It is not that people are worried that a claim of genocide will not be successful at the International Court of Justice. It is that everybody is quite sure it will succeed.
By Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk
Al Jazeera are leading their news with the execution of Palestinian civilians, including women and toddlers, inside the school in Jabalia where they were sheltering. They were all shot at point blank range, with no signs of a bomb or missile strike.
On the BBC, the Daily Politics show – which consists of discussion between senior British MPs – does not discuss Palestine at all, because the British political class supports the genocide, so for them there is nothing to discuss.
Also in Jabalia, the Israelis today destroyed the last remaining bakery.
It is worth stating why this is plainly a genocide in Gaza:
1) Deliberate destruction of the infrastructure which supports the civilian population, including water treatment, electricity, sewerage systems, bakeries and fishing boats;
2) Deliberate destruction of almost all medical facilities;
3) Deliberate destruction of educational facilities, from universities to primary schools;
4) Deliberate destruction of the infrastructure of civil society, including Supreme Court, Parliament, Ministries and Council buildings and deliberate destruction of administrative records;
5) Deliberate blocking of food aid inducing mass starvation;
6) Massive and indiscriminate bombardment. In wars the general percentage of children among those killed varies from 6 to 8 percent. In Ukraine it is 6 percent. In Gaza it is 42 percent. This is indiscriminate destruction of an ethnic group;
7) Mass executions of civilians;
8) Acts of dehumanisation of the Palestinians, including parading prisoners naked for public and media show and humiliation, beating and sexually abusing them;
9) Forced mass movement of population;
10) Deliberate targeting of religious and cultural heritage buildings;
11) Deliberate targeting of intellectual leadership, including journalists, doctors, poets, university lecturers and senior administrators;
12) Numerous declarations of open genocidal intent from the President and Prime Minister down through almost the entire fabric of both civilian and military establishment.
United Nations meeting room in Palais Chaillot. Paris, 75 years ago on December 9, 1948 to adopt the Genocide Convention (United Nations Photo)
This is the official definition of Genocide in international law, from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
On Tuesday I attended a session called by Palestine at the United Nations in Geneva. Over 120 states attended. While the formal session consisted of statements of national position with few surprises, I was able to discuss with a large number of delegates in the corridors why the Genocide Convention has not been activated triggering a reference to the International Court of Justice.
The answer is now clear to me. It is not that people are worried that a claim of genocide will not be successful at the International Court of Justice. It is that everybody is quite sure it will succeed. There is no respectable argument that this is not a genocide in the terms outlined above.
The problem is that once the ICJ has determined that this is a genocide, it follows that not only are Benjamin Netanyahu and hundreds of senior Israeli officials and military personally liable, but it is absolutely plain that “Genocide Joe” Biden, Rishi Sunak and members of their administrations are also criminally liable for complicity, having provided military support for the genocide.
The International Criminal Court cannot ignore a judgment of genocide from the International Court of Justice and will have no choice but to issue arrest warrants.
A genocide is the worst of crimes. Just how appalling this one is has been shown to the world like never before, through the power of social media.
But to the global 1 percent whose interests rule the world, no number of dead Palestinians makes any real difference to their interests. On the other hand, the ramifications for the international system of wealth concentration, if western political elites start to be held accountable for their crimes, are uncertain and therefore carry more risk.
This is particularly the concern of ruling classes of both Western and Arab states.
It may sound astonishing, but to the world’s diplomats the enormity of a genocide appears less troubling than the enormity of doing something about it.
Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. His coverage is entirely dependent on reader support. Subscriptions to keep this blog going are gratefully received.
This article is from CraigMurray.org.uk.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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Thank you, Craig Murray.
You are one of the few real “Lone Rangers” out there who will go to bat for justice.
How’s that human created permanent Dominator HIERARCHY working out civilization after civilization after civilization after…
If the war crimes of the winners and most powerful countries aren’t prosecuted, then the trials are just another club for strong to beat the weak into a pulp.
No, I don’t believe a claim will ever succeed. It is the ‘white West’ against all others…and guess which way the ICC judges will lean.
Let me see if I can sum up the position of the modern 2020’s Democrats and Joe Biden.
They support genocide for a limited period of time, but they don’t want it to exceed three months. There is no doubt they support ethnic cleansing, both in spirit and letter of the term. The entire conflict is ‘ethnic’. And Biden and the Democrats have always supported Gaza being an open-air prison, and they have no complaints if the warden wants to herd the inmates to a different zone of the prison. In the Mad Maddy Democrat tradition, they feel that the death of say 20,000 Arabs to achieve this will be ‘worth it’.
However, they do not agree with Israel on the ultimate goal of the ethnic cleansing. The Democrats still support a 2-state solution that was rejected in spirit by Israel some time ago, and in any form today. The Democrats say they do not support making the Arabs flee Gaza in terror running for their lives to Egypt, while Israeli diplomats have tried to achieve this goal so the entire world is aware of the goal.
