Israel flees as ICJ spotlight falls again on Palestine

Alameen Templeton

The International Court of Justice is today (Monday) hearing submissions about the legality of Nazi Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories – a court date 57 years overdue, say many commentators.

This is a hearing which should have been held in 1967 when Israel’s army occupied the territories, many legal observers say.

Instead of the occupation’s excesses being subsequently protected for over half a century by routine US vetoes in the UN Security Council, the Nazi state would have been held accountable to international law, saving countless lives, mayhem and misery, the say.

Israel will not be among the 50 countries participating in this rare legal inquiry into its oppression in Gaza and the West Bank, even though it was invited. It says the hearing has been established to investigate it alone, while ignoring attacks against it and its citizens.

The current hearings have been more than a year in the making. They were prompted by a UN General Assembly request last year on January 17 to approach the court for an advisory opinion “on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.

It wants the court to give its opinion on, inter alia:

*What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures;

*How do the policies and practices of Israel referred to in paragraph 18 (a) above affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from this status?”

Fifty nine countries have applied to make their arguments hear.

First up is Palestine, which started presenting its case today (Monday). Interestingly, South Africa is up next (Tuesday). Crucially, the US submission is due only on Wednesday and the Nazi state is refusing to participate.

Israel has said in a written submission the way the question is framed by the UN application “the Court is asked simply to presume Israeli violations of international law – to accept, as given, plainly biased and flawed assertions directed against Israel alone”.

It accuses the process of ignoring Palestinian “terrorist” actions and incitements against Israelis.

It adds, “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a cartoon narrative of villain and victim in which there are no Israeli rights and no Palestinian obligations. Entertaining such a falsehood can only push the parties further apart rather than help create conditions to bring them closer together.”

So, it refuses to egage the process, saying: “In these circumstances, to engage with the subject-matter of the request placed before the Court as though this is an appropriate use of the advisory function would not just be unwarranted; it would be harmful.”