[rad-green] Buried in Trump-Netanyahu Deal Is Effort to 'Torpedo' ICC War Crimes Probe

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/29/buried-trump-netanyahu-deal-effort-torpedo-icc-war-crimes-probe
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/29/buried-trump-netanyahu-deal-effort-torpedo-icc-war-crimes-probe>Common
Dreams          January 29, 2020Buried in Trump-Netanyahu Deal Is Effort to
'Torpedo' ICC War Crimes ProbeThe plan announced Tuesday by the White House
demands Palestinians "dismiss all pending actions" before the International
Criminal Court.by Andrea Germanos, staff writer*

[image: A fireball exploding in Gaza City during Israeli bombardment on
July 20, 2018.]

*A fireball exploding in Gaza City during Israeli bombardment on July 20,
2018. (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)*

As the International Criminal Court moved forward this week with its
investigation into alleged war crimes committed against Palestinians in the
Occupied Territories, the White House's new so-called "peace" plan includes
a largely unreported provision that would end such efforts to hold the
Israeli government to account.

The document, released
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/28/not-peace-plan-it-war-plan-trump-netanyahu-deal-decried-shameful-attack-palestinian>
Tuesday,
was widely criticized
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/29/middle-east-analysts-question-workability-of-trump-peace-plan>
as
a "screw the Palestinians over harder non-peace plan
<https://twitter.com/BH_Friedman/status/1222362079795011584>" that lets
Israel continue its illegal occupation and a "ludicrous
<https://www.democracynow.org/2020/1/29/trump_middle_east_plan>" proposal
that offers no path towards Palestinian statehood.

The plan's architect, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House
advisor Jared Kushner, suggested Palestinians "take a cold shower
<https://news.yahoo.com/kushner-calls-palestinians-foolish-rejecting-153519730.html%20>"
and accept it lest they "screw up,
<https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/480358-jared-kushner-palestinians-have-blown-every>"
he said, like with "every other opportunity that they've ever had in their
existence."

A portion of the document states that "the parties should conduct
themselves in a manner that comports with this vision, and in a way that
prepares their respective peoples for peace." For the Palestinians, that
means victims of war crimes should keep quiet.

The plan states, in part, that Palestinians must take "no action, and shall
dismiss all pending actions, against the State of Israel, the United
States, and any of their citizens before the International Criminal Court"
and other tribunals.

[image: A portion of the White House's "Peace to Prosperity" plan released
Jan. 28, 2020.]

The provision drew criticism from Amnesty International.

"A just and sustainable peace requires a plan that prioritizes the human
rights of Palestinians and Israelis, and must include justice and
reparation for victims of war crimes and other grave violations. This plan
not only fails this fundamental test; it seeks to torpedo efforts towards
justice for both Palestinians and Israelis that are currently under way,"
said
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/01/usa-israel-opt-dismal-peace-deal-will-exacerbate-violations/>
Philip
Luther, the organization's Middle East and North Africa research and
advocacy director.

Netanyahu, who was indicted
<https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/28/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-withdraws-immunity-request-intl/index.html>
Tuesday
on corruption charges and stood
<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-to-reveal-their-mideast-peace-plan>
alongside
Trump as he released the plan, reiterated his condemnation of the ICC this
week.

In an interview
<https://tbn.org/programs/tbn-special-report-benjamin-netanyahu> set to air
Thursday with Christian network *TBN*, he called on global powers to
sanction the court over the probe.

"The U.S. government, under President Trump, has spoken forcefully against
the ICC for this travesty, and I urge all your viewers to do the same. To
ask for concrete actions, sanction against the international court, its
officials, prosecutors, everyone," he said, according to an excerpt of the
interview released by the Israeli government.

The internation court, he continued, is "basically in a full-frontal attack
on the democracies, both on the democracies' right to defend themselves,
and on Israel's right, the Jewish people's right, to live in their
ancestral homeland, the Land of Israel."

Michael Lynk, the U.N. special rapporteur for the situation of human rights
in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, has a different
perspective. In December, Lynk praised
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/31/un-researcher-hails-iccs-pursuit-war-crimes-probe-palestine-momentous-step>
the
possibility of justice the investigation could bring.

"Over the years, the international community has adopted hundreds of
resolutions through the United Nations condemning various features of
Israel's entrenched occupation of the Palestinian territory. Yet rarely has
it ever combined criticism with consequences for Israel," he said. "Now,
the possibility of accountability is finally on the horizon."

Trump has bristled at the possibility of the probe into alleged Israeli
wrongdoing as well.

In a statement
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/12/threatening-swift-retaliation-if-us-israel-or-allies-probed-trump-celebrates-iccs>
last
April celebrating his administration's successful intimidation campaign to
stop an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes the U.S. committed in
Afghanistan, Trump said, "Any attempt to target American, Israeli, or
allied personnel for prosecution will be met with a swift and vigorous
response."

Despite U.S. and Israeli objections to the ICC probe into war crimes in the
West Bank and Gaza, the effort—at least at this point—continues to advance.

The ICC announced <https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=pr1512> Tuesday
that it set
<https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/ICC-gives-Israel-Palestinians-until-March-to-respond-to-war-crime-charges-615688>
a
March 16 deadline for Israel, Palestine, and alleged victims to submit
documents to the court.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in December that "there is a
reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the situation in
Palestine" as she was "satisfied that war crimes have been or are being
committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip,"
and "there are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation
would not serve the interests of justice."

-- 

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sid-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sid-l/CACKppcwipcSDtA%3D-XucL85BCy6MnMJBu%3DvOMVpp%3DRNyAQB2O_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

---
To unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>