Remember the trope: “Driving while Black”? Where Black folks say that they get stopped by the police more often, just because they’re Black. More recently we’ve had in London “Walking while being Jewish”. A Jewish guy, wearing a kippah, was walking near a pro-Hamas crowd and was detained by the police because he was walking “while looking Jewish”.
And now the latest, the International Court of Justice telling Israel that it must stop with its counter attacks on Hamas in Gaza. Basically that it must stop defending itself.
Former Israeli PM, Naftali Bennet said that there were only three choices in Israel countering the brutal attack on October 7th. The first was to go for all out war, destroy all of Gaza, to wipe out Hamas, with no regard to civilian casualties. That would have taken the IDF two days, would have succeeded; but would have meant far too many civilian casualties. So Israel did no do this. Second, to try to kill Hamas terrorists, while caring for the civilians of Gaza. This is what Israel has been trying to do since the counter attack. This also involves the death of Gazan civilians, but far fewer than option one. Third, to do nothing and to await the next attack by Hamas. This third option is the one that the ICJ is effectively telling Israel that it must do.
The incentives are for terrorsts everywhere to copy Hamas. To murder and maim, to the hostages, to hide behind civilians, then to call for “Ceasefire” as soon as the other party counter attacks in self-defence. This is warped and wrong and dangerous. But it’s what’s being urged on Israel by allegedly the top international body on “justice”.
All that from the ICJ comes hot on the heels of the warrant by the International Criminal Court out for the arrest of Israeli PM Netanyahu and its Defence Minister, for alleged “war crimes”. The also named three Hamas leaders in the indictment.
The west has cried foul: there is no moral equivalence between terrorsits and the Israeli state.
A stronger argument would be -- and I’ve yet to see it made -- is that the ICC has no jurisdiction. over Israel.
According the the Rome Statute, which formed the ICC in 1998,
Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can only investigate and prosecute the four core international crimes in situations where states are "unable" or "unwilling" to do so themselves.[10] The jurisdiction of the court is complementary to jurisdictions of domestic courts. [Ref] (My emphasis).
Israel has investigated and prosecuted at least four of its Prime Ministers and jailed one. It promptly investigated and prosecuted those responsible for the killing of five food aid staff in a convoy. So, clearly they are both “willing” and “able” to do so. The ICC has no place here; it has no dog in this fight. Now, if we were talking about Assad and the brutal civil war in Syria, then, sure, the ICC has jurisdiction. But has it happed? Laugh on.... Oh, the hypocrisy!
It’s just more of The World Against Israel. aka, The World Against the Jews.
