HAGUE INVASION: Republicans threaten the ICC over Israel charges

Right, so as the International Criminal Court, the ICC, still weighs up the issuing of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the Israeli Defence Forces, Herzi Halevi, attacks on the ICC from the US, warnings, threats against them have followed as their devotion to the genocide apartheid state means they are demanding Israel effectively be placed above the law even as they commit war crimes against the people of Gaza, even as they are now as I’m writing this, seemingly verging on a full assault on Rafah, where 1.6m Gazans are trapped with nowhere else to go.
Despite the threats, the ICC is standing firm, Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan has said that the ICC won’t be intimidated and won’t allow threats of retaliation to stand in the way of them handing out potential arrest warrants, yet despite that, an unhinged letter has been signed by 12 Republican Senators, all of whom have been recipients of Israel Lobby money, it speaking as loudly in the US, if not louder, than it does here in the UK, who have collectively accepted just short of some $7m from AIPAC or similar Israel centric sources. So have Israel and those supporting them in effect then bought 12 attacks on the very court set to start bringing litigation against members of their own government?
Right, so the ICC, still at time of writing is said to be considering the issuing of arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Herzi Halevi in connection with crimes committed against Gaza, which has had the usual response from Israel ,claiming victimhood and calling the ICC antisemitic, par for the course, we expect that response every single time do we not now? But for those nations still ardently supporting Israel, for those politicians doing so, so many of them in an assortment of countries who have received financial support from pro Israel sources, that is a problem, with the likes of France, the UK and the US all appealing to the ICC to not prosecute Israel, placing them above the law, seemingly for no other reason than they would lose significant donations as a result. If that is what drives them, even now after 7 months of witnessing genocide to plead and beg and scrape and grovel on behalf of those committing the genocide to not hold them to account, then how can we possibly not say they have been bought and paid for in which case?
Threats have been aplenty since it was announced that the ICC were considering these arrest warrants for these Israeli figures, so much so that the ICC felt the need to issue a statement, basically telling those making the threats to stay in their lanes, part of which reads:
‘…That independence and impartiality are undermined however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or against Court personnel should the office, in fulfilment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction. Such threats, even when not acted upon, may also constitute an offence against the administration of justice under Article 70 of the Rome Statute.
That provision explicitly prohibits both “retaliating against an official of the Court on account of duties performed by that or another official” and “impeding, intimidating or corruptly influencing an official of the Court for the purpose of forcing or persuading the official not to perform, or to perform improperly his or her duties.’
So under the terms of the Rome Statute, the foundation of the ICC itself, it’s illegal to attempt to coerce the court into casting a blind eye in relation to its duties.
We have to remember that the US cheered when arrest warrants were issued for the likes of Vladimir Putin, so it is complete hypocrisy now, to not do so given what we are witnessing the Israeli government ordering in Gaza, especially right now at this precise moment in time, as Rafah comes under assault as so many of us feared.
Arguably the ICC has more jurisdiction with regards to Israel than they did with Russia though, since Palestine is a signatory of the Rome Statute, therefore they abide by the ICC, even if the likes of Israel or the US are not, but as is clearly now being shown, international law as far as the US seems concerned, only applies when they agree with it.
In line with that thinking and also with the knowledge that Israeli Lobbying and funding works wonders to steer the minds of those who are only in it for themselves, this story has taken the most appalling turn in the US, with the issuing of yet more threats to the ICC it seems, but by a dirty dozen Republican senators, in the form of a signed letter that has to be read to be believed and if you wondered how arrogant self absorbed nightmares like Netanyahu ever reach power, it’s because of equally self absorbed arrogant politicians in other countries, providing support, even if it is ‘bought and paid for.’
The letter is brief, addressed directly to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, but is a blatant threat too, saying:
‘Dear Mr Khan,
We write regarding the reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may be considering issuing international arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. Such actions are illegitimate and lack legal basis and if carried out will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution.
The ICC is attempting to punish Israel for taking legitimate actions of self defence against their Iranian-backed aggressors. In fact, in your own words, you witnessed ‘scenes of calculated cruelty’ conducted by Hamas in Israel following the October 7th attacks. The arrest warrants would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and it’s proxy. To be clear, there is no moral equivalence between Hamas’’ terrorism and Israel’s justified response.
