International Law as a Weapon at the UN
This is an updated report from ACLJ Special Counsel Anne Herzberg on the continuing United Nations meeting in Geneva:
The Question of Palestine conference is akin to a trial where Israel is the defendant; the US, a co-conspirator, and the UN plays prosecutor. In this courtroom, however, there is no defense allowed. As we have reported, the State representatives laid out the charges. They then called witnesses who provided their evidence at the next session. We have heard the expert testimony declaring Israel to be in violation of international law and ways in which to punish the country.The exploitation of international legal rhetoric has become the weapon in the political war to delegitmize military operations conducted by democracies facing asymmetrical warfare. The panelists invoked this language repeatedly. Vera Gowlland-Debbas, a professor of international law from Geneva, repeatedly claimed the ICJ advisory opinion against Israels security barrier and the legal conclusions reached by the court were binding on the international community. She discussed at length how Israeli policies amounted to sanctions and collective punishment against the Palestinians and how such measures were illegal under international law. At the end of her presentation and without a hint of irony, however, she demanded that the international community was obligated to impose sanctions and collective measures against Israel.
Other speakers included Italian Nathalie Tucci, Egyptian Minister, Moufed Mahmoud Shehab, and Charles Shamas, who all called for international action against Israel, including sanctions and international criminal prosecutions. Charles Shamas, HRW board member and co-founder of Palestinian NGO Al Haq, explored several ways in which the European Union could impose sanctions on Israel, including suspending trade agreements and blocking aviation traffic.
John Quigley, a professor at Ohio State and a research scholar at Moscow State University during the 1960s, provided troubling interpretations of international law. He claimed that Palestine was a state dating back to 1924 and that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should allow Palestine to bring charges before the court even though it isnt a state party to the ICC treaty. Further, Quigley justified Palestinian violence by claiming there is a right to resist. He also stated that in principle there isnt a basis for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and the Security Council should have acted to prevent Israels founding after the announcement of the partition plan in 1947.
The Question of Palestine Conference picked up right where it left off yesterday. Phyllis Starkey, a member of the British Parliament for the Labour Party, spoke about her efforts leading the boycott and sanctions campaign against Israel. She also praised NGOs that exploit British laws by petitioning courts to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials for war crimes. She urged visits to Israel and the Palestinian Authority but not with organizations supportive of the Israeli government. Finally, she endorsed a ban on collaborating in scientific and cultural exchanges with Israelis who live in the West Bank.
Yizhar Beer, Executive Director of the EU-funding Keshev, was next to present. Keshev works in concert with Palestinian NGO, Miftah that praises female suicide bombers. It is a common practice of anti-Israel supporters to invite Israelis or Jews on the extreme left to appear at their events in an effort to provide balance and credibility. Beer claimed the Israeli media was guilty of demonization, militancy, and incitement. He criticized Israeli newspapers for putting on their front pages, images of the destruction caused by Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, and in particular, a strike on a Beer Sheva kindergarten. He also criticized media outlets for giving care packages to Israeli soldiers.
Phyllis Bennis, a far-left U.S. activist, spoke next. She attacked the UN Security Council, claiming it should be subservient to the democratic UN General Assembly (which is dominated by Arab, Islamic, and Third World states). She criticized the US operation to root out Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan but praised the Obama Administration for moving the discourse on the Middle East to a more anti-Israel stance. She accused Israel of acts of apartheid, aggression, and war crimes and called for a strengthening of the boycott and sanctions campaign.
Nasser Al Laham, Editor of the Palestinian Maan News Agency leveled many unfounded charges against Israel, such as that to Israel, nothing is holy in the Holy Land. In what was a surprise admission, he said that Hamas has absolute control over civilian life and forces the population to become combatants an admission that calls into question many of the unfounded allegations made against Israel. Al Laham then launched into an anti-Semitic rant accusing Jews of buying everything and controlling a global machine money.
The final presenter was Haaretz columnist, Gideon Levy. Levy argued the only way for Palestinians to end the occupation was through terrible bloodshed, sanctions, or by making Israelis feel uncomfortable. He generalized about Israeli society calling it immoral. He compared Israel to a drug addict that needs to be put in an institution and said rocket attacks on Israeli civilians did not merit military action by Israel.