The unlawfully occupying apartheid state of--
July 22, 2024 9:19 PM Subscribe
Kenneth Roth writes for the Guardian: The ICJ has demolished Israel’s claims that it is not occupying Palestinian territories - "the court held that for legal purposes, occupation is the product of a military takeover of land, regardless of its status. Even Gaza has long been occupied, the court found, despite Israel’s 2005 disengagement, because Israel maintained authority over various aspects of life in Gaza that could be exercised when it wished." || Al-Jazeera: Can Palestinians expect changes after ICJ ruling on Israel’s occupation? & ‘Impunity must end’: World reacts to ICJ ruling against Israeli occupation || Haaretz: Israel to Give [Its] Top Court Supplementary Arguments on How ICJ Ruling Will Affect Gaza Aid || Marko Milanovic in European Journal of International Law's blog: The bottom line of the AO is that the Court found that Israel’s continued occupation of the OPT violates various rules of international law, and that Israel has to withdraw from the OPT as rapidly as possible – but there are many other findings of the Court, including with regard to the obligations of third states, that merit discussion.
Reuters: Japan imposes sanctions on four Israeli settlers in West Bank
BBC: Netanyahu faces delicate balancing act in US after Biden exits race - “Netanyahu wants President Trump to win,” she [Tal Shalev, the diplomatic correspondent at Israel’s Walla News] says, “And he wants to make sure that he and President Trump are on good terms before the election.”
SCMP: Israeli settlers attack and injure foreign volunteers in occupied West Bank
Guardian: ‘Constant anxiety’: hundreds of Palestinians face eviction threat in East Jerusalem - A recent ruling by Israel’s supreme court ended the legal battle of one local family against eviction and in hearings this week judges dismissed two other attempts to block moves to force 66 people out of their homes Batn al-Hawa too.
Covering the time period this AO was issued on, Guardian today published findings from a just released set of documents during Tony Blair's administration: Blair government accused IDF of acting like Russian army in West Bank
Politico: What a Kamala Harris foreign policy could look like
Haaretz editorial: Israel's Continued Denial of the Reality of the Occupation Will Be Its Ruin
New Arab: South Korea NGO files case against Israel for Gaza war crimes
Statement by the EU following the ICJ AO:
The European Union takes good note of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in respect of the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, reaching the following conclusions:
- the State of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and needs to be brought to an end as rapidly as possible;
- the State of Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
- all States are under an obligation not to recognise as legal this situation and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by this unlawful presence.
These conclusions are largely consistent with EU positions, which are themselves fully aligned on UN resolutions regarding the status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question.
(Aiming to have this as mainly the thread regarding the international community's obligations regarding the occupation, as well as the coverage, while the current thread on the active Israeli violence inc sieging, murder, and sexual assault, in Palestine is still open.)
Reuters: Japan imposes sanctions on four Israeli settlers in West Bank
BBC: Netanyahu faces delicate balancing act in US after Biden exits race - “Netanyahu wants President Trump to win,” she [Tal Shalev, the diplomatic correspondent at Israel’s Walla News] says, “And he wants to make sure that he and President Trump are on good terms before the election.”
SCMP: Israeli settlers attack and injure foreign volunteers in occupied West Bank
Guardian: ‘Constant anxiety’: hundreds of Palestinians face eviction threat in East Jerusalem - A recent ruling by Israel’s supreme court ended the legal battle of one local family against eviction and in hearings this week judges dismissed two other attempts to block moves to force 66 people out of their homes Batn al-Hawa too.
Covering the time period this AO was issued on, Guardian today published findings from a just released set of documents during Tony Blair's administration: Blair government accused IDF of acting like Russian army in West Bank
Politico: What a Kamala Harris foreign policy could look like
Haaretz editorial: Israel's Continued Denial of the Reality of the Occupation Will Be Its Ruin
New Arab: South Korea NGO files case against Israel for Gaza war crimes
Statement by the EU following the ICJ AO:
The European Union takes good note of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in respect of the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, reaching the following conclusions:
- the State of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and needs to be brought to an end as rapidly as possible;
- the State of Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
- all States are under an obligation not to recognise as legal this situation and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by this unlawful presence.
These conclusions are largely consistent with EU positions, which are themselves fully aligned on UN resolutions regarding the status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question.
(Aiming to have this as mainly the thread regarding the international community's obligations regarding the occupation, as well as the coverage, while the current thread on the active Israeli violence inc sieging, murder, and sexual assault, in Palestine is still open.)
I'm interested to see how it spins out from the General Assembly onwards - the advisory was very specific in positioning the UNGA to have about as much leverage as the UNSC - which may not seem much in the global North, at least for the moment.
posted by cendawanita at 9:35 PM on July 22 [2 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 9:35 PM on July 22 [2 favorites]
Newsflash (good thing it's finally posted in the anglophone news, I keep seeing telegram screenshots): WaPo: China says Hamas and Fatah sign ‘Beijing declaration’ on Palestinian unity - China hosted leaders from the two Palestinian factions in an attempt to bridge divisions, part of Beijing’s effort to portray itself as a global mediator.. Longer report on Al-Arabiya
In brief: Various Palestinian factions have agreed to end their divisions and strengthen Palestinian unity by signing the Beijing Declaration on Tuesday morning in China, according to Chinese state media.
The declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in Beijing from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said.
A total of 14 Palestinian factions including the leaders of rival groups Fatah and Hamas also met with the media, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi present, CGTN said in a social media post.
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah met in China in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to end around 17 years of disputes.
posted by cendawanita at 10:32 PM on July 22 [11 favorites]
In brief: Various Palestinian factions have agreed to end their divisions and strengthen Palestinian unity by signing the Beijing Declaration on Tuesday morning in China, according to Chinese state media.
The declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in Beijing from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said.
A total of 14 Palestinian factions including the leaders of rival groups Fatah and Hamas also met with the media, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi present, CGTN said in a social media post.
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah met in China in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to end around 17 years of disputes.
posted by cendawanita at 10:32 PM on July 22 [11 favorites]
A friend of mine was one of the lawyers who argued this case in front of the court. He's a British human rights lawyer with a focus on refugees and occupied territories. The amount of legal work that went on to prepare for this is impressive. I'm glad the decision went the way it did, although I'm sure it will have as much of an impact on US foreign policy as these rulings usually do.
posted by gingerbeer at 11:29 PM on July 22 [35 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 11:29 PM on July 22 [35 favorites]
Also a good read: I can give one example from Canada, where I was born. Canada’s submission [for the ICJ’s proceedings on the case] was very typical, affirming that the ICJ has jurisdiction over this important issue, but then going on to say that the best way to resolve it is by negotiations. But that’s the equivalent of saying, and forgive the analogy, that a person who is being beaten up just needs to negotiate with their abuser. Now the court has dispensed with that, and has clearly established that there is an occupier and occupied. So now I expect — and I’m actually going to start demanding — that the Canadian government change its position.
Another example where I expect to see change is the issue of settlers. When you look at the number of settlers living in occupied territory today, the conservative estimate is 700,000. In relation to the 4 million people in the entire territory [of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem], that’s a very high percentage. And that’s important because it shows that so many Israeli settlers have internalized and normalized the occupation.
The question is whether the Israeli settlers are going to view themselves as people living illegally on Palestinian land — and I suspect it’s going to be a no. But what I want to see is that action and that perception no longer being normalized, and a recognition that the occupation has done harm that needs to come to an end. Israel has done a good job at normalizing the settlements, and there is no Green Line anymore — Netanyahu’s statement yesterday [against the ICJ ruling] is proof of this. But that has to change.
posted by toastyk at 7:29 AM on July 23 [7 favorites]
Another example where I expect to see change is the issue of settlers. When you look at the number of settlers living in occupied territory today, the conservative estimate is 700,000. In relation to the 4 million people in the entire territory [of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem], that’s a very high percentage. And that’s important because it shows that so many Israeli settlers have internalized and normalized the occupation.
The question is whether the Israeli settlers are going to view themselves as people living illegally on Palestinian land — and I suspect it’s going to be a no. But what I want to see is that action and that perception no longer being normalized, and a recognition that the occupation has done harm that needs to come to an end. Israel has done a good job at normalizing the settlements, and there is no Green Line anymore — Netanyahu’s statement yesterday [against the ICJ ruling] is proof of this. But that has to change.
posted by toastyk at 7:29 AM on July 23 [7 favorites]
It's reminding me of my absolute surprise that the court went to the extent of clearly stating Palestinians deserve reparations and not just in-kind (my phrasing for the last) - we can barely get pro-occupation and invasion Zionists to calm down about the thought of having to actually live with their regional neighbours without wanting to aim a sharp end of something in terror, and now they have to consider opening the treasuries and their wallets? I say that of course since the West will never do that thing they just did to Russia last month with the liquidation of the frozen sovereign assets invested outside Russia (eta: that I'm assured here is very normal and sensible). If that's ever abided (the instructions for reparations), Israel will find out very quickly they're as global South and Middle East as the rest of us/them.
posted by cendawanita at 7:47 AM on July 23 [5 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 7:47 AM on July 23 [5 favorites]
I worked to elect Kamala Harris. She must break with Biden on Israel and Palestine [Lily Greenberg Call* | The Guardian]: Harris must initiate a new era in American policy towards Israel. It’s not just the right thing to do – it’s also politically savvy
----
*Lily Greenberg Call is a former special assistant to the chief of staff at the Department of Interior. She worked on Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and served in the administration until she became the first Jewish political appointee to resign in protest of US policy in Gaza. She has appeared as a guest on MSNBC, CNN and NBC and given commentary for the Washington Post, Politico, and the Associated Press
posted by mazola at 7:47 AM on July 23 [10 favorites]
----
*Lily Greenberg Call is a former special assistant to the chief of staff at the Department of Interior. She worked on Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and served in the administration until she became the first Jewish political appointee to resign in protest of US policy in Gaza. She has appeared as a guest on MSNBC, CNN and NBC and given commentary for the Washington Post, Politico, and the Associated Press
posted by mazola at 7:47 AM on July 23 [10 favorites]
It'd be the right thing for Harris to do. It'd be politically savvy in the sense of being the party of morals. However, it's not politically savvy wrt powerful players who will fight and undermine her; she has to be prepared to take on Aipac and the various Zionist American Jewish groups.
posted by kokaku at 7:59 AM on July 23 [8 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 7:59 AM on July 23 [8 favorites]
WSJ - Harris' support for ceasefire hints at foreign-policy shift archive.is- A Harris presidency could lead to a shake-up of the Democratic national security team, with Philip Gordon, her national security adviser, likely to play a central role. Gordon served as the top State Department official for Europe in the Obama administration and later worked as a senior White House official on Middle East issues, where he was deeply skeptical of plans to arm Syrian opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Key Biden appointees, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wouldn’t likely be extended in their current roles, current and former officials say.
Getting rid of Blinken and Sullivan would already be a massive improvement. I don't know anything about Philip Gordon.
posted by toastyk at 8:37 AM on July 23 [5 favorites]
Key Biden appointees, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wouldn’t likely be extended in their current roles, current and former officials say.
Getting rid of Blinken and Sullivan would already be a massive improvement. I don't know anything about Philip Gordon.
posted by toastyk at 8:37 AM on July 23 [5 favorites]
WaPo: China says Hamas and Fatah sign ‘Beijing declaration’ on Palestinian unity
Don't hold your breath waiting for implementation. Fatah and Hamas sign "agreements" like this every few years, including at Mecca in 2007, Cairo in 2011 and 2017, Doha in 2012, and Istanbul in 2020.
posted by senor biggles at 8:46 AM on July 23 [3 favorites]
Don't hold your breath waiting for implementation. Fatah and Hamas sign "agreements" like this every few years, including at Mecca in 2007, Cairo in 2011 and 2017, Doha in 2012, and Istanbul in 2020.
posted by senor biggles at 8:46 AM on July 23 [3 favorites]
I suspect that Harris will say as little as possible about Palestine during the campaign.
What motion is possible will be on the margins.
I view my task as giving politicians more space to move towards war crimes charges and full cash reparations, because ultimately I think they're bound by what their constituents will support.
posted by constraint at 8:56 AM on July 23 [7 favorites]
What motion is possible will be on the margins.