The ICC is also prohibited by its charter from proceeding in any case unless the relevant government is unwilling or unable to police themselves. You yourself have said that “Israel has trained lawyers who advise commanders and a robust system intended to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.” By issuing warrants, you would be calling into question Israel’s laws, legal system and democratic form of government.
Issuing arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel would not only be unjustified, it would expose your organisation’s hypocrisy and double standards. Your office has not issued arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or any other Iranian official, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad or any other Syrian official, or Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh or any other Hamas official. Nor have you issued an arrest warrant for the genocidal General Secretary of the people’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, or any other Chinese official.
Finally, neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC and are therefore outside of your organisation’s supposed jurisdiction. If you issue an arrest warrant for the arrest of the Israeli leadership, we will interpret this not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty, but to the sovereignty of the United States. Our country demonstrated in the American Service Members Protection Act the lengths to which we will go to protect that sovereignty.
The United States will not tolerate politicised attacks by the ICC on our allies. Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees or associates and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned.’
Oh where to begin. It isn’t self defence when it is against people you occupy and oppress, dragging Iran into your argument is an excuse, an excuse to cover 40,000 dead Gazans at Israel’s hands and tens of thousands more injured or still missing, presumed dead, buried under rubble. The largest state sponsor of terrorism in that region right now and arguably globally, is the one arming and support Israel the most and that is the US and do not speak of moral equivalence when clearly your morals have been bought and paid for. The ICC’s charter conditions are met because Gaza cannot police itself and is under attack and they, as part of Palestine are signatories to the ICC, giving them remit, Israeli law doesn’t supercede international humanitarian law, so they can have the best lawyers in the world, the ICC’s remit – which is in relation to Palestine anyway – is entirely separate, do not muddy the legal waters and let’s not pretend what Israel are doing are the actions of any kind of democracy.
If the ICC don’t issue arrest warrants at this point observing what is happening in Gaza right now, the only hypocrisy would be in having done so for Putin but not for Netanyahu.
Issuing Iran with arrest warrants for acting in self defence would be ridiculous, after Israel targeted their embassy in Damascus, is it only Israel that has a right to self defence then, or is it only people who donate to you? As for Hamas the ICC have said they are also under investigation, the fact arrest warrants haven’t been issued, well, if Israel would let investigators investigate the scenes of the October 7th attacks and talk to witnesses that might help wouldn’t it? What are they hiding? And as for dragging China into the argument, stop straining so hard here to miss the point, you’re going to hurt yourselves.
The US and Israel might be outside the ICC but so was Russia and you cheered an arrest warrant for Putin, Palestine is a member of the ICC, their rights count, no matter how much you might wish they didn’t.
I love your use of the word sovereignty, when neither the US nor Israel have sovereigns, but if you want to tie your fates together, well legally, you’re most of the way there anyway in the eyes of the world and bringing up the Invade the Hague Bill you passed is nothing less than a threat, which is frankly all that drivel ultimately ended up as. What a reprehensible bunch of shills, but then, how much of that ill feeling is from the heart, or from the wallet?
All 12 of these Senators that signed this letter, Tom Cotton, Mitch McConnell, Marsha Blackburn, Katie Boyd Britt, Ted Budd, Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Bill Hagerty, Pete Ricketts, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Tim Scott have been recipients of pro Israel donations, from either the Israel Lobby or AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a massive lobbying body for Israel deeply rooted in Zionism. Between them, those 12 Senators have, according to TrackAIPAC.com, been given some $6.8m between them. Lobbying buys opinion, it buys votes, AIPAC in this day and age have some 100,000 members, many large very wealthy donors, exerts enormous influence and power and like all big money lobbying entities, is completely undemocratic when it seeks to shape public opinion when nobody voted for them.
In response to those threats, the ICC is standing firm, frankly having been directly threatened itself, though Senator Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama has apparently said it isn’t a threat, it’s a promise, the ICC in my view should be considering some arrest warrants for some US senators too. This is disgusting, it does nothing to make the world safer, it makes it more dangerous, because none of this is conducive to bringing about peace, especially not in the Middle East right now and for the people of Gaza.
It isn’t even just in government and amongst politicians that Israel have become so pervasive in however, as the ongoing US campus protests have shown, with a Columbia University Professor having been the one to call the police down on students, because she also happens to double up as a Deputy Commissioner for the New York Police Department in counterterrorism, which for some bizarre reason has an office in Tel Aviv! Find out all about that story in this video recommendation here and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.