International Criminal Court says those who advance their interests through the use of force must be held accountable and brought to justice :
ICC seeking arrest warrants for Israeli, Hamas leaders a sign of strong international legal order, lawyer says
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for leaders of both Israel and Hamas. Geoffrey Nice, who led the ICC war crimes prosecution against former Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, tells As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong this proves 'the international legal order is not dead' and 'that it is fearless of interference by great powers.'
Aired: May 20, 2024 on cbcradio/aih
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-2-as-it-happens/clip/16068895-icc-seeking-arrest-warrants-israeli-hamas-leaders-sign
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/icc-application-arrest-warrants-international-1.7210205
World Criminal Court condemns Israel's treatment of Palestine:
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2024/07/19/international-criminal-court-opinion-will-weaken-global-support-for-israel/
listen/live-radio/1-2-as-it-happens/clip/16082684-icj-ruling-leaves-ambiguity-israeli-occupation-says-palestinian
ReplyDeleteWar is a form of genocide whereby. each side seeks to destroy the other!
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/16036587-ideas-hague-a-question-genocide
Both sides have committed atrocities...and both are blameworthy!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/share/p/iJo39WKFjcfBzuS6/?mibextid=oFDknk
ReplyDeleteWar is a criminal act...and perpetrators must be. held accountable for their war crimes.!
ReplyDeleteThere is hope in people expressing moral outrage at the atrocities of war.
ReplyDeleteThe massacre of children and innocent civilians can not be excused as so much "collateral damage "!
GENEVA Report On Civilian Deaths In Armed Conflicts
ReplyDelete90% of wartime casualties are civilians!
ReplyDeletehttps://press.un.org/en/2022/sc14904.doc.htm
UN HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
ReplyDeleteCH: Sudan. Congo. Ukraine. Burkina Faso. Haiti. There was no shortage of crises for the UN's human rights chief to address in his global update today. But he began by focusing squarely on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. Volker Türk says that contributed hugely to a 72 per cent increase in the number of civilian deaths in armed conflict in 2023. And he says far too many illegal human rights abuses are occurring there. Here's some of what the high commissioner for human rights told the UN Human Rights Council today in Geneva.
SOUNDCLIP
VOLKER TÜRK: I'm appalled by the disregard for international human rights and international humanitarian law by parties to the conflict in Gaza. There has been unconscionable death and suffering. More than 120,000 people in Gaza -- overwhelmingly, women and children -- have been killed or injured since 7th October as a result of the intensive Israeli offensives. Since Israel escalated its operation into Rafah in early May, almost 1 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced yet again, while aid delivery and humanitarian access deteriorated further. The situation in the West Bank -- including East Jerusalem -- is dramatically deteriorating. As of 15th of June, 528 Palestinians -- 133 of them children -- had been killed by Israeli security forces and/or settlers since October. In many cases, raising serious concerns of unlawful killings. In the same period, 23 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel in clashes with or attacks by Palestinians -- including eight members of the Israeli security forces. Israel's relentless strikes in Gaza are causing immense suffering and widespread destruction. The arbitrary denial and obstruction of humanitarian aid have continued. And Israel continues to detain arbitrarily thousands of Palestinians. This must end. Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages. And in some cases, in densely populated areas, putting them and Palestinian civilians at further risk. These hostages must be released. The patterns we have documented raise serious concerns about the commission of war crimes and other atrocity crimes. I call for the binding decisions of the Security Council and of the International Court of Justice to be respected. The occupation must end, accountability must be served, and the internationally agreed two-state solution must become a reality. I'm extremely worried about the escalating situation between Lebanon and Israel. Already, 401 people have reportedly been killed in Lebanon -- including paramedics and journalists. Over 90,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, and over 60,000 have been displaced in Israel, with 25 Israeli fatalities. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed. I reiterate my call for a cessation of hostilities, and for actors with influence to take all possible measures to avert a full-scale war.
ICJ says Israel's occupation of Palestine is illegal!:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-110-daybreak-south/clip/16083319-icj-decision-stating-israels-occupation-palestinian-territories-illegal
No refuge for innocent civilian bystanders/collaterals:
ReplyDeleteCivilians indiscriminately massacred in Israel's pursuit of Hamas
Israeli airstrikes target Hamas militants regardless of civilians. In the coarse of. hunting down members of Hamas. , 40,000. innocent Palestinians have been killed!
Schools,hospitals,refugee camps targeted in violation of the Geneva Convention
Each civilian massacre event has the effect of swelling the recruitment ranks of Hamas and ensuring that Palestinian hatred of Israelis will extend into future generations!
Destruction of Gaza water wells deepe mmm s Palestinian misery:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/destruction-gaza-water-wells-deepens-palestinian-misery-2024-07-30/
Israeli forces continue to obstruct humanitarian aid to Gaza!
ReplyDeleteEvery day Palestinians are being killed ,and their human rights are being violated with impunity!
ReplyDeleteThe US held off sanctioning this Israeli army unit despite evidence of abuses. Now its forces are shaping the fight in Gaza
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/13/middleeast/israel-gaza-netzah-yehuda-human-rights-abuses-investigation-intl/index.html
“Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being’s suffering.
ReplyDeleteNothing, not career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status.
We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity.”
– Audrey Hepburn
The global consequences of the ICC's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes amid Israel's bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks. The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammad Deif, who the Israeli military said it killed in July, but which has not been confirmed. Fawaz Gerges is an international relations professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He joins Chattopadhyay to discuss the geopolitical response and consequences of this move.
The Sunday Magazine12:35
Cbcradio/sundaymagazine. Nov 24,2024
The global consequences of the ICC's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu
The United States has undermined its moral authority and its legitimacy in the eyes of the world by rejecting the order of the international court of justice! (and threatening retaliation against those who comply with the court's judgment).
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHave you wondered how governments emerged? When people chose to live in communities,they swapped their freedom to do whatever they wanted (law of the jungle),for a state that codifies rules of. behaviour and mediates disputes and provides a degree of safety. This was the tradeoff: freedom for security!
The only way to eliminate/end the scourge of war between nation states is to allow conflicts to be resolved/adjudicated through an international court system (as occurs within natiions). ,There must be an effective,enforceable mechanism for resolving differences(conflicting interests) peacefully withhout the need to resorting to the. use of force/violence.The creation of a more just and more secure world means creating a world based upon the rule of law and an apparatus for enforcing/upholding the law
The decisions of such an international court of justice must be enforceable by the use of force.(law enforcement agency--an international police force. ) This requires that each individual nation state subordinate its power to the global community of nations. This requires that each individual nation abdicates its absolute sovereignty.
Unfortunately there is no willingness for member states to relinquish their absolute power
The perennial tension between individual and state (individual vs societal rights) re-emerges at the global level between individual nations and the global collective of nations. At some point the interests of the whole takes precedence and priority over the rights and interests of the individual units. The individual can not be allowed to subvert the interests and the security of society as a whole. The public good takes precedence over individual rights.The cause of " national security " justifies imposing limitations/restrictions on the behaviour of individual members of society. Citizens willingly relinquish some freedom (_including the right to privacy) in exchange for security/,safety.The public interest impinges/intrudes upon the individual right to privacy. Data brokers (surveillance tech platforms) share our personalinformation with the national security apparatus (i.e. the government/state). .National security trumps the right to individual privacy and freedom.
The EU and Nato are model examples of how individual nation states can unite/unify to achieve a common goal of a more just and secure community/society based on the realization that what they hold in common is greater than what divides/separates them.! Inclusionary vs exclusionary thinking .Unification/integration into ever larger groups .We must come together and respond to global crises (such as Climate Change)as a united people :--as humankind!
The UN was created in 1945 in the aftermath of the second world war in an effort to prevent future such wars. The idea was that a UN peacekeeping force would be deployed to regions of military conflict to intervene in the conflict and enforce peace.
Thus far humanity has failed to effectively organize itself on a glpbal/international llevel in order to bring peace and stability to the planet. Thus far all such attempts have failed and so on the inter-national level the law of the jungle (rather than the rule of law) prevails.Failure to establish an effective international government to deal with global destabilizing issues now threatens the human species.
The Inability to come together in cooperation and unity to solve global issues may bring the human species. to an evolutionary. dead end