I view my task as giving politicians more space to move towards war crimes charges and full cash reparations, because ultimately I think they're bound by what their constituents will support.
posted by constraint at 8:56 AM on July 23 [7 favorites]
I view my task as giving politicians more space to move towards war crimes charges and full cash reparations, because ultimately I think they're bound by what their constituents will support.
Given the vast gulf in public opinion and the actions of elected representatives in the face of unambiguous, extensive evidence of genocide, I would not expect any support for such things to be forthcoming.
The current president lied, multiple times about seeing photographs and videos of atrocities, while materially and politically supporting the massacre of Palestinians.
This performative snubbing of Netanyahu -- while still sending bombs far too large to even pretend they are for "precision" strikes -- is just that, an act to placate those who are barely paying attention.
posted by Dark Messiah at 9:52 AM on July 23 [13 favorites]
Given the vast gulf in public opinion and the actions of elected representatives in the face of unambiguous, extensive evidence of genocide, I would not expect any support for such things to be forthcoming.
The current president lied, multiple times about seeing photographs and videos of atrocities, while materially and politically supporting the massacre of Palestinians.
This performative snubbing of Netanyahu -- while still sending bombs far too large to even pretend they are for "precision" strikes -- is just that, an act to placate those who are barely paying attention.
posted by Dark Messiah at 9:52 AM on July 23 [13 favorites]
Top UN court says Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal - "'The Jewish nation cannot be an occupier in its own land', Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. The opinion also angered West Bank settlers as well as politicians such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose nationalist religious party is close to the settler movement and who himself lives in a West Bank settlement. 'The answer to The Hague - Sovereignty now' he said in a post on the social media platform X, in an apparent appeal to formally annex the West Bank."
Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation - "The bill's sponsor, Yulia Malinovsky, was quoted as describing UNRWA as a 'fifth column within Israel'... Israel has said hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but has yet to provide evidence to a U.N.-appointed review. Several donor countries halted funding to UNRWA following the Israeli accusations but many have since reversed the decision, including Britain which said last week it would resume funding."
> Don't hold your breath waiting for implementation.
fwiw...
Palestinian factions agree to form unity government - "Ashraf Abouelhoul, a specialist on Palestinian affairs, said previous similar declarations had not been implemented and nothing would happened without U.S. approval. 'Forming a unity government with Hamas is rejected by the United States, Israel, and Britain. There is a consensus among those countries to exclude Hamas from any role in the day after the war', Abouelhoul said."
posted by kliuless at 10:11 AM on July 23 [9 favorites]
Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation - "The bill's sponsor, Yulia Malinovsky, was quoted as describing UNRWA as a 'fifth column within Israel'... Israel has said hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but has yet to provide evidence to a U.N.-appointed review. Several donor countries halted funding to UNRWA following the Israeli accusations but many have since reversed the decision, including Britain which said last week it would resume funding."
> Don't hold your breath waiting for implementation.
fwiw...
Palestinian factions agree to form unity government - "Ashraf Abouelhoul, a specialist on Palestinian affairs, said previous similar declarations had not been implemented and nothing would happened without U.S. approval. 'Forming a unity government with Hamas is rejected by the United States, Israel, and Britain. There is a consensus among those countries to exclude Hamas from any role in the day after the war', Abouelhoul said."
posted by kliuless at 10:11 AM on July 23 [9 favorites]
I don't know that I have anything to say about this ruling others haven't already said. It's so important and yet (incoherent screaming)
But this is a welcome post and I don't want anyone to think it lacks comments because it's not important or that it's just being ignored. I think it's that it's hard not to run out of words.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:46 AM on July 23 [12 favorites]
But this is a welcome post and I don't want anyone to think it lacks comments because it's not important or that it's just being ignored. I think it's that it's hard not to run out of words.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:46 AM on July 23 [12 favorites]
Ok, Spencer Ackerman throws cold water on the idea of a substantial foreign policy change from Biden -
Jeremy Scahill at Drop Site News did a deep dive into Harris' history on the issue. While he finds daylight between it and Biden's uncomplicated Zionism, Harris, Scahill writes, has "her own record of hardline support for Israel, both as a senator and as vice president." You can read a similar assessment from Adam Lucente at al-Monitor, who surveys her vice-presidential record on the Mideast more broadly. Jacob Magid of the Times of Israel has a piece full of senior Biden officials saying that the reported differences between Biden and Harris on Israel are overblown: "There has been no division of labor or dispute on policy," is a representative quote.
Another factor pointing toward continuity is the perspective of her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, Harris' senior-most foreign-policy aide. On May 22, Gordon, a Democratic foreign-policy hand with National Security Council experience on the Middle East in the Obama administration, gave a foreign-policy tour d'horizon to the Council on Foreign Relations. Gordon sounded closer to Biden's Israel policy than Harris did in her March quasi-dissent. And today Michael Gordon and Lara Seligman of the Wall Street Journal report that Phil Gordon is "likely to play a central role" in a Harris administration's foreign policy, which they nevertheless suggest could diverge from Biden's on Israel/Palestine.
posted by toastyk at 1:11 PM on July 23 [5 favorites]
Jeremy Scahill at Drop Site News did a deep dive into Harris' history on the issue. While he finds daylight between it and Biden's uncomplicated Zionism, Harris, Scahill writes, has "her own record of hardline support for Israel, both as a senator and as vice president." You can read a similar assessment from Adam Lucente at al-Monitor, who surveys her vice-presidential record on the Mideast more broadly. Jacob Magid of the Times of Israel has a piece full of senior Biden officials saying that the reported differences between Biden and Harris on Israel are overblown: "There has been no division of labor or dispute on policy," is a representative quote.
Another factor pointing toward continuity is the perspective of her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, Harris' senior-most foreign-policy aide. On May 22, Gordon, a Democratic foreign-policy hand with National Security Council experience on the Middle East in the Obama administration, gave a foreign-policy tour d'horizon to the Council on Foreign Relations. Gordon sounded closer to Biden's Israel policy than Harris did in her March quasi-dissent. And today Michael Gordon and Lara Seligman of the Wall Street Journal report that Phil Gordon is "likely to play a central role" in a Harris administration's foreign policy, which they nevertheless suggest could diverge from Biden's on Israel/Palestine.
posted by toastyk at 1:11 PM on July 23 [5 favorites]
The ICJ opinion would hardly be surprising to anyone, but it doesn't bind any person or country to actually do anything about it. Nothing will change as a result of this, except a bunch of bureaucrats keep getting paid.
posted by dg at 2:10 PM on July 23
posted by dg at 2:10 PM on July 23
A lot of people do get hung up on the non-binding nature of an AO, and the final eventual result (no significant action) may still be the same, but recall the trajectory of this came from not from a filing to bring a country to court (eg South Africa vs Israel) which itself is new (the second case to rely on erga omnes, the responsibility of OTHERS to keep signatories to specific parts of specific international law eg why it's South Africa and not a country like Malaysia who has a reservation on a clause that gives it no standing to petition a claim based on the genocide convention), or the more standard way of the court itself where the two countries must have direct relations with the facts of the case (Ukraine v Russia).
It's instead a request for an opinion from the General Assembly to the ICJ. This advisory is for all the members of the Assembly to take note, and follow up with action within their respective member capacities (eg Japan now) or a unified action (similar to how apartheid South Africa faced).
The relevant part of the contention is that it all means nothing. Yes, it can mean nothing if Western allies continue to try very hard to break international law. Again, this is nothing new. Certainly apartheid South Africa's experience continue to be instructive. Just depending on wiki is sufficient for this comment, and I'll quote:
In 1962, the UN General Assembly requested that its members split political, fiscal and transportation connections with South Africa. In 1968, it suggested the deferral of all cultural, didactic and sporting commerce as well. From 1964, the US and Britain discontinued their dealings of armaments to South Africa. In spite of the many cries for sanctions, however, none were made obligatory.
In 1964, Japan banned direct investment in South Africa, and later excluded South Africa from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.[3]
In 1977, the voluntary UN arms embargo became mandatory with the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 418.[citation needed] An oil embargo was introduced on 20 November 1987 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a voluntary international oil embargo.[4]
While international opposition to apartheid grew, the Nordic countries, and Sweden in particular, provided both moral and financial support for the African National Congress (ANC).[5] Pope John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of apartheid. In September 1988, he made a pilgrimage to countries bordering South Africa, while demonstratively avoiding South Africa itself. During his visit to Zimbabwe, he called for economic sanctions against the South African government.[6] Other Western countries adopted a more ambivalent position at first. The Nixon administration implemented a policy known as the T*r Baby Option, pursuant to which the US maintained close relations with the Apartheid South African government.[7]
(...) By the late-1980s, with no sign of a political resolution in South Africa, Western patience began to run out. By 1989, a bipartisan Republican and Democratic initiative in the US favoured economic sanctions (realised as the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986), the release of Nelson Mandela and a negotiated settlement involving the ANC. Thatcher too began to take a similar line, but insisted on the suspension of the ANC's armed struggle.[23]
By this time, after much debate, the United States, the United Kingdom, and 23 other nations had passed laws placing various trade sanctions on South Africa.
It's absolutely in the interest of anyone who cannot (absolutely cannot!) abide the moral quandary having apartheid countries in their list of ally countries (inc personal relations and personal sympathy common to humans) to downplay this because of how this implicates everyone. Unfortunately or fortunately this isn't new. We have literally gone thru this before. Israel's lobbying over the decades recognizes the risk. One of their successes is in muddying the legal waters (eg what's happening with Germany in particular with the abuse of the crime of antisemitism to charge people protesting against Israel). Up to us to persist in normalizing it or not.
I've posted on fedi but I was struck by the split opinion of Judge Tomka who even as they disagreed if the occupation is unlawful they agreed other countries should basically BDS Israel until they leave. (BDS itself was inspired by the South African movement)
Although I do not share the Court’s view that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, I agree that all States are under an obligation to not recognize the situation arising from its presence in that territory and to refrain from rendering aid or assistance to Israel in maintaining that situation. The main reason for my position is that I believe that States should not assist Israel in its aim to annex a major part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to treat it as its own territory. On the contrary, States should, within their power, lend their assistance to reach the overall goal of achieving peace in the Middle East, that is to say, the goal of achieving a situation in which the State of Israel and the State of Palestine live side by side, in peace and security within their internationally recognized boundaries.
Anyway TL;DR we've been here before with South Africa. It's in fact better to ask yourself why the cynicism as though it has never happened before and with actual success. (Also do we all really want to replay the part of history where we're on the side of the 'T*r Baby Option'?)
Guardian: Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel’ - Letter to US president says: ‘our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy’
BBC: Netanyahu facing 'day of rage' in Washington
posted by cendawanita at 7:14 PM on July 23 [17 favorites]
It's instead a request for an opinion from the General Assembly to the ICJ. This advisory is for all the members of the Assembly to take note, and follow up with action within their respective member capacities (eg Japan now) or a unified action (similar to how apartheid South Africa faced).
The relevant part of the contention is that it all means nothing. Yes, it can mean nothing if Western allies continue to try very hard to break international law. Again, this is nothing new. Certainly apartheid South Africa's experience continue to be instructive. Just depending on wiki is sufficient for this comment, and I'll quote:
In 1962, the UN General Assembly requested that its members split political, fiscal and transportation connections with South Africa. In 1968, it suggested the deferral of all cultural, didactic and sporting commerce as well. From 1964, the US and Britain discontinued their dealings of armaments to South Africa. In spite of the many cries for sanctions, however, none were made obligatory.
In 1964, Japan banned direct investment in South Africa, and later excluded South Africa from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.[3]
In 1977, the voluntary UN arms embargo became mandatory with the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 418.[citation needed] An oil embargo was introduced on 20 November 1987 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a voluntary international oil embargo.[4]
While international opposition to apartheid grew, the Nordic countries, and Sweden in particular, provided both moral and financial support for the African National Congress (ANC).[5] Pope John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of apartheid. In September 1988, he made a pilgrimage to countries bordering South Africa, while demonstratively avoiding South Africa itself. During his visit to Zimbabwe, he called for economic sanctions against the South African government.[6] Other Western countries adopted a more ambivalent position at first. The Nixon administration implemented a policy known as the T*r Baby Option, pursuant to which the US maintained close relations with the Apartheid South African government.[7]
(...) By the late-1980s, with no sign of a political resolution in South Africa, Western patience began to run out. By 1989, a bipartisan Republican and Democratic initiative in the US favoured economic sanctions (realised as the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986), the release of Nelson Mandela and a negotiated settlement involving the ANC. Thatcher too began to take a similar line, but insisted on the suspension of the ANC's armed struggle.[23]
By this time, after much debate, the United States, the United Kingdom, and 23 other nations had passed laws placing various trade sanctions on South Africa.
