Netanyahu and Israel must be dragged before an International War Crimes Tribunal to be convened by the UN at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague
Commentary and Analysis . . . American-born Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel must be held responsible, under international law, for inhumane developments in the Biblical Holy Land.
Israel must be dragged before an International War Crimes Tribunal. The UN can convene the Tribunal at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, the Netherlands.
There has been no Public Inquiry on the 7 October attacks. In the fog of war, the first casuality was truth. So, if cynicism runs deep, we can only keep on the safe side by rejecting the claims and counter claims by both sides.
The media, it has been discovered, uses manufactured visuals and old videos on reporting the troubles in the Biblical Holy Land. The media has degenerated into perverse form of entertainment. It’s all about generating hits with an eye on the bottomline for income, revenue, resources and sponsorships.
The war in the Gaza Strip will end when the media stops reporting on it. Then, both Israel and Hamas will be denied photo ops in the media. It’s like the old chicken and egg story on which came first. Science has since discovered that the egg came first.
Israel, based on media accounts, has allegedly gone back in time with renewed vigour, embracing “eye for an eye” and “tooth for tooth”, among the laws in Judaism rewritten by Jesus. Israel may see no hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip if rescue attempts fail.
The Messiah, far ahead of time in the Biblical Holy Land, preached about turning the other cheek “if a man strikes you on the right cheek”, “let him who is without sin cast the first stone”, “love your enemies”, “bless those who curse you”, “pray for those who mean you harm”, and “do good to others as you would want them to do”.
Israel for Labour of Love
In every society, there must at least some people who will stop whatever they are doing — read looking for money — and work on the collective good. For example, on educating the people on the nature of human relationships including the rule of law. It’s about labour of love.
The collective good mesmerises those who choose simple living and curling up with a good book.
There’s case for creating pleasant conversational settings, about agreeing to disagree like civilised people, and keeping the Debate in the court of public opinion going back and forth until the Last Word comes in.
It’s about our common humanity.
There’s no closure on issues in conflict between parties in dispute until we agree that it’s better settling out of court if there can be no finality in litigation for closure.
Tel Aviv government
The Tel Aviv government, probably having worked out its priorities all wrong in the Gaza Strip, may be looking at the post-1948 Palestinian phenomenon through the wrong end of the municipal drainpipe in the Israeli capital.
Israel may have become victim of circumstances, indeed even getting carried away by more than a little on its own BS, based on mythical sense of invincibility. Israel has never been invincible except perhaps in misleading media reports on the mythical Chosen People in the legendary Chosen Land.
India, although plagued by Hindu nationalists who remain virulently anti Islam, should advise bosom pal Israel that attacking the civilian population in Gaza Strip will not win their support against Hamas and also, albeit discreetly, that no one needs enemies with friends like America.
Israel needs hearts and minds campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and probably against Fatah as well in the disputed West Bank. The post-1948 Palestinian will no longer exist if they don’t fight Israel.
The Netanyahu government should deal with crisis management scenarios without reading media reports. The media can only mislead it further and cause enormous fallout in politics and economics in Israeli society.
Living Side by Side
Hebrew speaking Jew and Arabic speaking Muslim and Christian live side by side in Israel. There are people, on both sides, in all sorts of colours, looks, shapes and sizes. Jew worldwide habitually speak many languages.
Jew in Kerala in southwest India, for example, speak Malayalam. The Hebrew speakers came 2K years ago and prospered. Four families remain in Cochin, Kerala. The rest, since 1948, chose Israel where they keep the Malayalam language and Kerala cooking alive. It’s said that Jew worldwide were not persecuted in India and China.
For those unfamiliar, Arabic speakers in Israel who declare themselves Palestinian, are put on the bus with one way ticket for the West Bank. Citizenship, being Israeli, can be revoked by the Tel Aviv government. It falls back on the letter of the law, by itself, and allegedly acts with impunity. It’s not clear whether the Supreme Court of Israel ever considered, based purely on the rule of law, the plight of these unfortunate deportees from the land.
The post-1948 Palestinian are Arabic speaking Muslim and Christian. Jew, before 1948 in the Biblical Holy Land, were also known as Palestinian, an administrative term codified by the Roman Empire. They held Palestinian passport issued by the Trans Jordan Palestine Mandate under British Administration.
Two Wrongs
The Israeli government, based on its own words in the media, perhaps belabours in the delusion that “two wrongs make one right”. It risks being visitation from Hell in the Biblical Holy Land. The land risks being drenched with the blood of innocent people in the thousands on both sides of the ideological divide as the madness continues like the virus i.e. form of intelligence.
Tel Aviv, based on its own words after Saturday 7 October 2023, cut off water and electricity supplies for the Gaza Strip. In adding insult after injury, the Jewish state denied access for medical services and jobs as well. The people in the Gaza Strip have fallen on dark times as hunger pangs set in and starvation, famine, disease and death stalks. There are no prospects of any respite in sight as hate fills the hearts of the lesser men in power.
Israel, falling back on armed might, has bombed the living daylights in the Gaza Strip. There are no Hamas military areas.
Israeli troops — Hebrew and Arabic speakers, Jew, Muslim and Christian — have encircled Gaza City and stands poised for “God alone knows what”. The troops will probably enter the city and search for the elusive Hamas militants who, common sense tells us, could not be hiding there awaiting certain death.
No Conventional Military
Hamas has no conventional military capability and will not engage with the Israeli troops. The Israelis are armed to the teeth and backed by tanks, air cover and naval support.
Hamas, being capable only in guerrilla warfare, can only engage in hit and run tactics at a moment of their own choosing when it can inflict maximum punishment and suffer fewer or no casualities at all. We know from Vietnam and Afghanistan how such wars take place. Eventually, America did not win. It left before losing and started new wars elsewhere, for no rhyme or reason, based on scenario building driven by paranoia.
In the American scheme of things, new wars are preceded by stoking latent hatreds under the guise of embedded intelligence gathering and provoking the creation of terrorist movements for having endless supply of enemies. It’s about war being form of business based on death and destruction. That sets the stage for even more embedded intelligence gathering.
Indeed, with friends like America, no one needs enemies.
The enemy of the state isn’t right at the door but within the so-called terrorist movements. There are no secrets. The terrorist movements eventually ferret out the enemies from within, i.e. the embedded intelligence agents and the running dogs of American hegemony, and summarily execute them.
Deadly Embrace
America’s embrace may be deadly. It’s breath remains poisonous. If America fights conventional war, it will not win, since the other side cannot respond in kind. So, America can only leave, as in Vietnam and Afghanistan, before the prospect of losing to the guerrilla fighters arises and brings public humiliation. The guerrilla strike unsuspectingly and melt away when they touch cold steel. In case of warm flesh, the guerrilla fighters thrust the bayonet even further, inflicting stunning losses before fleeing for dear life.
Patently, there has been mayhem in the wake of the Hamas attack on the music festival on Saturday 7 October in the desert in southern Israel. This is like kicking the innocent dog when one can’t get its master who is the real culprit. The punishment inflicted on the innocent people in the Gaza Strip, for no rhyme or reason, remains unlawful under international law. It’s tantamount to war crimes, allegedly “ethnic cleansing”, genocide and crimes against humanity. — NMH
Longtime Borneo watcher Joe Fernandez has been writing for many years on both sides of the Southeast Asia Sea. He should not be mistaken for a namesake formerly with the Daily Express in Kota Kinabalu. JF keeps a Blog under FernzTheGreat on the nature of human relationships.
Facebook Comments
Facebook Comments