Wherever one stands on the UN resolution giving Palestinians observer status, it is inadvisable to go overboard & attribute the yes vote of 138 countries to growing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. People need to temper their enthusiasm with some skepticism. Most of those countries haven’t done a damn thing for nearly 65 years to stop Israeli aggression & they aren’t going to start now. The relationship between the European Union & Israel is a collaborative one, with lots of trade money involved. Individual European countries like Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, & Greece are eviscerating their own body politics with devastating austerity programs. Why the hell would they feel solidarity with the Palestinians!? A sense of justice is no part of their considerations. Realpolitik is their modus operandi & Machiavelli their guide.
A hallow victory.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKwgZqAAz18&feature=youtu.be
That link does not open up, VAA.
ReplyDeleteIt did for me, Mary. Just copy and paste in the address bar.
ReplyDeleteYes Mary Blogger is not accepting Hyperlinks , so copy and paste is the only option
ReplyDeleteMondowise angry response to Ali
ReplyDelete"and Ali Abuminah??? i am SHOCKED that he would so quickly devalue to zero Pals’ new statehood by saying: “Will there be real, concrete action — including sanctions — to force Israel to halt, and begin to reverse its illegal colonization of the 1967 occupied territories?……Sadly, that is unlikely, which means that yesterday’s vote was nothing more than a hollow gesture. Israel’s announcement should draw attention back to cold, hard reality: there is no ‘two-state solution.’ ”
is he out of his mind?????? PALS NOW HAVE LEGITIMATE LEGAL RECOURSE AT THE ICC!!!!!!!! which means that yesterday’s vote was EVERYTHING!!!! what an idiotic thing for him to say, especially when he knows better!!!!!!!!! i’m so thoroughly disgusted with his truly harmful rhetoric. hey Ali, EGO CHECK!!!"
Disregarding the regrettable ad hominem insult to Abunimah (although it’s telling when one resorts to such debating tricks), the substance of Mondowiess’s support for UN observer status is access to the ICC. Well this would indeed be a compelling argument if the ICC were a more effective agency in adjudicating cases of human rights crimes in the world. Unfortunately, it’s record isn’t that impressive and in fact it has been criticized for judicial bias by human rights and political groups. But of course that makes sense because the ICC is fully integrated into the global status quo and is by no means comprised of human rights crusaders.
DeleteA case in point would be their adjudication of a DR Congo case against Thomas Lubanga, a militia leader charged with recruiting child soldiers. An odious crime, to be sure! But the war in the DR Congo, which has taken millions of lives, used rape as a weapon of war, & dislocated millions of people, is a competition between foreign companies (backed by their governments) over the DR Congo’s immense mineral wealth. Those militias are often proxy armies serving foreign plunderers. The ICC, if it was worth anything in terms of justice, would want to lay out what is behind the crimes of Thomas Lubanga rather than just use him as a scapegoat so as to mask the real causes of the massive crimes against the people of the DR Congo. But if you examine the trial, the scope of the crime was kept personal so that the plunder could continue without public exposure which would bring understanding and condemnation.
If it’s true that Palestinians now have 138 new allies in the UN, we should expect to see them campaigning in defense of Palestinians, rendering them material support, having their back politically. If that vote meant anything, it means they will be exposing and denouncing Israeli crimes in the UN and other political venues. But that’s unlikely.
The BDS movement in the past several years has done more and will continue to do more to expose Israeli crimes and build Palestinian solidarity than the ICC will ever do and certainly more than the ICC intends to do. Organizing rallies, debates, forums, speak-outs in defense of Palestinians in the courtroom of public opinion is far more important than any speculative adjudications in an ICC courtroom.
I consider debate on this matter important and surely no reason for Mondoweiss to get so worked up about. It raises many important issues for Palestinians to debate--like the strategies of their leadership, and the strategies necessary to build solidarity and to win justice. This is a debate among Palestinians and among their supporters. It should be a fraternal and sororal one, and not one evoking personal insults because the issues are too important. And when the day is done, our tasks remain the same: to continue to collaborate in building the BDS movement and in organizing rallies and debates.
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ReplyDeleteThis is one charge of judicial bias registered against the ICC by Amnesty International concerning Israel's 2008-2009 bombing assault on Gaza: http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/5861/
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