Thus, Joe Biden and the Democrats fully support genocide, but only for a few months, and even though they do not support the acknowledged goals of the genocide. Consider that. Genocide is OK, even if we don’t agree with the goal of the plan? Just don’t let it bleed over into our campaign to convince America that hating Trump is more important than avoiding World War III.
Yeah, I think that about sums it up.
Vote Democrat for Four More Years, if you think you can take it.
Ok, BJ, that was pretty clever, and probably right on.
Now plz tell me — equally convincingly — how voting for Trump, or 3rd party, or not voting at all is likely to improve the outcome.
It’s likely to inform Biden and the swastika loving Democrats that we have had enough of their B.S.
The USA government supported genocidal Nazi Germany and genocidal Nazi South Africa well past their sell-by dates. How much longer can genocidal Nazi Israel and genocidal Nazi Ukraine possibly last?
When all this is over and hopefully it will not end the Palestinian people, what will Israel say? Would they charge the whole world of anti-semitism because they objected to the killing of civilians? Will they punish members of the US Congress as they have done so many times in the past for objecting to anything they have done? Will they control the 4th estate that they have been successful in doing in the past? Will someone of wisdom and intellect reevaluate the Holocaust in WWII and have the sense of writing the epitaph of genocide? I await the outcome.
“Zionism is the only political ideology I know of that claims that disagreement with it is a hate crime.”
— John Clark, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Well done, Mr. Murray.
Sometimes the obvious conclusion has been obvious from the outset. Concisely, logically and forcefully presented.
It is best we do not forget that if genocide is not prosecuted due to the power of the those involved, neither will ecocide be prosecuted for those pursuing the continued ruination of our planet for profit. If that’s the case, game over. I wonder if those proud powers that be are prepared for the lawlessness that might ensue in such a scenario? It’s pretty much a proven fact that if 10% of a population turns against those who rule them, the government can’t survive. There is a reason why Obama did away with Posse Comitatus. The gears turn, the machine whirls, and we are expected to stand in complicity and silence as we are forced into the thresher.
If our governments can’t face the facts, we the people need to spread the word on what is happening in Gaza. Self defense does not include genocide and we need to point that out every chance we get.
Thank you for this very clear summary of the crime of genocide. Rather than implying a hopeless case, this atrocity of neglect as well as commission and complicity, must now form the foundation of a new requirement for remunerative justice. No loopholes. No passing the buck to “our national interests”.
“to the world’s diplomats the enormity of a genocide appears less troubling than the enormity of doing something about it.” If that is the case, and it appears so, then we are all at risk and none of our lives matter more than the concentration of wealth. People of the world need to get this through their heads.
Yes–Craig nailed it with that statement.
The 2nd tenant of the ruling class: One never gets one’s hands dirty. One directs others to do so.
And the 1st: Always protect your own interests above all others.
Exactly. Our 18 year old grand daughter is living with us and attending university……….she came home a few weeks ago and asked me ‘could this happen here’. The fear on her face was something unlike anything I’ve ever seen from her………as our Isobel has always believed we could handle everything.
Around the age of 5 we were playing a game while taking out some bricks on an old outdoor oven, and she opined: “If hard times come, we won’t die. We know what to do”.
I laughed then, but seeing the fear in her face recently what could I say? I said Yes…..but then explained why it was unlikely.
WHAT THE PEOPLE IN THE THIRD WORLD SEE THOUGH……..IS WHAT ISOBEL INTUITED, BUT WITH THE POSSIBLITY BEING VERY REAL….the west is showing its muscle…and its callous disregard for human life…….through it proxy, Israel.
And it’s an ugle demonstration.
Very succinct article! What perhaps should also be explicit in setting forth the elements of genocide and the actions and statements of the Israeli government officials and military, is that those who facilitate the genocide are complicit in this heinous crime and are therefore also guilty. What could be more facilitating, more complicit, than providing the weapons used to carry out the genocide. Therefore, it is not a stretch to implicate not only the leaders like Biden and senior members of his administration, but members of Congress, without whose votes or inaction, the weapons could not be sent to Israel.
Thank you for this clarification on this important matter. The consequences to smaller states who might consider convoking the genocide convention with the ICC are enough to make them terrified of the economic devastation their own people might suffer if they took this stand. There was an interesting article in the New Straits Times on why Malaysia was not eager to take such a step, for the economic punishment likely to ensure if they did. If they all walked together on this road, could they be successful? The outcome is in doubt, and I can understand their reluctance to be the first to take that step.
If the UN is unsuccessful in stopping the barbarism because countries’ fear of the economic consequences perhaps it’s time for BRICS to step in. They represent the largest trading block on the planet now, and the world hasn’t yet awoken to the actual significance of their economic power.
Is the United States ever going stop acting like israel’s big DOPEY body guard?
Not so long as the US is also occupied by the same powers that occupy Palestine.
I love hearing the truth..
Mr. Rudman, if you love hearing the truth I am about to make your day. My ability to do this is somewhat limited. This “limit ‘ limit thing is driven by whether or not you have read any of my comments at CN for the last few years. Conversely for those of you here that are familiar, please bear with me.
