(Spectator-UK) Stephen Daisley - The UK should loudly oppose the International Criminal Court's ruling that it enjoys the jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes in eastern Jerusalem, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria. The Rome Statute which created the ICC does not empower that court to prosecute non-party states, except where such states "accept the exercise of jurisdiction by the court." Israel has not ratified the statute. The ICC is a political body and its decision to prosecute is shaded by such concerns. Hence the ICC has not put Syria in the dock, because Russia would veto any attempt by the UN Security Council to refer the atrocities committed by the Assad regime to the panel. Israel is a much easier target, loathed as it is by those who resent the notion of Jewish sovereignty in the Jewish homeland. It cannot hope to receive a fair trial. The immovable obstacle to a Palestinian state remains the Palestinians. The Palestinian leadership holds the self-harming delusion that they need only hold out a little longer and the Zionist entity would be gone. No one can end Palestinian suffering, only they can. It is for the Palestinians to claim their own sovereignty at the negotiating table. An ICC vendetta against Israel will not achieve dignity, prosperity and self-determination for the Palestinians.
2021-02-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive