africa and the ICJ’s decision to move ahead with the case accusing Israel of genocide?
As reported by the UK newspaper, The Independent (https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/south-africa-genocide-israel-b2472853.html).
“The White House has condemned South Africa’s decision to formally accuse Israel of genocide in charges filed at the International Court of Justice, calling the allegations brought by Pretoria “meritless.” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby slammed South Africa’s case as being without merit in response to a question at Wednesday’s White House press briefing. Mr. Kirby also said that the court submission was “counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.”
Following the South African case, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought arrest warrants for both Israeli (including Benjamin Netanyahu) and Hamas leaders (including Yahya Sinwar):
How did the United States react to the ICC’s decision? https://truthout.org/articles/bidens-response-to-israels-icc-prosecution-is-an-attack-on-international-law/
The angry reactions from President Joe Biden’s administration and Congressional leaders are not simply another defense of Israel’s war crimes, but an attack on international humanitarian law itself.
Biden denounced the report as “outrageous,” marking the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president has openly sided with suspected war criminals against the ICC. And, despite nothing in the report questioning Israel’s right to self-defense, Biden insisted on pledging, “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Similarly, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it “shameful” and “a profoundly wrong-headed” decision, which the United States “fundamentally rejects.”
Some U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives have gone even further and called for sanctions against the ICC and its chief prosecutor. While the United States has not signed onto the ICC, it has hailed its decisions when an arrest warrant was issued for President Putin and for war criminals in Serbia, but when the U.S. President and lawmakers don’t like its judgement, the court is condemned.
The saga of America’s blind support for what most of the world sees as Israeli crimes does not end here. The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has invited (with the concurrence of the majority leader of the U.S. Senate and apparently without the objection of the White House) Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of the House and Senate on July 24. This honor is normally reserved for an esteemed international figure, such as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Itzhak Rabin or King Hussein.
The United States clearly ignores the international rule of law, the United Nations, global public opinion and does what it wants, while invariably mouthing the importance of the rule of law.
Such brazen arrogance is sure to erode the standing of the United States and its pleas. America’s word will not be taking seriously. When America cries foul, the world will turn its back and remind the United States of how it supplied military, economic and political support to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and homes; how it continued to supply Israel with 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs during the war to indiscriminately kill Palestinian women and children and destroy their homes, schools and hospitals; how it has issued veto after veto at the UNSC in support of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians; and how it attacked the rulings of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
Sadly, America will surely reap what it has sowed!
Hossein Askari is emeritus professor of business and international affairs, George Washington University
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