George if you were to study the history of CIA’s head of counter intelligence from 1954 to 1975. This man also headed up the Israeli desk from 1951 forward. While I cannot convince you of what I believe the true facts are that during the entire time Israel benefited profusely from CIA assistance and this special treatment has continued to this very day. Resulting in, this is my very strong personal belief, Israel having undue and unearned special treatment of Israel by the U.S. government.
Trying to be fair to CN and others here I will refer you to earlier comments I made here providing links.
In addition navigating CN’c old articles and the associated comments is pretty easy.
Thanks CN
I have made numerous comments here and left links, Dec 11, 2023 @17:07 Posted links with instructions on navigating the site.
Nov 14, 2023 @ 21:22 Israels Lobby’s Disastrous Domination, left links. These are just a couple. However since Oct 7, 2023 I have left multiple comments some, being rants.
I have investigated the time line of JJ Angleton’s career and follow Jefferson Morley’s JFK facts substack. Morley and the Israeli Lobby Archives have great documentation of CIA’s involvement in the Oswald affairs leading up the Nov 22, 1963 and his suspected involvement in the NUMEC, Affair.
In my opinion, JJ Angleton and CIA and Israel had the most to gain from the JFK murder. I have my reasons and viewed documents I believe that indicate this is true.
I feel we al need to educate each other on what we know and how. I try to do this.
Thanks CN
As long as Israel serves as a nuclear-armed “dagger aimed at the heart of the Middle East”. The corrupt US Congress is bought-and-paid-for by the MIC, BigOil, BigFinance – these interest groups all benefit from Israel Policy. It’s Big Money. The US Oligarchy supports Israel policy, not just AIPAC et al.
The word the war machine fears most is JUSTICE.
They know that if they lose control of the narrative and lose control of unlimited funding they will be brought to justice and that it will mean their execution, if not by a criminal court, then by the families of the people they’ve killed, who have nothing left to live for but vengeance.
Thank you Mr. Murray. Spot on analysis as always.
Basically, we won’t touch anyone because we’re all afraid to act (loose).
I’m not sure I would put it that way because I’m not sure to act would be to lose. To act would be painful, but to lose isn’t even close to a certainty. That being said the sad fact of the matter is Biden won’t be swayed to stop shoveling arms at Israel, and at this point the only thing that will stop genocide is (you are correct) direct intervention.
If we are ever going to turn the descent into the abyss around, we have got to let the chips fall where they may. I can’t think of a more just action in my lifetime than for these great Western leaders to have warrants over their heads for their true actions in this genocide.
From the article:
“The International Criminal Court cannot ignore a judgment of genocide from the International Court of Justice and will have no choice but to issue arrest warrants.”
“On 17 March 2023, following an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, alleging responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children”
Wikipedia
Note those children were “tranferred”, not killed by bombs or left to die and rot in their beds in a hospital like the Palestinian premature babies.
But Mr. Khan says this:
“For those responsible for targeting and firing missiles, I wish to be clear on three points in particular. One: in relation to every dwelling house, in relation to any school, any hospital, any church, any mosque – those places are protected, unless the protective status has been lost because they are being used for military purposes. Two: if there is a doubt that a civilian object has lost its protective status, the attacker must assume that it is protected. Three: the burden of demonstrating that this protective status is lost rests with those who fire the gun, the missile, or the rocket in question.”
Karim Khan – Chief Prosecutor ICC.
I wonder if he has anything to say about the genocide too.
The endemic suffering and isolation of Palestinians under Israeli occupation has been compounded by the apathy or craven paralysis of official bodies {the U.N., U.S. and E.U. governments}. The effective uselessness of institutions like the U.N. and I.C.C – unless manipulated to focus censure on an economic enemy like Russia/ Putin – is glaringly apparent. This disregard for a people who have been systematically brutalized for decades also reflects a chasm between the hoi polloi and those in power; as Western governments have largely ceased to provide democratic representation. The crimes against humanity so brazenly carried out by Israel are not new, but the magnitude of it’s mass extermination is impossible to deny. So it comes down to those aghast at a genocide and those who see it unfolding and justify it and, lastly, those who at best view the mass slaughter as troubling due to the potential for a regional conflagration. That the first category encompasses much of the planet may signify little at the moment. But the long term implications are potentially enormous. Israel has torn down whatever flimsy edifice of democratic norms and civility it might have had by blatantly carrying out it’s own final solution and antagonizing the populace by bringing it’s fascism home. An apparent majority of Israelis, reared on a steady diet of self-aggrandizing racist propaganda, have been exposed for the rabidly bigoted, narcissistic, abysmal people they are. It’s difficult to imagine nothing essentially changing for the apartheid state’s geopolitical relations. But what such a reversal in fortune might look like remains to be seen.
“chasm between the hoi polloi and those in power; ”
Strange that isn’t it. There are a lot more of us than them, but we are contolled by their nefarious machinations.