SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Will Palestine Bring War Crimes Charges Against Israel?
It may seem like an obvious step, after joining the International Criminal Court. But the legal and political barriers are formidable.
Jan 07, 2015
On January 2, in a long-awaited move, the Palestinian Authority formally submitted its application to the UN secretary general to join the International Criminal Court. Membership in the ICC is an important step, as the Court will now be able to investigate and prosecute serious war crimes committed by Israelis (as well as Palestinians) on Palestinian territory.
The move was also unexpected, in view of the fact that until now, the PA's policy has been to use the threat of membership as leverage in negotiations with Israel. The PA did this several times over the past two years in an attempt to get Israel to stop settlement construction. Even after the PA finally announced last July that it would sign the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC), it waited until the end of the year before formally submitting the application. During that period it used the threat of membership to try to extract Israeli concessions, first during Gaza cease-fire negotiations in the summer, and then in the hope that it would persuade the UN Security Council to support a resolution specifying a deadline for the end of the Israeli occupation.
The defeat of that resolution on December 30 was the last straw. The PA was particularly angry at US tactics used to thwart it--Washington reportedly managed to persuade Nigeria half an hour before the vote to withdraw the support it had promised. At a deeper level, though, the PA's move was the result of years of pressure from the Palestinian public to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, especially after its brutal summer assault on Gaza. There was strong pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, including from members of his inner circle, such as chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Joining the ICC is undoubtedly a positive development in the Palestinian pursuit of legal accountability for Israeli crimes. The ICC prosecutor will be able to open investigations despite the fact that Israel is not a member of the Court. The Court's jurisdiction will cover any crimes committed just over sixty days after the date of Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute, as well as past crimes going back at least to June 13, 2014, since the PA also submitted to the ICC on January 1 a declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction from that date onward.
Nor would an ICC investigation necessarily be limited to crimes committed in a narrowly military context, such as during the recent attack on Gaza. It could also cover crimes that occur during Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, such as the construction of settlements, and could even call into question the overarching nature--and therefore the legality--of Israel's occupation regime.
But none of this is as straightforward as it seems.
Read the full article at The Nation.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 The Nation
Salma Karmi-Ayyoub
Salma Karmi-Ayyoub is a UK-based criminal barrister and external consultant for the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq.
On January 2, in a long-awaited move, the Palestinian Authority formally submitted its application to the UN secretary general to join the International Criminal Court. Membership in the ICC is an important step, as the Court will now be able to investigate and prosecute serious war crimes committed by Israelis (as well as Palestinians) on Palestinian territory.
The move was also unexpected, in view of the fact that until now, the PA's policy has been to use the threat of membership as leverage in negotiations with Israel. The PA did this several times over the past two years in an attempt to get Israel to stop settlement construction. Even after the PA finally announced last July that it would sign the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC), it waited until the end of the year before formally submitting the application. During that period it used the threat of membership to try to extract Israeli concessions, first during Gaza cease-fire negotiations in the summer, and then in the hope that it would persuade the UN Security Council to support a resolution specifying a deadline for the end of the Israeli occupation.
The defeat of that resolution on December 30 was the last straw. The PA was particularly angry at US tactics used to thwart it--Washington reportedly managed to persuade Nigeria half an hour before the vote to withdraw the support it had promised. At a deeper level, though, the PA's move was the result of years of pressure from the Palestinian public to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, especially after its brutal summer assault on Gaza. There was strong pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, including from members of his inner circle, such as chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Joining the ICC is undoubtedly a positive development in the Palestinian pursuit of legal accountability for Israeli crimes. The ICC prosecutor will be able to open investigations despite the fact that Israel is not a member of the Court. The Court's jurisdiction will cover any crimes committed just over sixty days after the date of Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute, as well as past crimes going back at least to June 13, 2014, since the PA also submitted to the ICC on January 1 a declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction from that date onward.
Nor would an ICC investigation necessarily be limited to crimes committed in a narrowly military context, such as during the recent attack on Gaza. It could also cover crimes that occur during Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, such as the construction of settlements, and could even call into question the overarching nature--and therefore the legality--of Israel's occupation regime.
But none of this is as straightforward as it seems.
Read the full article at The Nation.
Salma Karmi-Ayyoub
Salma Karmi-Ayyoub is a UK-based criminal barrister and external consultant for the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq.
On January 2, in a long-awaited move, the Palestinian Authority formally submitted its application to the UN secretary general to join the International Criminal Court. Membership in the ICC is an important step, as the Court will now be able to investigate and prosecute serious war crimes committed by Israelis (as well as Palestinians) on Palestinian territory.
The move was also unexpected, in view of the fact that until now, the PA's policy has been to use the threat of membership as leverage in negotiations with Israel. The PA did this several times over the past two years in an attempt to get Israel to stop settlement construction. Even after the PA finally announced last July that it would sign the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC), it waited until the end of the year before formally submitting the application. During that period it used the threat of membership to try to extract Israeli concessions, first during Gaza cease-fire negotiations in the summer, and then in the hope that it would persuade the UN Security Council to support a resolution specifying a deadline for the end of the Israeli occupation.
The defeat of that resolution on December 30 was the last straw. The PA was particularly angry at US tactics used to thwart it--Washington reportedly managed to persuade Nigeria half an hour before the vote to withdraw the support it had promised. At a deeper level, though, the PA's move was the result of years of pressure from the Palestinian public to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, especially after its brutal summer assault on Gaza. There was strong pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, including from members of his inner circle, such as chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Joining the ICC is undoubtedly a positive development in the Palestinian pursuit of legal accountability for Israeli crimes. The ICC prosecutor will be able to open investigations despite the fact that Israel is not a member of the Court. The Court's jurisdiction will cover any crimes committed just over sixty days after the date of Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute, as well as past crimes going back at least to June 13, 2014, since the PA also submitted to the ICC on January 1 a declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction from that date onward.
Nor would an ICC investigation necessarily be limited to crimes committed in a narrowly military context, such as during the recent attack on Gaza. It could also cover crimes that occur during Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, such as the construction of settlements, and could even call into question the overarching nature--and therefore the legality--of Israel's occupation regime.
But none of this is as straightforward as it seems.
Read the full article at The Nation.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.