It's absolutely in the interest of anyone who cannot (absolutely cannot!) abide the moral quandary having apartheid countries in their list of ally countries (inc personal relations and personal sympathy common to humans) to downplay this because of how this implicates everyone. Unfortunately or fortunately this isn't new. We have literally gone thru this before. Israel's lobbying over the decades recognizes the risk. One of their successes is in muddying the legal waters (eg what's happening with Germany in particular with the abuse of the crime of antisemitism to charge people protesting against Israel). Up to us to persist in normalizing it or not.
I've posted on fedi but I was struck by the split opinion of Judge Tomka who even as they disagreed if the occupation is unlawful they agreed other countries should basically BDS Israel until they leave. (BDS itself was inspired by the South African movement)
Although I do not share the Court’s view that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, I agree that all States are under an obligation to not recognize the situation arising from its presence in that territory and to refrain from rendering aid or assistance to Israel in maintaining that situation. The main reason for my position is that I believe that States should not assist Israel in its aim to annex a major part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to treat it as its own territory. On the contrary, States should, within their power, lend their assistance to reach the overall goal of achieving peace in the Middle East, that is to say, the goal of achieving a situation in which the State of Israel and the State of Palestine live side by side, in peace and security within their internationally recognized boundaries.
Anyway TL;DR we've been here before with South Africa. It's in fact better to ask yourself why the cynicism as though it has never happened before and with actual success. (Also do we all really want to replay the part of history where we're on the side of the 'T*r Baby Option'?)
Guardian: Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel’ - Letter to US president says: ‘our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy’
BBC: Netanyahu facing 'day of rage' in Washington
posted by cendawanita at 7:14 PM on July 23 [17 favorites]
It'll be interesting to civic groups try (and fail?) to legally challenge the various domestic anti-BDS laws in the US, I'll say that much.
posted by cendawanita at 7:26 PM on July 23 [3 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 7:26 PM on July 23 [3 favorites]
MSN:
posted by flabdablet at 12:27 AM on July 24 [6 favorites]
In a swift reaction, Israel's foreign ministry rejected the opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sidedHaving the whole world act unilaterally again is simply unacceptable. How the fuck is anybody supposed to operate an empire under these conditions? It's intolerable.
posted by flabdablet at 12:27 AM on July 24 [6 favorites]
Germany used to harbor strong 'But the UN should be important!' sentiments. They were strong enough to carry a pacifist-minded public opinion almost all the way into the military intervention in Yugoslavia. Granted, that was a long time and a pandemic ago. But what I'm trying to say is, I don't think Germany can stare down these statements, even if the US does.
posted by Ashenmote at 12:40 AM on July 24 [3 favorites]
posted by Ashenmote at 12:40 AM on July 24 [3 favorites]
From @ireallyhateyou (an anti-zionist Israeli and a fantastic source of on-the-ground info), on Twitter:
I know that the stuff I post here might make it seem like Israeli society is a very racist society, but I assure you, in reality it is much more racist.
posted by adrienneleigh at 1:16 AM on July 24 [7 favorites]
I know that the stuff I post here might make it seem like Israeli society is a very racist society, but I assure you, in reality it is much more racist.
posted by adrienneleigh at 1:16 AM on July 24 [7 favorites]
Germany used to harbor strong 'But the UN should be important!' sentiments. They were strong enough to carry a pacifist-minded public opinion almost all the way into the military intervention in Yugoslavia. Granted, that was a long time and a pandemic ago. But what I'm trying to say is, I don't think Germany can stare down these statements, even if the US does.
I wouldn't count on Germany to be much help for Palestine. Solidarity with Israel no matter what is deeply entrenched in post-WW2 German politics.
Scholz was asked today if the recent ICJ decision would influence his politics and answered very clearly "no". Germany will continue to ship weapons to Israel and will not boycott Israeli goods or services. (Sorry, I couldn't find a good English language source, nd article in German)
posted by the_dreamwriter at 11:13 AM on July 24 [4 favorites]
I wouldn't count on Germany to be much help for Palestine. Solidarity with Israel no matter what is deeply entrenched in post-WW2 German politics.
Scholz was asked today if the recent ICJ decision would influence his politics and answered very clearly "no". Germany will continue to ship weapons to Israel and will not boycott Israeli goods or services. (Sorry, I couldn't find a good English language source, nd article in German)
posted by the_dreamwriter at 11:13 AM on July 24 [4 favorites]
Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation
The meaning of terrorist now carrying all the nuanced meaning of Socialist in the US.
posted by Mitheral at 12:41 PM on July 24 [5 favorites]
The meaning of terrorist now carrying all the nuanced meaning of Socialist in the US.
posted by Mitheral at 12:41 PM on July 24 [5 favorites]
A friend of mine was one of the lawyers who argued this case in front of the court. He's a British human rights lawyer with a focus on refugees and occupied territories.
gingerbeer, I have been reading Ralph Wilde's paper "Using the Master’s Tools to Dismantle the Master’s House: International Law and Palestinian Liberation" with a graduate student and it has been amazing to see literal lightbulbs going on above her head as she puts all the pieces together. Please tell him that thanks to him there is at least one young Japanese person who understands why the ICJ advisory opinion is so important and is going around telling all her friends and family about it.
posted by mydonkeybenjamin at 2:52 PM on July 24 [11 favorites]
gingerbeer, I have been reading Ralph Wilde's paper "Using the Master’s Tools to Dismantle the Master’s House: International Law and Palestinian Liberation" with a graduate student and it has been amazing to see literal lightbulbs going on above her head as she puts all the pieces together. Please tell him that thanks to him there is at least one young Japanese person who understands why the ICJ advisory opinion is so important and is going around telling all her friends and family about it.
posted by mydonkeybenjamin at 2:52 PM on July 24 [11 favorites]
we've been here before with South Africa
It has always seemed to me that BDS and the whole international "movement" around it are given a lot more credit for ending apartheid in South Africa than they ought to, particularly among left-leaning American folks who liked to go to protests in college, and the whole thing seems… a bit conveniently self-congratulatory.
A more plausible explanation is that apartheid ended when (and only when) the white minority in SA realized that the situation was absolutely untenable, not because of external economic pressure—which they dealt with in various ways, on and off, for years; and which other "pariah states" with less resources have ridden out for far longer—but if they didn't find a reasonably-graceful way to wind the minority-rule system down, they could all end up either as refugees or corpses.
It's not like this was a theoretical issue: white South Africans only had to look north, or ask the large number of white ex-Rhodesians living in their midst (and whose government they had tried to prop up practically as long as possible), to see how the endgame might play out.
I'm not sure what parallels one can safely draw with Israel. There's no Rhodesia-equivalent for Israelis to look at and decide "wow, that ended poorly, let's maybe not do that". (In fact, most of the quasi-ethnic wars Israel has been involved in have ended advantageously, or at least not catastrophically, for Israel.) There doesn't seem to be an obvious Mandela-equivalent waiting in the wings on the Arab side. And Netanyahu sure as hell isn't de Klerk.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:38 AM on July 25 [3 favorites]
It has always seemed to me that BDS and the whole international "movement" around it are given a lot more credit for ending apartheid in South Africa than they ought to, particularly among left-leaning American folks who liked to go to protests in college, and the whole thing seems… a bit conveniently self-congratulatory.
A more plausible explanation is that apartheid ended when (and only when) the white minority in SA realized that the situation was absolutely untenable, not because of external economic pressure—which they dealt with in various ways, on and off, for years; and which other "pariah states" with less resources have ridden out for far longer—but if they didn't find a reasonably-graceful way to wind the minority-rule system down, they could all end up either as refugees or corpses.
It's not like this was a theoretical issue: white South Africans only had to look north, or ask the large number of white ex-Rhodesians living in their midst (and whose government they had tried to prop up practically as long as possible), to see how the endgame might play out.
I'm not sure what parallels one can safely draw with Israel. There's no Rhodesia-equivalent for Israelis to look at and decide "wow, that ended poorly, let's maybe not do that". (In fact, most of the quasi-ethnic wars Israel has been involved in have ended advantageously, or at least not catastrophically, for Israel.) There doesn't seem to be an obvious Mandela-equivalent waiting in the wings on the Arab side. And Netanyahu sure as hell isn't de Klerk.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:38 AM on July 25 [3 favorites]
I would definitely agree that domestic pressure is as important as external pressure (if not more!), especially when it comes to the Mandela question, where in Israel's case seems to be answered with 'identifying likely ones and putting them in near-permanent detention toot sweet ' (e.g. the current one seems to still be Marwan Barghouti), not to mention their societal emergent response to a de Klerk seems to be, 'political assassination if you please'.
But as one of the key takeaways of the ICJ AO is regarding the responsibility of third states the focus of my comment is on that. The phrasing of the wiki bit I quoted was very arch but certainly the West still hasn't "lost patience" with Israel either, if the US Congress stunt today is of any indication.
Prem Thakker (for Zeteo): My 24 Hours In Benjamin Netanyahu’s Washington D.C.
Sara Jacobs: I’m the youngest Jewish member of Congress. Here’s why I’m not attending Netanyahu’s address.
Huff Post: Netanyahu Speech To Congress Underscores U.S. Complicity In Gaza War - In a roughly hourlong speech, the Israeli prime minister portrayed the two nations as standing together against a common enemy, from Iran to the International Criminal Court.
posted by cendawanita at 1:52 AM on July 25 [6 favorites]
But as one of the key takeaways of the ICJ AO is regarding the responsibility of third states the focus of my comment is on that. The phrasing of the wiki bit I quoted was very arch but certainly the West still hasn't "lost patience" with Israel either, if the US Congress stunt today is of any indication.
Prem Thakker (for Zeteo): My 24 Hours In Benjamin Netanyahu’s Washington D.C.
Sara Jacobs: I’m the youngest Jewish member of Congress. Here’s why I’m not attending Netanyahu’s address.
Huff Post: Netanyahu Speech To Congress Underscores U.S. Complicity In Gaza War - In a roughly hourlong speech, the Israeli prime minister portrayed the two nations as standing together against a common enemy, from Iran to the International Criminal Court.
posted by cendawanita at 1:52 AM on July 25 [6 favorites]
I wouldn't count on Germany to be much help for Palestine.
I hear you and this is horrible. I didn't say they wouldn't try to stare down these statements though. Much like a Biden vote can become not a Biden vote, a Scholz 'no' can also age very quickly. So there's still hope.
posted by Ashenmote at 3:41 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
I hear you and this is horrible. I didn't say they wouldn't try to stare down these statements though. Much like a Biden vote can become not a Biden vote, a Scholz 'no' can also age very quickly. So there's still hope.
posted by Ashenmote at 3:41 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
Some consequences:
Australia imposes sanctions on 7 Israeli settlers and a youth group it claims has been involved in violence in the West Bank - The unnamed group was responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence against Palestinians, while the settlers had been involved in beatings, sexual assault and torture and in some cases death, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. "We call on Israel to hold perpetrators of settler violence to account and to cease its ongoing settlement activity, which only inflames tensions and further undermines stability and prospects for a two-state solution," Wong said in a statement.
UK likely to withdraw opposition to ICC indictments of Netanyahu and Gallant archive.is - By the end of this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to drop the previous government’s objections to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s pursuit of an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, two people briefed on the government’s deliberations said. The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity given the political sensitivities of the issue.
Last week, Britain said it would restart funding for the main United Nations’ agency that aids Palestinians, UNRWA, having concluded that the agency had taken steps to ensure that it meets “the highest standards of neutrality.” The Israeli government had accused a dozen of the agency’s employees of playing a role in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel or their aftermath.
Taken together, these steps show a government that is willing to pile more pressure on Mr. Netanyahu for Israel’s harsh military response in Gaza. It also shows that Mr. Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, is paying more heed to international legal institutions than the United States.
posted by toastyk at 7:17 AM on July 25 [4 favorites]
Australia imposes sanctions on 7 Israeli settlers and a youth group it claims has been involved in violence in the West Bank - The unnamed group was responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence against Palestinians, while the settlers had been involved in beatings, sexual assault and torture and in some cases death, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. "We call on Israel to hold perpetrators of settler violence to account and to cease its ongoing settlement activity, which only inflames tensions and further undermines stability and prospects for a two-state solution," Wong said in a statement.
UK likely to withdraw opposition to ICC indictments of Netanyahu and Gallant archive.is - By the end of this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to drop the previous government’s objections to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s pursuit of an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, two people briefed on the government’s deliberations said. The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity given the political sensitivities of the issue.
Last week, Britain said it would restart funding for the main United Nations’ agency that aids Palestinians, UNRWA, having concluded that the agency had taken steps to ensure that it meets “the highest standards of neutrality.” The Israeli government had accused a dozen of the agency’s employees of playing a role in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel or their aftermath.
Taken together, these steps show a government that is willing to pile more pressure on Mr. Netanyahu for Israel’s harsh military response in Gaza. It also shows that Mr. Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, is paying more heed to international legal institutions than the United States.
posted by toastyk at 7:17 AM on July 25 [4 favorites]
Taken together, these steps show a government that is willing to pile more pressure on Mr. Netanyahu for Israel’s harsh military response in Gaza. It also shows that Mr. Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, is paying more heed to international legal institutions than the United States.
not sure what to make of this one. it might have less to do with "starmer, human rights lawyer", and more to do with the worry that the perception among significant parts of the electorate --- that the starmerrhoids are in the tank for genocide --- is going to haunt them. the article mentions briefly that several labour candidates just lost elections to independent candidates running explicitly against labour's recent stances re: genocide in Palestine (the relatively good performance of the greens probably reflects the same discontent among a bunch of other things). they mention ashworth losing his seat, but not labour's execrable treatment of their own erstwhile candidate faiza shaheen (which plausibly handed a seat to the tories), or the better news where independent leanne mohamad came within 1% of unseating a labour bigwig, which add to the impression that starmer's maneuvering might not be entirely informed by his personal attitudes toward international law. but i genuinely don't know how alarmed they are by those election results.
(sorry for the slight derail into rabbit-holing on UK politics; that NYT article from toastyk's comment is worth a read though.)
posted by busted_crayons at 8:31 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
not sure what to make of this one. it might have less to do with "starmer, human rights lawyer", and more to do with the worry that the perception among significant parts of the electorate --- that the starmerrhoids are in the tank for genocide --- is going to haunt them. the article mentions briefly that several labour candidates just lost elections to independent candidates running explicitly against labour's recent stances re: genocide in Palestine (the relatively good performance of the greens probably reflects the same discontent among a bunch of other things). they mention ashworth losing his seat, but not labour's execrable treatment of their own erstwhile candidate faiza shaheen (which plausibly handed a seat to the tories), or the better news where independent leanne mohamad came within 1% of unseating a labour bigwig, which add to the impression that starmer's maneuvering might not be entirely informed by his personal attitudes toward international law. but i genuinely don't know how alarmed they are by those election results.
(sorry for the slight derail into rabbit-holing on UK politics; that NYT article from toastyk's comment is worth a read though.)
posted by busted_crayons at 8:31 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
...more to do with the worry that the perception among significant parts of the electorate --- that the starmerrhoids are in the tank for genocide --- is going to haunt them.
That's the first I'm hearing of the party worrying about that. (Not sure how this is a derail given the note at the end of the FPP)
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 8:58 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
That's the first I'm hearing of the party worrying about that. (Not sure how this is a derail given the note at the end of the FPP)
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 8:58 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
yeah, you are right: there's a lot of press coverage indicating that they should worry about that (even just because of the existence of that press coverage), but i also haven't seen anything to indicate they are, just speculating about whether they are changing course a bit due to those worries (and then hiding behind some other explanation for the course change).
posted by busted_crayons at 9:05 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
posted by busted_crayons at 9:05 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
Is this the appropriate place to talk about Netanyahu's address to Congress, the protests against that, and the response (both police and political) to those protests? I don't want to derail if it isn't but I also don't know if there should be another post and, even if there should be, I don't think I should be the person to make it (too emotionally reactive at the moment) but I do think there's a lot to say.
posted by an octopus IRL at 1:37 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 1:37 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
> gingerbeer, I have been reading Ralph Wilde's paper "Using the Master’s Tools to Dismantle the Master’s House: International Law and Palestinian Liberation" with a graduate student and it has been amazing to see literal lightbulbs going on above her head
Wow -- that is amazing to hear!
posted by gingerbeer at 2:16 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
Wow -- that is amazing to hear!
posted by gingerbeer at 2:16 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
Is this the appropriate place to talk about Netanyahu's address to Congress, the protests against that, and the response (both police and political) to those protests? I don't want to derail
I'm sure that would be included in "the international community's obligations regarding the occupation, as well as the coverage"; the FPP includes links about UK and US political responses.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 3:03 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
I'm sure that would be included in "the international community's obligations regarding the occupation, as well as the coverage"; the FPP includes links about UK and US political responses.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 3:03 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
All of these things may be small, but they add up. The path Israel has been down for at least the last 24 years was never going to work, but the change will never com from the inside. Outside pressure is the only way to change direction away from genocide.
posted by chaz at 3:08 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
posted by chaz at 3:08 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
Is this the appropriate place to talk about Netanyahu's address to Congress, the protests against that, and the response (both police and political) to those protests?
Yes, of course!
posted by cendawanita at 5:25 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
Yes, of course!
posted by cendawanita at 5:25 PM on July 25 [3 favorites]
Thank you! I do want to have a conversation about the protests but I also want to be thoughtful about how I'm engaging because I'm feeling pretty emotional about this for a number of reasons.
That said, I was very upset by Kamala Harris's statement about the protests including the framing of a massive, diverse group of protesters as "pro-Hamas" and antisemitic (especially but not exclusively because there were many many Jewish people protesting) and completely eliding the violence brought by the police. I understand this is the kind of statement politicians make and I'm still going to vote for her but reading this statement and seeing how the police dealt with the protests and the way that reaction is being framed feels really shitty.
posted by an octopus IRL at 6:07 PM on July 25 [7 favorites]
That said, I was very upset by Kamala Harris's statement about the protests including the framing of a massive, diverse group of protesters as "pro-Hamas" and antisemitic (especially but not exclusively because there were many many Jewish people protesting) and completely eliding the violence brought by the police. I understand this is the kind of statement politicians make and I'm still going to vote for her but reading this statement and seeing how the police dealt with the protests and the way that reaction is being framed feels really shitty.
posted by an octopus IRL at 6:07 PM on July 25 [7 favorites]
an octopus IRL, I would like to hear about that and I hope my above mention of derails didn't put you off talking about it. i am also very upset about the same thing you are and especially the wanton dishonesty in how all of the protests have been portrayed.
(if some part of what you would like to say feels out of scope for this thread, I am happy to hear by memail and there are surely other mefites who would say the same)
posted by busted_crayons at 6:27 PM on July 25 [2 favorites]
(if some part of what you would like to say feels out of scope for this thread, I am happy to hear by memail and there are surely other mefites who would say the same)
posted by busted_crayons at 6:27 PM on July 25 [2 favorites]
I understand this is the kind of statement politicians make and I'm still going to vote for her but reading this statement and seeing how the police dealt with the protests and the way that reaction is being framed feels really shitty.
I agree - ironic to me over here because US politicians have been posting public messages of support over the student protests in Bangladesh... That has also elicited fatal levels of police brutality. While I understand that she was threading the needle and I can see the lengths of specificity of who she wanted to condemn, it does feel outsized considering the actual makeup of the protests. Speaking of the Israelis who were themselves arrested:
'Monstrous': Hear From An Israeli Hostage’s Relative Arrested During Netanyahu’s Speech To Congress -
“You have to oppose Netanyahu," Zahiro Shahar Mor told HuffPost. "It’s not that you’re an antisemite — you’re truthful.”
One thing that I keep hearing esp this year is how much Israelis who do want the current war but also most definitely the occupation to end have been asking, if not begging, for the outside world to help them put pressure. Gideon Levy is a typical example but I have really started hearing more from others as well - feels like it's a response to the other side of outside forces that have caused their country to even shift even further right.
And I'm saying this even as I understand the basic premise and history of how Israel is founded really proscribed this path as almost inevitable, but it's playing in my mind when it became real apparent even the ones outside who claim to support bringing the hostages home are in actual conflict (politically) with the protestors back in Israel. Supposed friendly outside influence over the years are no real friend of Israel at all.
Anyway, Kamala Harris held a short press update after meeting Netanyahu, I thought it is adequate but it feels like a shift in tone because Biden was so visibly unable and unwilling to do so. I'm not sure if this will change the pattern of reacting to the student protests though - her Law & Order characteristic here doesn't signal anything fresh. But, for all that the Knesset just recently voted to basically kill any internal political pathway to a 2-state solution (and despite my preference for a one-state or a bi-national federation), I absolutely think it's remarkable (and sad) that we now have a (mainstream) US presidential candidate that is unequivocal about the right of the Palestinians to have self-determination.
posted by cendawanita at 6:34 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
I agree - ironic to me over here because US politicians have been posting public messages of support over the student protests in Bangladesh... That has also elicited fatal levels of police brutality. While I understand that she was threading the needle and I can see the lengths of specificity of who she wanted to condemn, it does feel outsized considering the actual makeup of the protests. Speaking of the Israelis who were themselves arrested:
'Monstrous': Hear From An Israeli Hostage’s Relative Arrested During Netanyahu’s Speech To Congress -
“You have to oppose Netanyahu," Zahiro Shahar Mor told HuffPost. "It’s not that you’re an antisemite — you’re truthful.”
One thing that I keep hearing esp this year is how much Israelis who do want the current war but also most definitely the occupation to end have been asking, if not begging, for the outside world to help them put pressure. Gideon Levy is a typical example but I have really started hearing more from others as well - feels like it's a response to the other side of outside forces that have caused their country to even shift even further right.
And I'm saying this even as I understand the basic premise and history of how Israel is founded really proscribed this path as almost inevitable, but it's playing in my mind when it became real apparent even the ones outside who claim to support bringing the hostages home are in actual conflict (politically) with the protestors back in Israel. Supposed friendly outside influence over the years are no real friend of Israel at all.
Anyway, Kamala Harris held a short press update after meeting Netanyahu, I thought it is adequate but it feels like a shift in tone because Biden was so visibly unable and unwilling to do so. I'm not sure if this will change the pattern of reacting to the student protests though - her Law & Order characteristic here doesn't signal anything fresh. But, for all that the Knesset just recently voted to basically kill any internal political pathway to a 2-state solution (and despite my preference for a one-state or a bi-national federation), I absolutely think it's remarkable (and sad) that we now have a (mainstream) US presidential candidate that is unequivocal about the right of the Palestinians to have self-determination.
posted by cendawanita at 6:34 PM on July 25 [5 favorites]
Thanks busted_crayons! I am trying to balance sharing my experience with processing appropriately and not emotionally dumping all over the thread or saying anything I'll regret. It's very hard to phrase things with sufficient care but I will say that state violence is always upsetting and there was a LOT of pepper spray deployed by the cops including against a number of clearly-marked members of the press. I think when politicians condemn violence it's important to think about what is and isn't considered violent; it seems like the act of protesting, and burning flags, is considered violent enough to condemn in this statement which does not address the violence of committing war crimes against Palestinians or pepper spraying people protesting said war crimes. I'm sure there are people who will object to the way I'm saying this, and I'm not defending everything that people said or did, but I also think the talk about violence from protestors redirects attention from what they're protesting and also the police response was (to me) completely disproportionate and it's discouraging to see the way this is being framed in some places.
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:05 PM on July 25 [6 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:05 PM on July 25 [6 favorites]
Big news from Canada it seems:
CRA notifies Jewish National Fund it will revoke Canadian charitable status - The group announced its intention to appeal, claiming the Canada Revenue Agency changed the rules for charitable donations long after the organization's work had been approved
The Canada Revenue Agency has notified the century-old Jewish National Fund that it plans to revoke the group’s charitable status in Canada over support for military infrastructure in Israel, a decision the JNF says it will challenge in the courts.
(...) JNF had an earlier run-in with the CRA following a financial audit showing that donations from the organization were used to build military infrastructure for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The CRA said the move ran afoul of Canada’s Tax Code concerning supporting foreign militaries.
The CRA has cracked down on other Canadian Jewish charities in recent years, citing similar concerns. In 2019, Beth Oloth Charitable Organization had its charitable status removed for distributing funds aiding the Israeli military.
“Canadian charities are not allowed to fund foreign militaries,” Mark Blumberg, an attorney specializing in Canadian charity law, told the Post by email. “Clearly, there were previously some compliance issues,” Blumberg, creator of CharityData.ca – the largest national database of Canadian registered charities – added. He cautioned that it is difficult to draw conclusions from JNF’s announcement “without reviewing the letters from (the) CRA combined with the letters from the charity to CRA.”
posted by cendawanita at 7:26 PM on July 25 [6 favorites]
CRA notifies Jewish National Fund it will revoke Canadian charitable status - The group announced its intention to appeal, claiming the Canada Revenue Agency changed the rules for charitable donations long after the organization's work had been approved
The Canada Revenue Agency has notified the century-old Jewish National Fund that it plans to revoke the group’s charitable status in Canada over support for military infrastructure in Israel, a decision the JNF says it will challenge in the courts.
(...) JNF had an earlier run-in with the CRA following a financial audit showing that donations from the organization were used to build military infrastructure for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The CRA said the move ran afoul of Canada’s Tax Code concerning supporting foreign militaries.
The CRA has cracked down on other Canadian Jewish charities in recent years, citing similar concerns. In 2019, Beth Oloth Charitable Organization had its charitable status removed for distributing funds aiding the Israeli military.
“Canadian charities are not allowed to fund foreign militaries,” Mark Blumberg, an attorney specializing in Canadian charity law, told the Post by email. “Clearly, there were previously some compliance issues,” Blumberg, creator of CharityData.ca – the largest national database of Canadian registered charities – added. He cautioned that it is difficult to draw conclusions from JNF’s announcement “without reviewing the letters from (the) CRA combined with the letters from the charity to CRA.”
posted by cendawanita at 7:26 PM on July 25 [6 favorites]
I'm sure there are people who will object to the way I'm saying this, and I'm not defending everything that people said or did, but I also think the talk about violence from protestors redirects attention from what they're protesting and also the police response was (to me) completely disproportionate and it's discouraging to see the way this is being framed in some places.
absolutely this. i feel naive saying it ("i was this many years old before i encountered proper gaslighting") but the level of misdirection/whataboutery/slander/doublethink in service of trying to discredit popular opposition to genocide has been unreal these past months.
on the other hand, the worldwide popular opposition to the occupation and genocide in palestine is not disorganised and involves extremely serious and committed people. the protests fill a required strategic niche. and that includes some of what we might view as outrageous or provocative behaviour/messaging. there is a certain type of curious but uninformed or apathetic person who, like all of us, places a lot of value on being accepted in polite society, but who will, upon seeing people willing to repeatedly and unflinchingly express their anger in a way that places themselves far beyond what their community will tolerate, experience cognitive dissonance and doubt. those doubts in enough people add up to possibility. "angry" protest tactics open up political space. the effort to crush and discredit robust protest is evidence in favour of its effectiveness.
i'm conscious of repeating generalities that everyone probably knows already. but i know some people who've had bad things happen to them as a consequence of their efforts to stop the genocide (doxxing, death threats, police violence, threats from their employers, official disciplinary proceedings of various kinds, etc.). i find it humbling, having not been that brave. but, anecdotally, those people do not seem discouraged right now.
posted by busted_crayons at 4:52 AM on July 26 [7 favorites]
absolutely this. i feel naive saying it ("i was this many years old before i encountered proper gaslighting") but the level of misdirection/whataboutery/slander/doublethink in service of trying to discredit popular opposition to genocide has been unreal these past months.
on the other hand, the worldwide popular opposition to the occupation and genocide in palestine is not disorganised and involves extremely serious and committed people. the protests fill a required strategic niche. and that includes some of what we might view as outrageous or provocative behaviour/messaging. there is a certain type of curious but uninformed or apathetic person who, like all of us, places a lot of value on being accepted in polite society, but who will, upon seeing people willing to repeatedly and unflinchingly express their anger in a way that places themselves far beyond what their community will tolerate, experience cognitive dissonance and doubt. those doubts in enough people add up to possibility. "angry" protest tactics open up political space. the effort to crush and discredit robust protest is evidence in favour of its effectiveness.
i'm conscious of repeating generalities that everyone probably knows already. but i know some people who've had bad things happen to them as a consequence of their efforts to stop the genocide (doxxing, death threats, police violence, threats from their employers, official disciplinary proceedings of various kinds, etc.). i find it humbling, having not been that brave. but, anecdotally, those people do not seem discouraged right now.
posted by busted_crayons at 4:52 AM on July 26 [7 favorites]
Re: the UK news - according to the Guardian, it's now confirmed: Downing Street confirmed on Friday that the government would not submit a challenge to the jurisdiction of the international criminal court, whose chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is seeking a warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
The move, first reported by the Guardian, makes it more likely that the ICC will grant Khan’s request, in what would be a stunning international rebuke for Israel over the way it has conducted the war in Gaza and put Netanyahu at risk of arrest if he travels abroad.
The prime minister Keir Starmer’s deputy official spokesperson said: “On the submission, this was a proposal by the previous government that was not submitted before the election. I can confirm the government will not be pursuing that in line with our longstanding position that this is a matter for the court to decide on.”
She added: “The government feels very strongly about the rule of law internationally and domestically, and the separation of powers, and I would note the courts have already received a number of submissions on either side and they are well seized of the arguments to make their determination.”
She would not be drawn on whether the Labour government had a view on whether a warrant should be issued for Netanyahu’s arrest, saying it was a matter for the courts.
(...) Last week Lammy announced the UK would join other countries in restoring funding to the Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, overturning the previous government’s suspension.
The foreign secretary is also preparing to announce a partial ban on the sale of weapons to Israel, sources have told the Guardian.
One source said Lammy was preparing to ban the sale of “offensive” weapons, but not “defensive” ones that could be used to defend Israel from attacks from abroad.
The foreign secretary told the Commons last week: “It would not be right to have a blanket ban between our countries and Israel. What is right is for me to consider in the normal way the issues in relation to offensive weapons in Gaza, following the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined.”
----
Reuters: Australia, NZ, Canada call for ICJ response from Israel, Gaza ceasefire
Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court which last week ruled its occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal.
"Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community," the leader's statement said.
"The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end."
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement program in the West Bank and work towards a two-state solution.
(...) The leader's statement called on Israel to "respond substantively" to the ICJ.
Guardian: US medics who volunteered in Gaza demand arms embargo over ‘unbearable cruelty’ inflicted by Israel
The eight-page letter, delivered on Thursday and addressed to Biden, the first lady, Jill Biden, and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, said the medics saw evidence of widespread violations of laws governing the use of US weapons supplied to Israel, and of international humanitarian law.
Stephen Semler: How much military aid is the US giving Israel?
As a per year sum, the $18 billion in Israeli military aid approved for 2024 is the most ever, even after adjusting for inflation. As a per year average, no other US president has given Israel more weapons than Joe Biden. Tell him this and he’d probably take it as a compliment.
Not some, but all of this military aid for Israel was approved after Israel was charged with genocide at the ICJ, and after the ICJ ruled genocide plausible and advanced the case to the next stage of deliberation. Here are the circumstances surrounding the next highest annual totals. All dollars are constant 2024 dollars.
- This line graph shows US military aid to Israel from 1970 to 2024 in constant 2024 dollars. There are peaks in 1974, 1976, and 1979 and then the line hovers around $4 billion for the next 40-something years before shooting up to the $18 billion mark in 2024. Data: USAID, Congressional Research Service, Public Laws 118-47 and 118-50.
GPIL covers Germany's response: These statements suggest that there is a certain discrepancy in the attitude towards Israel between the Foreign Office and the Federal Chancellery. While the chancellor emphasised that the ICJ had delivered an ‘advisory opinion’ and the cabinet spokesperson, speaking for the chancellor, underlined that the advisory opinion was ‘not legally binding’, the Federal Foreign Office spokesperson conceded that the Advisory Opinion was ‘nevertheless the legal opinion of the highest court of the United Nations’. The cabinet spokesperson also focused in particular on “the construction of further settlements’, while the Federal Foreign Office spokesperson denounced the settlement policy of the present and former Israeli administrations and stated that the advisory opinion left ‘little room for interpretation’ with regard to the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the OPT. This could indicate that the Federal Foreign Office, emboldened by the Advisory Opinion, will in future take a more critical and more outspoken position on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
Matt Duss for FP: Kamala Harris Gives Democrats a Chance to Pivot on Gaza
While no one expects Harris to dramatically distance herself from Biden, there are steps that she can take to show that she speaks for the Democratic Party of today and not 40 years ago. She can announce that as president, she will immediately suspend the U.S.-supplied military aid being used in violation of U.S. law. She can publicly make clear that she agrees with the assessment of countless Israelis—including Israeli opposition lawmakers and top sitting security officials—that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is stalling hostage release and cease-fire efforts in order to cling to power. She can reject the baseless and inflammatory claims that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the largest and most important relief agency in Gaza, is a “Hamas front,” and state that she’ll work to see UNRWA funding resumed as soon as legally possible. In doing so, she would join U.S. partners—such as Britain, France, and Germany—that have already resumed their contributions.
In response to Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of any possibility of Palestinian statehood, including his government’s passage last week in the Knesset of an unprecedented resolution ruling out any Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, Harris should say that while the final contours of a Palestinian state are a matter for negotiations, Palestinians’ right to a state is, like Israelis’, nonnegotiable.
Dan Owen for +972: How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
However, a new report that I authored for the human rights group Yesh Din shows how the main role of Israel’s military law enforcement system is to maintain the appearance of internal accountability in order to shield itself from external criticism. Indeed, +972 Magazine and the Guardian recently revealed that Israeli intelligence agencies surveilled the activities of the ICC, in part to determine which incidents were being referred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation; in doing so, Israel could retroactively open investigations into those same cases and then reject the ICC’s mandate on the grounds of the “principle of complementarity.”
Zeteo exclusive with Rashida Tlaib: But in the room, Netanyahu’s attacks against protesters energized Republicans and a handful of Democrats, including Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar and Sens. John Fetterman (Penn.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), and Joe Manchin (W.V.), who all stood to applaud.
Tlaib said she was “really taken aback” that people stood up. “Those are your constituents! Those are your residents! Those are the people we serve!... We allowed a leader of a foreign country to attack fellow Americans,” she said. “They're exercising their right to dissent. That's our democracy.”
But the reaction to Netanyahu’s attacks against the protesters echoes how university administrations — spurred by U.S. officials — have responded to student demonstrations. The pro-Palestinian protests that swept college campuses nationwide routinely met condemnation from politicians and violent police responses. (I got to that much... I don't have a subscription...)
I do think this International Crisis Group report is more relevant to the actual US political threads but... Eh: Bending the Guardrails: U.S. War Powers after 7 October - Amid the Gaza war, the Biden administration has resorted to military force without asking Congress, further corroding the U.S. constitution’s checks and balances in this domain. Job one is a ceasefire but war powers reform is a vital task for the future.
What’s new? Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza, have sparked new and renewed hostilities around the Middle East involving Iran-aligned groups and the United States. The Biden administration has worked around legal guardrails to engage in this fighting without approval from the U.S. Congress.
Why does it matter? In the U.S., decision-making about use of force is divided between Congress and the president. This feature is meant to ensure due deliberation about matters of war and peace. But the safeguard has eroded, with power concentrated in the presidency. The Biden administration’s post-7 October legal tactics accelerate this trend.
What should be done? While Washington’s immediate priorities should be to broker an end to hostilities in Gaza, and prevent escalation elsewhere in the region, the erosion of the war powers framework needs remediation over the long term. The U.S. government should reinforce legal checks on imprudent war-making.
The Intercept: Google Planned to Sponsor IDF Conference That Now Denies Google Was Sponsor - Internal Google documents show the company planned to sponsor an Israel Defense Forces tech conference — but its name was erased at the last minute.
Google continues to work with the IDF, as it has for years on the Nimbus contract. The company’s odd vanishing act from a conference focused on a lucrative customer relationship stands as one of the most high-profile examples of what appears to be PR anxiety.
The tech giant has shown some squeamishness over some of Nimbus’s objectives in the past. The project has drawn international criticism and prompted a dissent campaign among Google employees, over 50 of whom were fired in April for protesting the contract. The Israeli government emphasizes Nimbus’s military dimensions, but Google has persistently tried to downplay or outright deny that its contract for Israel includes military work.
FT: The ICJ’s damning verdict
But the [non-binding] findings of the ICJ — which is also hearing a separate case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — are significant. They have put a microscope on the full extent of Israel’s illegal practices in the occupied territory at a time when the war triggered by Hamas’s horrific October 7 attack has put renewed focus on the need for a two-state solution.
(...) None of this should come as a shock. The UK, EU and much of the rest of the world long deemed Israeli settlements illegal, while the US considers them illegitimate. Yet the west has treated Israel with kid gloves, essentially giving it a free pass as it violates international law. Goods flow freely between the settlements and the west. When Israel unveils a new burst of construction in the West Bank, governments at best issue stock statements of condemnation. There was barely a peep in June when Israel announced the biggest seizure of Palestinian land since the 1990s.
Such inaction feeds perceptions of western hypocrisy and undermines the notion of a just, rules-based international order. That sentiment has been exacerbated by the west’s failure to rein in Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza.
The US and its allies are pressuring Israel and Hamas to agree to end the war and a return of Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack. But as long as Israel is able to deepen its creeping annexation at no cost, the prospect of a durable negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will remain a pipe dream. The ICJ’s ruling must force a re-calibration of the west’s policies towards Israel’s violations of international law in occupied territory. In its wake, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the gap between the law and what happens on the ground has never been so insurmountable, all “under the watchful eye of a powerless international community”. It need not be that way.
Raja Shehadeh in the Guardian: The world’s highest court has confirmed what we Palestinians always knew: Israel’s settlements are illegal
But is the prescription outlined by the ICJ for ending this colonial regime – “evacuation” and “reparation” – feasible? This is not a legal question for the court to answer, but a political one.
Many of the arguments against the two-state solution for ending the conflict refer to the apparently immoveable presence of the large number of settlers in the occupied territories. Yet Israel is capable of absorbing these three-quarters of a million settlers. In the early 1990s, it was able to settle about a million Jews from the former Soviet Union who did not speak Hebrew and were unfamiliar with Israeli culture. Unlike them, the settlers speak the language and have jobs in Israel itself where they’re still considered as citizens subject to paying income tax. It would not be a high price for Israel to pay for peace.
In explaining what full reparations mean, the court asserted that it includes “restitution” and “compensation”. Restitution, for example, “includes Israel’s obligation to return the land and other immovable property as well as assets seized”. However, should this even take place, no amount of reparations could compensate for the way Israel has destroyed much of the Palestinian landscape, building cities in the midst of attractive ancient hills and connecting them with wide highways that are inappropriate for the unique and fragile geography, in the process uprooting thousands of ancient olive trees.
(...) The court also affirmed the significant point about the unity of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It said that the violations of international law in the occupied territories are the concern of all states who have an “obligation not to recognise as legal the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), to work through the UN to bring an end of the occupation” and to “abstain from treaty relations, diplomatic relations, economic or trade dealings, or investment relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the OPT”.
On 19 July, a UN press release stated that the secretary general “will promptly transmit the advisory opinion to the general assembly, which had requested the court’s advice. It is for the general assembly to decide how to proceed in this matter.”
We Palestinians will be closely watching how the world reacts. Will international law finally prevail, and serve as an instrument for bringing lasting peace in the region?
posted by cendawanita at 9:27 AM on July 26 [4 favorites]
The move, first reported by the Guardian, makes it more likely that the ICC will grant Khan’s request, in what would be a stunning international rebuke for Israel over the way it has conducted the war in Gaza and put Netanyahu at risk of arrest if he travels abroad.
The prime minister Keir Starmer’s deputy official spokesperson said: “On the submission, this was a proposal by the previous government that was not submitted before the election. I can confirm the government will not be pursuing that in line with our longstanding position that this is a matter for the court to decide on.”
She added: “The government feels very strongly about the rule of law internationally and domestically, and the separation of powers, and I would note the courts have already received a number of submissions on either side and they are well seized of the arguments to make their determination.”
She would not be drawn on whether the Labour government had a view on whether a warrant should be issued for Netanyahu’s arrest, saying it was a matter for the courts.
(...) Last week Lammy announced the UK would join other countries in restoring funding to the Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, overturning the previous government’s suspension.
The foreign secretary is also preparing to announce a partial ban on the sale of weapons to Israel, sources have told the Guardian.
One source said Lammy was preparing to ban the sale of “offensive” weapons, but not “defensive” ones that could be used to defend Israel from attacks from abroad.
The foreign secretary told the Commons last week: “It would not be right to have a blanket ban between our countries and Israel. What is right is for me to consider in the normal way the issues in relation to offensive weapons in Gaza, following the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined.”
----
Reuters: Australia, NZ, Canada call for ICJ response from Israel, Gaza ceasefire
Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court which last week ruled its occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal.
"Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community," the leader's statement said.
"The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end."
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement program in the West Bank and work towards a two-state solution.
(...) The leader's statement called on Israel to "respond substantively" to the ICJ.
Guardian: US medics who volunteered in Gaza demand arms embargo over ‘unbearable cruelty’ inflicted by Israel
The eight-page letter, delivered on Thursday and addressed to Biden, the first lady, Jill Biden, and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, said the medics saw evidence of widespread violations of laws governing the use of US weapons supplied to Israel, and of international humanitarian law.
Stephen Semler: How much military aid is the US giving Israel?
As a per year sum, the $18 billion in Israeli military aid approved for 2024 is the most ever, even after adjusting for inflation. As a per year average, no other US president has given Israel more weapons than Joe Biden. Tell him this and he’d probably take it as a compliment.
Not some, but all of this military aid for Israel was approved after Israel was charged with genocide at the ICJ, and after the ICJ ruled genocide plausible and advanced the case to the next stage of deliberation. Here are the circumstances surrounding the next highest annual totals. All dollars are constant 2024 dollars.
- This line graph shows US military aid to Israel from 1970 to 2024 in constant 2024 dollars. There are peaks in 1974, 1976, and 1979 and then the line hovers around $4 billion for the next 40-something years before shooting up to the $18 billion mark in 2024. Data: USAID, Congressional Research Service, Public Laws 118-47 and 118-50.
GPIL covers Germany's response: These statements suggest that there is a certain discrepancy in the attitude towards Israel between the Foreign Office and the Federal Chancellery. While the chancellor emphasised that the ICJ had delivered an ‘advisory opinion’ and the cabinet spokesperson, speaking for the chancellor, underlined that the advisory opinion was ‘not legally binding’, the Federal Foreign Office spokesperson conceded that the Advisory Opinion was ‘nevertheless the legal opinion of the highest court of the United Nations’. The cabinet spokesperson also focused in particular on “the construction of further settlements’, while the Federal Foreign Office spokesperson denounced the settlement policy of the present and former Israeli administrations and stated that the advisory opinion left ‘little room for interpretation’ with regard to the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the OPT. This could indicate that the Federal Foreign Office, emboldened by the Advisory Opinion, will in future take a more critical and more outspoken position on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
Matt Duss for FP: Kamala Harris Gives Democrats a Chance to Pivot on Gaza
While no one expects Harris to dramatically distance herself from Biden, there are steps that she can take to show that she speaks for the Democratic Party of today and not 40 years ago. She can announce that as president, she will immediately suspend the U.S.-supplied military aid being used in violation of U.S. law. She can publicly make clear that she agrees with the assessment of countless Israelis—including Israeli opposition lawmakers and top sitting security officials—that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is stalling hostage release and cease-fire efforts in order to cling to power. She can reject the baseless and inflammatory claims that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the largest and most important relief agency in Gaza, is a “Hamas front,” and state that she’ll work to see UNRWA funding resumed as soon as legally possible. In doing so, she would join U.S. partners—such as Britain, France, and Germany—that have already resumed their contributions.
In response to Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of any possibility of Palestinian statehood, including his government’s passage last week in the Knesset of an unprecedented resolution ruling out any Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, Harris should say that while the final contours of a Palestinian state are a matter for negotiations, Palestinians’ right to a state is, like Israelis’, nonnegotiable.
Dan Owen for +972: How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
However, a new report that I authored for the human rights group Yesh Din shows how the main role of Israel’s military law enforcement system is to maintain the appearance of internal accountability in order to shield itself from external criticism. Indeed, +972 Magazine and the Guardian recently revealed that Israeli intelligence agencies surveilled the activities of the ICC, in part to determine which incidents were being referred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation; in doing so, Israel could retroactively open investigations into those same cases and then reject the ICC’s mandate on the grounds of the “principle of complementarity.”
Zeteo exclusive with Rashida Tlaib: But in the room, Netanyahu’s attacks against protesters energized Republicans and a handful of Democrats, including Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar and Sens. John Fetterman (Penn.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), and Joe Manchin (W.V.), who all stood to applaud.
Tlaib said she was “really taken aback” that people stood up. “Those are your constituents! Those are your residents! Those are the people we serve!... We allowed a leader of a foreign country to attack fellow Americans,” she said. “They're exercising their right to dissent. That's our democracy.”
But the reaction to Netanyahu’s attacks against the protesters echoes how university administrations — spurred by U.S. officials — have responded to student demonstrations. The pro-Palestinian protests that swept college campuses nationwide routinely met condemnation from politicians and violent police responses. (I got to that much... I don't have a subscription...)
I do think this International Crisis Group report is more relevant to the actual US political threads but... Eh: Bending the Guardrails: U.S. War Powers after 7 October - Amid the Gaza war, the Biden administration has resorted to military force without asking Congress, further corroding the U.S. constitution’s checks and balances in this domain. Job one is a ceasefire but war powers reform is a vital task for the future.
What’s new? Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza, have sparked new and renewed hostilities around the Middle East involving Iran-aligned groups and the United States. The Biden administration has worked around legal guardrails to engage in this fighting without approval from the U.S. Congress.
Why does it matter? In the U.S., decision-making about use of force is divided between Congress and the president. This feature is meant to ensure due deliberation about matters of war and peace. But the safeguard has eroded, with power concentrated in the presidency. The Biden administration’s post-7 October legal tactics accelerate this trend.
What should be done? While Washington’s immediate priorities should be to broker an end to hostilities in Gaza, and prevent escalation elsewhere in the region, the erosion of the war powers framework needs remediation over the long term. The U.S. government should reinforce legal checks on imprudent war-making.
The Intercept: Google Planned to Sponsor IDF Conference That Now Denies Google Was Sponsor - Internal Google documents show the company planned to sponsor an Israel Defense Forces tech conference — but its name was erased at the last minute.
Google continues to work with the IDF, as it has for years on the Nimbus contract. The company’s odd vanishing act from a conference focused on a lucrative customer relationship stands as one of the most high-profile examples of what appears to be PR anxiety.
The tech giant has shown some squeamishness over some of Nimbus’s objectives in the past. The project has drawn international criticism and prompted a dissent campaign among Google employees, over 50 of whom were fired in April for protesting the contract. The Israeli government emphasizes Nimbus’s military dimensions, but Google has persistently tried to downplay or outright deny that its contract for Israel includes military work.
FT: The ICJ’s damning verdict
But the [non-binding] findings of the ICJ — which is also hearing a separate case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — are significant. They have put a microscope on the full extent of Israel’s illegal practices in the occupied territory at a time when the war triggered by Hamas’s horrific October 7 attack has put renewed focus on the need for a two-state solution.
(...) None of this should come as a shock. The UK, EU and much of the rest of the world long deemed Israeli settlements illegal, while the US considers them illegitimate. Yet the west has treated Israel with kid gloves, essentially giving it a free pass as it violates international law. Goods flow freely between the settlements and the west. When Israel unveils a new burst of construction in the West Bank, governments at best issue stock statements of condemnation. There was barely a peep in June when Israel announced the biggest seizure of Palestinian land since the 1990s.
Such inaction feeds perceptions of western hypocrisy and undermines the notion of a just, rules-based international order. That sentiment has been exacerbated by the west’s failure to rein in Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza.
The US and its allies are pressuring Israel and Hamas to agree to end the war and a return of Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack. But as long as Israel is able to deepen its creeping annexation at no cost, the prospect of a durable negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will remain a pipe dream. The ICJ’s ruling must force a re-calibration of the west’s policies towards Israel’s violations of international law in occupied territory. In its wake, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the gap between the law and what happens on the ground has never been so insurmountable, all “under the watchful eye of a powerless international community”. It need not be that way.
Raja Shehadeh in the Guardian: The world’s highest court has confirmed what we Palestinians always knew: Israel’s settlements are illegal
But is the prescription outlined by the ICJ for ending this colonial regime – “evacuation” and “reparation” – feasible? This is not a legal question for the court to answer, but a political one.
Many of the arguments against the two-state solution for ending the conflict refer to the apparently immoveable presence of the large number of settlers in the occupied territories. Yet Israel is capable of absorbing these three-quarters of a million settlers. In the early 1990s, it was able to settle about a million Jews from the former Soviet Union who did not speak Hebrew and were unfamiliar with Israeli culture. Unlike them, the settlers speak the language and have jobs in Israel itself where they’re still considered as citizens subject to paying income tax. It would not be a high price for Israel to pay for peace.
In explaining what full reparations mean, the court asserted that it includes “restitution” and “compensation”. Restitution, for example, “includes Israel’s obligation to return the land and other immovable property as well as assets seized”. However, should this even take place, no amount of reparations could compensate for the way Israel has destroyed much of the Palestinian landscape, building cities in the midst of attractive ancient hills and connecting them with wide highways that are inappropriate for the unique and fragile geography, in the process uprooting thousands of ancient olive trees.
(...) The court also affirmed the significant point about the unity of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It said that the violations of international law in the occupied territories are the concern of all states who have an “obligation not to recognise as legal the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), to work through the UN to bring an end of the occupation” and to “abstain from treaty relations, diplomatic relations, economic or trade dealings, or investment relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the OPT”.
On 19 July, a UN press release stated that the secretary general “will promptly transmit the advisory opinion to the general assembly, which had requested the court’s advice. It is for the general assembly to decide how to proceed in this matter.”
We Palestinians will be closely watching how the world reacts. Will international law finally prevail, and serve as an instrument for bringing lasting peace in the region?
posted by cendawanita at 9:27 AM on July 26 [4 favorites]
Ah I overlooked this tab, to contextualize the UK update - Interesting titbit in this Haaretz piece: Israel Fears ICJ Ruling Will Lead to ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant - Although not directly connected to ICC's issuing of international criminal warrants, justices will not be able to ignore ICJ's advisory opinion that Israel is violating international law
Israel is also monitoring the effect of the results of the recent British election on Britain's support for Israel in international legal proceedings, particularly regarding arrest warrant requests for Netanyahu and Gallant. At the end of June, Britain asked the ICC to present an argument regarding its jurisdiction regarding Israel.
Israel hoped that Britain would cast doubt on the court's jurisdiction regarding Israelis, since according to the Oslo Accords, Palestine also does not have criminal jurisdiction over Israelis, and that this could delay a decision on the arrest warrants. Legal sources told Haaretz that Israeli diplomatic efforts contributed to Britain's move.
Britain's Labour Party won by a wide margin and returned to power after 14 years in early July. Israel is worried that in the wake of the election results, Britain's policy will change and the U.K. will be less likely to intervene on Israel's behalf in international legal proceedings.
Mmmhmm.
posted by cendawanita at 9:47 AM on July 26 [2 favorites]
Israel is also monitoring the effect of the results of the recent British election on Britain's support for Israel in international legal proceedings, particularly regarding arrest warrant requests for Netanyahu and Gallant. At the end of June, Britain asked the ICC to present an argument regarding its jurisdiction regarding Israel.
Israel hoped that Britain would cast doubt on the court's jurisdiction regarding Israelis, since according to the Oslo Accords, Palestine also does not have criminal jurisdiction over Israelis, and that this could delay a decision on the arrest warrants. Legal sources told Haaretz that Israeli diplomatic efforts contributed to Britain's move.
Britain's Labour Party won by a wide margin and returned to power after 14 years in early July. Israel is worried that in the wake of the election results, Britain's policy will change and the U.K. will be less likely to intervene on Israel's behalf in international legal proceedings.
Mmmhmm.
posted by cendawanita at 9:47 AM on July 26 [2 favorites]
"To the meeting despair of eyes in the street, offer
Your eyes on plates and your liver on skewers of pity.
When the Jericho sky is heaped with clouds which the sun
Trumpets above, respond to Apocalypse
With a headache. In spirit follow
The young men to the war, up Everest...."
-Stephen Spender, 'The Uncreating Chaos'
posted by clavdivs at 1:36 PM on July 26
Your eyes on plates and your liver on skewers of pity.
When the Jericho sky is heaped with clouds which the sun
Trumpets above, respond to Apocalypse
With a headache. In spirit follow
The young men to the war, up Everest...."
-Stephen Spender, 'The Uncreating Chaos'
posted by clavdivs at 1:36 PM on July 26
Canadian news links mirroring the Reuters & Guardian links above (don't see anything about the charity status being revoked though):
'Catastrophic' situation 'cannot continue': Open letter from Trudeau, other PMs calling for Gaza ceasefire
'We cannot remain silent about what we saw.' U.S. doctors who volunteered in Gaza demand ceasefire in letter to White House
“We wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them. We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget.”
He recalled two patients aged around six years old, who had suffered gunshots to their heads and chests – wounds which suggested they had been deliberately targeted, he said. “No kid gets shot twice by a sniper by mistake,” Perlmutter said, adding that the shots were “dead center” to their chests.
“We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza.” the letter said.
That's the thing... once this level of trauma takes roots in our lives, it roots in good. It takes over the soul. It becomes everything in our dreams. Perhaps it becomes the only way for perfectly good people to continue to exist as they needed to on this planet, to carry on the work they were meant to. Maybe it's even the World Soul's way of grieving its failure to cultivate a truly beautiful species through us, by sending such haunting dreams that we cannot change the way we live our lives anymore because to do so would make our realities devoid of meaning and truth. We are such a wretchedly wicked species and despite how spoiled and overindulged we are, especially in the West, we refuse to wake up, so why not let it burn.
posted by human ecologist at 4:06 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
'Catastrophic' situation 'cannot continue': Open letter from Trudeau, other PMs calling for Gaza ceasefire
'We cannot remain silent about what we saw.' U.S. doctors who volunteered in Gaza demand ceasefire in letter to White House
“We wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them. We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget.”
He recalled two patients aged around six years old, who had suffered gunshots to their heads and chests – wounds which suggested they had been deliberately targeted, he said. “No kid gets shot twice by a sniper by mistake,” Perlmutter said, adding that the shots were “dead center” to their chests.
“We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza.” the letter said.
That's the thing... once this level of trauma takes roots in our lives, it roots in good. It takes over the soul. It becomes everything in our dreams. Perhaps it becomes the only way for perfectly good people to continue to exist as they needed to on this planet, to carry on the work they were meant to. Maybe it's even the World Soul's way of grieving its failure to cultivate a truly beautiful species through us, by sending such haunting dreams that we cannot change the way we live our lives anymore because to do so would make our realities devoid of meaning and truth. We are such a wretchedly wicked species and despite how spoiled and overindulged we are, especially in the West, we refuse to wake up, so why not let it burn.
posted by human ecologist at 4:06 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
Reposting these links that I shared in the Kamala Harris thread:
Akbar Shahid Ahmed for Huff Post: Kamala Harris Hasn’t Broken From Joe Biden On Gaza. But Skeptics Of The War Watch Her Rise With Hope - Harris' aides are more "moderate" than Biden's team, a U.S. official told HuffPost, and the administration is signaling she will play a bigger role in policy.
Harris’ sudden influence already appears to be affecting the Israeli calculus. After Netanyahu’s meeting with her, Israeli officials told reporters they were surprised by her tacit criticisms, claiming these could help Hamas in cease-fire negotiations by showing “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel.
Hmmm: Harris’ aides, however, have consistently been more open to feedback, a U.S. official told HuffPost, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.
Her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, and her Middle East special adviser, Ilan Goldenberg, “take input from staff and don’t pretend to know all the answers to everything,” the official said.
They contrasted the pair with Biden’s controversial chief Middle East aide and his national security adviser. “Both have been much more reasonable and moderate than [Brett] McGurk [or Jake] Sullivan,” the official said.
Zeteo: Kamala Harris 'Only Official' to Call Palestinian-American Who Lost 150 Family Members in Gaza
Also from the thread: The Nation: Kamala Harris Will Shift on Gaza Only if We Make Her
-----
Otherwise--
Guardian opinion: Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Why did Congress invite him to speak?
Also Guardian, analysis piece: The bombshell legal ruling that made it impossible for Australia to delay sanctions against Israeli settlers - Labor is ‘carefully considering’ the ICJ findings on the occupied Palestinian territories – and soon it will have to give its view
The Labor MP Julian Hill said on Thursday the [sanctions] announcement was significant because it broke “a long-held taboo in Australia that somehow the behaviour of Israeli extremists, no matter how outrageous, would attract no consequences”.
“Of course there is more to be done by the international community to impose direct consequences on Israel’s government for the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements that prevent a Palestinian state,” he added.
But the Greens and Palestinian advocates argued the Labor government must sanction Netanyahu and members of his cabinet for their policies and actions – not just a handful of individual settlers.
It’s impossible to ignore the heightened political context in Australia, where Labor is under increasing pressure from many of its grassroots members and supporters to take a more assertive stand against the war in Gaza.
Still more Guardian, now an investigative piece: Revealed: US officials are investing public funds in Israeli bonds in deals that raise ethics concerns - State and local officials have invested $1.7bn of the public’s money in Israel Bonds since 7 October. An investigation reveals contacts between buyer and seller that experts say may cross a line
As previously reported by the Guardian, many of the US states that answered the call to buy Israeli bonds are the same ones that have railed loudly against investment strategies based on social and environmental issues, such as the climate crisis. The Guardian found that the majority of state financial officials who invested millions in Israeli bonds in the first month of the war belonged to a conservative group that is now lobbying to keep “the left” out of state treasuries
Jewish Currents: How a Giant of Responsible Investing Agreed to an Israel Exception - After a multi-year campaign by Jewish groups, Morningstar—a major firm known for socially responsible investing—is softening its approach to Israeli human rights abuses.
...Sustainalytics takes account of businesses’ human rights records; accordingly, the firm has historically penalized companies that facilitate Israeli settlement construction or military aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories. Now, however, Sustainalytics was adjusting its approach to Israel/Palestine. It would cease to apply the term “occupied territories” to the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and would stop using data from prominent sources like the United Nations Human Rights Council. Morningstar promised to provide “documented guidance” to its employees stating that a company’s operations in occupied Palestinian territory should not automatically raise red flags—despite the international legal consensus, reflected in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, that companies working in conflict areas like the territories merit additional scrutiny.
(...) Morningstar itself had spent years resisting making the changes. It adopted them only after a lengthy pressure campaign initiated by the Jewish investing group JLens, which launched in 2012 and has worked to prevent socially responsible investors from putting pressure on companies that do business in Israel/Palestine. In 2020, JLens turned its attention to Morningstar, arguing that the firm’s reporting on Israeli human rights abuses amounted to support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and was a form of antisemitism. Morningstar denied the accusations, insisting that it was treating Israel the same as other countries. But JLens was able to mobilize a network of government officials and Jewish organizations to apply pressure on the financial firm, buttressed by a new wave of anti-BDS laws that prevent states from investing their pension funds in companies said to be boycotting Israel. In Chicago, where Morningstar is based, the local Jewish federation—known as the Jewish United Fund (JUF)—lobbied close contacts on the Illinois Investment Policy Board to place Morningstar on the state’s “do not invest” list. Jewish federations in states like New Jersey and Florida pushed their officials to do the same. The campaign continued even after Morningstar hired an independent law firm to investigate its research practices for antisemitic bias and adopted the resulting recommendations.
Morningstar’s capitulation marked a major success for the previously little-known JLens.
posted by cendawanita at 10:54 AM on July 28 [6 favorites]
Akbar Shahid Ahmed for Huff Post: Kamala Harris Hasn’t Broken From Joe Biden On Gaza. But Skeptics Of The War Watch Her Rise With Hope - Harris' aides are more "moderate" than Biden's team, a U.S. official told HuffPost, and the administration is signaling she will play a bigger role in policy.
Harris’ sudden influence already appears to be affecting the Israeli calculus. After Netanyahu’s meeting with her, Israeli officials told reporters they were surprised by her tacit criticisms, claiming these could help Hamas in cease-fire negotiations by showing “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel.
Hmmm: Harris’ aides, however, have consistently been more open to feedback, a U.S. official told HuffPost, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.
Her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, and her Middle East special adviser, Ilan Goldenberg, “take input from staff and don’t pretend to know all the answers to everything,” the official said.
They contrasted the pair with Biden’s controversial chief Middle East aide and his national security adviser. “Both have been much more reasonable and moderate than [Brett] McGurk [or Jake] Sullivan,” the official said.
Zeteo: Kamala Harris 'Only Official' to Call Palestinian-American Who Lost 150 Family Members in Gaza
Also from the thread: The Nation: Kamala Harris Will Shift on Gaza Only if We Make Her
-----
Otherwise--
Guardian opinion: Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Why did Congress invite him to speak?
Also Guardian, analysis piece: The bombshell legal ruling that made it impossible for Australia to delay sanctions against Israeli settlers - Labor is ‘carefully considering’ the ICJ findings on the occupied Palestinian territories – and soon it will have to give its view
The Labor MP Julian Hill said on Thursday the [sanctions] announcement was significant because it broke “a long-held taboo in Australia that somehow the behaviour of Israeli extremists, no matter how outrageous, would attract no consequences”.
“Of course there is more to be done by the international community to impose direct consequences on Israel’s government for the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements that prevent a Palestinian state,” he added.
But the Greens and Palestinian advocates argued the Labor government must sanction Netanyahu and members of his cabinet for their policies and actions – not just a handful of individual settlers.
It’s impossible to ignore the heightened political context in Australia, where Labor is under increasing pressure from many of its grassroots members and supporters to take a more assertive stand against the war in Gaza.
Still more Guardian, now an investigative piece: Revealed: US officials are investing public funds in Israeli bonds in deals that raise ethics concerns - State and local officials have invested $1.7bn of the public’s money in Israel Bonds since 7 October. An investigation reveals contacts between buyer and seller that experts say may cross a line
As previously reported by the Guardian, many of the US states that answered the call to buy Israeli bonds are the same ones that have railed loudly against investment strategies based on social and environmental issues, such as the climate crisis. The Guardian found that the majority of state financial officials who invested millions in Israeli bonds in the first month of the war belonged to a conservative group that is now lobbying to keep “the left” out of state treasuries
Jewish Currents: How a Giant of Responsible Investing Agreed to an Israel Exception - After a multi-year campaign by Jewish groups, Morningstar—a major firm known for socially responsible investing—is softening its approach to Israeli human rights abuses.
...Sustainalytics takes account of businesses’ human rights records; accordingly, the firm has historically penalized companies that facilitate Israeli settlement construction or military aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories. Now, however, Sustainalytics was adjusting its approach to Israel/Palestine. It would cease to apply the term “occupied territories” to the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and would stop using data from prominent sources like the United Nations Human Rights Council. Morningstar promised to provide “documented guidance” to its employees stating that a company’s operations in occupied Palestinian territory should not automatically raise red flags—despite the international legal consensus, reflected in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, that companies working in conflict areas like the territories merit additional scrutiny.
(...) Morningstar itself had spent years resisting making the changes. It adopted them only after a lengthy pressure campaign initiated by the Jewish investing group JLens, which launched in 2012 and has worked to prevent socially responsible investors from putting pressure on companies that do business in Israel/Palestine. In 2020, JLens turned its attention to Morningstar, arguing that the firm’s reporting on Israeli human rights abuses amounted to support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and was a form of antisemitism. Morningstar denied the accusations, insisting that it was treating Israel the same as other countries. But JLens was able to mobilize a network of government officials and Jewish organizations to apply pressure on the financial firm, buttressed by a new wave of anti-BDS laws that prevent states from investing their pension funds in companies said to be boycotting Israel. In Chicago, where Morningstar is based, the local Jewish federation—known as the Jewish United Fund (JUF)—lobbied close contacts on the Illinois Investment Policy Board to place Morningstar on the state’s “do not invest” list. Jewish federations in states like New Jersey and Florida pushed their officials to do the same. The campaign continued even after Morningstar hired an independent law firm to investigate its research practices for antisemitic bias and adopted the resulting recommendations.
Morningstar’s capitulation marked a major success for the previously little-known JLens.
posted by cendawanita at 10:54 AM on July 28 [6 favorites]
UK-side--
First I saw this on Guardian: UK should stop arming Israel after ICJ advisory ruling, top lawyer says - Exclusive: Philippe Sands KC says non-binding opinion will nevertheless be seen as ‘authoritative statement of law’
Hours later, on Ynet: UK expected to suspend arms sales to Israel, officials say -
Decision by Labour government is believed to be based on ICJ opinion that Israel violates international law in its rule over Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
posted by cendawanita at 9:13 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]
First I saw this on Guardian: UK should stop arming Israel after ICJ advisory ruling, top lawyer says - Exclusive: Philippe Sands KC says non-binding opinion will nevertheless be seen as ‘authoritative statement of law’
Hours later, on Ynet: UK expected to suspend arms sales to Israel, officials say -
Decision by Labour government is believed to be based on ICJ opinion that Israel violates international law in its rule over Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
posted by cendawanita at 9:13 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]
To add one more, Deutschlandfunk talks to Kenneth Roth, human rights advocate
25 minutes Interview in English in Radio Deutschlandfunk (more BBC-like, less like Deutsche Welle if it helps). The Interviewer's English is not terribly advanced maybe, but that shouldn't keep you from listening.
posted by Ashenmote at 10:16 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]
25 minutes Interview in English in Radio Deutschlandfunk (more BBC-like, less like Deutsche Welle if it helps). The Interviewer's English is not terribly advanced maybe, but that shouldn't keep you from listening.
posted by Ashenmote at 10:16 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]
An Israeli mob is storming (original link) an Israeli prison to protest the detaining of reservists suspected of abusing Palestinian prisoners.
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:27 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:27 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]
NYTimes elaborates (archived) that "three of the soldiers said they were being questioned on suspicion of severe sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner" and "Several Israeli media outlets reported that the prisoner had been hospitalized with a serious injury to his anus."
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 5:15 PM on July 29 [4 favorites]
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 5:15 PM on July 29 [4 favorites]
Rahida Tlaib: "The government of Israel is debating if it’s okay to rape Palestinians."
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 5:17 PM on July 29 [9 favorites]
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 5:17 PM on July 29 [9 favorites]
Thanks Noisy Pink Bubbles for that NYT link - I'm going to share that also on the open genocide thread since the raging soldiers and civilians news was being shared there too.
In the meantime, this was shared to me by a mefite, and apropos more than ever, a staged performance where Mohamed El-Kurd is being interviewed that's basically a demo on how much Palestinians are invalidated all this while by Western media when they attempt to advocate for themselves: In Bad Faith.
And speaking of Western media, John Oliver came out with a banger of an episode that is primarily about the apartheid as experienced in the West Bank and America's culpability. The main story comes in at around the 11th minute.
posted by cendawanita at 8:08 PM on July 29 [7 favorites]
In the meantime, this was shared to me by a mefite, and apropos more than ever, a staged performance where Mohamed El-Kurd is being interviewed that's basically a demo on how much Palestinians are invalidated all this while by Western media when they attempt to advocate for themselves: In Bad Faith.
And speaking of Western media, John Oliver came out with a banger of an episode that is primarily about the apartheid as experienced in the West Bank and America's culpability. The main story comes in at around the 11th minute.
posted by cendawanita at 8:08 PM on July 29 [7 favorites]
A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, speaking Monday at a meeting of lawmakers, justified the rape and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, shouting angrily at colleagues questioning the alleged behavior that anything was legitimate to do to "terrorists" in custody.(CBS News)
Lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky was asked as he defended the alleged abuse whether it was legitimate, "to insert a stick into a person's rectum?"
"Yes!" he shouted in reply to his fellow parliamentarian. "If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!"
posted by jedicus at 1:49 PM on July 30 [6 favorites]
Israel has assasinated Ismail Haniyeh via an airstrike on Tehran. I guess hostage negotiations were going way too well.
Fucking Netanyahu and his fascist enablers are going to bring the whole fucking region to a bloody war just to keep him out of prison.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 4:52 AM on August 1 [5 favorites]
Fucking Netanyahu and his fascist enablers are going to bring the whole fucking region to a bloody war just to keep him out of prison.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 4:52 AM on August 1 [5 favorites]
And speaking of Western media, John Oliver came out with a banger of an episode yt that is primarily about the apartheid as experienced in the West Bank and America's culpability.
The John Oliver West Bank segment is here (the previously linked video was blocked by YouTube in some regions). Still seems like a pretty mild critique of Israel at this point, but I suppose it's still the only somewhat mainstream American television show afaik that asserts that Palestinians are human beings who deserve any sort of dignity, so I suppose we'll take what we can get...
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 7:34 AM on August 1 [4 favorites]
The John Oliver West Bank segment is here (the previously linked video was blocked by YouTube in some regions). Still seems like a pretty mild critique of Israel at this point, but I suppose it's still the only somewhat mainstream American television show afaik that asserts that Palestinians are human beings who deserve any sort of dignity, so I suppose we'll take what we can get...
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 7:34 AM on August 1 [4 favorites]
'mounting' domestic pressure on netanyahu...
'Everything Is Collapsing': Israeli Reservists Confront Toll of Protracted War - "The strain on military manpower is one reason Israeli officials are hesitant to launch an all-out war against Hezbollah, which would require the same cohort of weary reservists to fight against a military power far superior to Hamas. It is also exposing longer-term vulnerabilities for Israel as it confronts the possibility of conflicts with hard-to-conquer militias on its borders for years to come."
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on August 5 [2 favorites]
'Everything Is Collapsing': Israeli Reservists Confront Toll of Protracted War - "The strain on military manpower is one reason Israeli officials are hesitant to launch an all-out war against Hezbollah, which would require the same cohort of weary reservists to fight against a military power far superior to Hamas. It is also exposing longer-term vulnerabilities for Israel as it confronts the possibility of conflicts with hard-to-conquer militias on its borders for years to come."
Many Israelis would rather see the country expand the pool of people who serve as conscripts. Yet the most obvious way to do that, by forcing ultra-Orthodox Israelis to serve, is potentially explosive.Frustration with Netanyahu mounts as Gaza talks falter - "Divisions between Netanyahu and the defence establishment over the deal have also surfaced in public remarks and behind closed doors, in angry exchanges leaked on Saturday to the Israeli press."
A recent Supreme Court ruling found there was no legal basis for exempting ultra-Orthodox Israelis, a policy established decades ago to let such men focus on preserving Jewish traditions. The Defense Ministry started sending initial draft notices in July. Ultra-Orthodox Jews are expected to account for 41% of potential draftees by 2050.
For most ultra-Orthodox, however, military service is a threat to their cloistered way of life. Thousands have attended protests against serving. Their political leaders, key to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, say they could bring down the government rather than accept mandatory draft quotas.
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on August 5 [2 favorites]
Francesca Albanese: Legitimate question to Western Media:
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:50 AM on August 7 [2 favorites]
CCTV footage of Israeli soldiers gang raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman prison camp is being shared on Israeli media channels.JPost news report on this event.
But its not being shared on Western mainstream news channels.
Why?
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:50 AM on August 7 [2 favorites]
Fortunately, there's a lively public debate in Israel about... whether institutional rape of Palestinians is a good policy or not. (with translation)
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:57 AM on August 7 [3 favorites]
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 11:57 AM on August 7 [3 favorites]
"An Israeli soldier who raped a Palestinian prisoner alongside other soldiers appeared on Israeli channel 14 to defend his unit that committed the rape."
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 12:37 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 12:37 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
Israeli Leaders Demand Probe of IDF Rape Video—To Find Out Who Leaked It
"Proud of what he's done and buoyed by a wellspring of popular support, gang-rape leader takes off his mask and shows his face to the world"
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:51 AM on August 9 [3 favorites]
"Proud of what he's done and buoyed by a wellspring of popular support, gang-rape leader takes off his mask and shows his face to the world"
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:51 AM on August 9 [3 favorites]
I've just set up a fresh siege/genocide thread that's built out of these recent rape revelations as well, if you'd like to share these links there too?
posted by cendawanita at 10:16 AM on August 9
posted by cendawanita at 10:16 AM on August 9
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posted by Popular Ethics at 9:30 PM on July 22 [13 favorites]