Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
The International Criminal Court (ICC), and its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, have come under attack by Israel and its main sponsor, US President Joe Biden and the lawmakers in Washington, after Khan requested on May 20 the court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.
Khan said that Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif – “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The US has a policy of selectively supporting ICC rules when it is in the interests of the US, and attacking the court if the ruling goes against those interests.
The ICC is shackled by the US and its whims, which leaves the actual purpose of the ICC, which is finding justice, unfulfilled and frustrated. If there is an ICC ruling against an African warlord, such as the cases involving Uganda, Sudan and the Congo, then the US is supportive, but in the case of crimes committed by Israel, then the US denies the credibility of the court.
The US constantly preaches on the need for an international rules based order, but Washington wants to be the master of those rules, and they want the option of bending the rules when its suits them.
The highest value for Americans is the concept of freedom and individualism. Israel has denied the freedom of the Palestinian people for 75 years, and prevented them from the human rights that every American enjoys. It is clear that Israel and the US do not share the same values, and yet the US government indoctrinates its citizens in the unconditional support of Israel.
The Biden administration and the US Congress are held hostage to AIPAC, the Israel lobby. All American elected officials, from the top to the bottom, know they can never criticize Israel or its leaders, because their political life depends on their unwavering support of Israel. If they should dare to voice their support of justice for the Palestinian people, they would face political problems which could extend as far as their private life.
The US is experiencing a serious rift in the society, with Republicans and Democrats viewing the other as the enemy. However, in this ultra-polarized political landscape, both parties are supportive of the Israeli attack on Gaza.
In the 1990s, the US supported the creation of a permanent international criminal court. However, the US voted against the Rome Statute that created the court in 1998, with the US voicing concerns that the court would possibly prosecute Americans without US consent.
The US remains a non-member state to the ICC today, and adopted laws to restrict its interactions with the court.
The US supported the ICC prosecution of Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosovic, Osama bin Laden, other members of al-Qaeda, leaders of Islamic Jihad and other foreign nationals. This is selective justice: the US supports its enemies going to jail, but not its friends, regardless of whether they deserve prosecution.
In 2020, the ICC investigated alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan, which included the US, Afghan and Taliban forces. Instead of supporting the search for truth and justice, the US imposed sanctions on the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and another senior ICC official.
The ICC and the US are again at odds. Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders exposes the US vacillation between seeking international justice, but only when it is in line with US foreign policy goals.
On June 5, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted 247-155 in favor of the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. The bill would bar US entry and restrict any US-based property transactions for ICC officials involved with the request by Khan for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Neither Israel nor the US is a member of the ICC, whose 124 member states will ultimately decide whether to enforce any warrants issued by its judges.
The Congressional bill is not expected to become law, but its approval in the House by almost every Republican and about a fifth of Democrats demonstrates unconditional support for Israel despite the eight-month war on Gaza, which has come under international condemnation.
“The US firmly stands with Israel and refuses to allow international bureaucrats to baselessly issue arrest warrants to Israeli leadership for false crimes,” said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson in a statement.
Khan said his team has found evidence that Israel has “intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival”.
“This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza,” he said.
Khan added that Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip by closing the border crossings and restricting the transfer of food, water and medical supplies was part of an Israeli plan to use starvation as a “method of war”.
Khan praised the panel of experts he had convened to review the evidence and provide legal analysis to support these arrest warrants. He said its members have “immense standing in international humanitarian law and international criminal law”.
The mostly British panel of experts included Judge Theodor Meron, an American-Israeli lawyer and judge who has served on United Nations tribunals relating to war.
Referring to the use of starvation by Israeli leaders as a method of warfare, the report from the panel says “parties to an armed conflict must not deliberately impede the delivery of humanitarian relief for civilians”, and that following its ground operations in Gaza, “Israel certainly became the occupying power in all of or at least in substantial parts” of the enclave.
The panel also adds that based on the material it has assessed, it has reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant have intentionally targeted civilian populations in Gaza and have contributed to starvation.
The arrest warrants are thought to be guaranteed because of how much work has gone into the Khan’s request and the low threshold that needs to be met.
However, the ruling of the ICC has not yet produced the arrest warrants. Perhaps, the US will exert so much pressure on the ICC and it judges as to prevent the issuance of the arrest warrants.
Experts have questioned that there could be international justice when the US dominates the global world order. Analysts agree that the days of the American superpower are dwindling, and a multi-polar new world order emerging, which gives hope for international justice for all.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
