Palestinians abandoned in legal limbo

Israel must no longer be afforded immunity and impunity if peace is ever to reign in this region. As long as it continues to literally get away with murder without any accountability, it will remain drugged with its own sense of power and invincibility.

Why should Israel relinquish land for peace when it can bomb, shell and incinerate the other side without any repercussions from the international community at large? This is why it is crucial that Israel be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted for breaching international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Israel’s response to the homemade rockets of Hamas has not only been disproportionate, there is prima facie evidence that it has failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets and utilized weapons that when unleashed in densely populated areas are considered illegal.

There are also first-hand accounts of Israeli troops opening fire on children, driving tanks over dead bodies, willfully destroying civilian infrastructure and preventing ambulances and rescue workers from helping the injured. In fact, its ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip is collective punishment, forbidden under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Although there is no lack of witnesses to Israel’s utter disregard for human life and welfare along with mountains of video and pictorial evidence, it cannot be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is because Israel does not accept its jurisdiction while the stateless Palestinian nation was not entitled to be a signatory to the Rome Statute under which the ICC was formed.

The UN Security Council could step into this void by either referring Israel to the ICC or setting up a special UN war crimes tribunal similar to that which tried individuals for crimes against humanity committed within the former Yugoslavia. But let’s get real. This isn’t going to happen because Israel has a big daddy called America, which adores its wild child no matter what and will use its veto to prevent the establishment of any such tribunal. More

For Palestinians, Obama’s message is crystal clear

We can be fooled again: