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Palestinians are often crowded into metal pens inside the checkpoint, unable to leave
or enter.
The whole process is controlled by Israeli soldiers in hidden posts. The soldiers
usually, 18- or 19-year-old conscripts are completely invisible and unapproachable, in
order to prevent any chance of their being attacked. The workers can only hear their
voices amplified over the loudspeakers and complaints at the overcrowding and
agonizing slow pace usually go unheard and unheeded.
Ahmad Bdeir had gone through this process every morning, like about 15,000 others.
In one such early morning hour, on December 31, he suffocated. It took several
moments for the other tightly packed workers around him to notice what had
happened, and much longer for them to get the attention of the unseen soldiers in
control. By the time medical teams got to the spot, they could do little more than
confirm his death.
Just one day before all this happened, the International Community - as manifested
at the spacious and comfortable halls of the United Nations Headquarters in New
York - turned down the request of the Palestinians to be free of Israeli soldiers
controlling their lives. They had asked for the fiftieth year of Israeli occupation to
be
Its last, for a timetable determining that 2017 would see the birth of Free Palestine.
This was rejected, and the Palestinians referred once again to interminable
negotiations with Israel, which certainly under its present government has no
intention of ever ending the occupation. (A different government might or might not
be there next year)
To the positive side, France fully backed up the Palestinians (for which the French
Ambassador to Israel is to be summoned and reprimanded at the Foreign Ministry),
as did Luxembourg a mini state but still a member in good standing of the EU. And
Britain at least abstained, which also aroused some worries in the PMs bureau. All of
which was not enough in face of the immovable rock in Washington.
In the past weeks, there had been many rumors of President Obama, long
exasperated with the conduct of PM Netanyahu, considering a change to the longstanding policy of applying an automatic US veto on behalf of the Government of
Israel. Obama may or may not have considered it. In the event he decided to stick
with the good old veto and not risk an all-out confrontation on Capitol Hill. And by
dint of various maneuverings and underhand deals, the Palestinian proposal fell short
of the nine votes needed. The Americans were absolved of having full responsibility
for blocking the Palestinians way to freedom, with Nigeria, Rwanda and South Korea
becoming convenient scapegoats.
Be that as it may, the vote in New York precipitated a reaction which had been long
discussed and debated among Palestinians, and which President Abbas until now
avoided: adhesion to more than twenty international treaties, and particularly the
Statute of Rome. That is the necessary preliminary to Palestinians being able to start
legal proceedings against specific Israelis at the International Criminal Court at the
Hague, on charges of war crimes and/or violations of International Law.
Netanyahu and his ministers reacted with the expected fury, and threatened
retaliations i.e., that Israel would start its own proceedings against various
Palestinians. So, the Hague might in the coming year witness a titanic judicial duel,
with both sides likely mobilizing top lawyers and International Law experts. The
Palestinians would set out the horrors of bombings and artillery bombardments of
Gaza in 2009, 2011 and 2014, and various smaller-scale killings at other times and
places. The Israelis would riposte by citing the shooting of missiles at Israel and
various suicide bombings.
It would not be difficult for Israeli legal experts to build up a case against Hamas
leaders. Much less easy would it be to pin anything on Abbas. The final result might
be to draw up in international public opinion a parallel between Hamas leaders on the
one hand and IDF generals on the other, and have respectable international judges
deliberate on whose acts are to be considered more heinous not precisely the line
which Israeli governmental PR experts are usually trying to push.
Moreover, the Rome Statue also includes a specific reference to the creation of
settlements in Occupied Territory as a serious breach or International Law. Once
gaining access to the International Court, the Palestinians could well draw indictments
against settler leaders, building contractors who erect settlements as well as Israeli
government ministers and officials engaged in the settlement project. To that, it
would be difficult to find an opposite and equal reaction from the Israeli side.]]
All of this would be in the cards only after March 2015 when there would be in
Israel either a brand new government or a new incarnation of the rotten old one.
Wait and see.
A Footnote
The vote in the UN Security Council was decided by Nigeria at the last moment not
supporting the Palestinian proposal. That is not quite surprising, considering the
following:
1) The President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan is a Christian.
http://saharareporters.com/2014/09/17/jonathan-government-goes-rogueoritsejafor-hide-behind-one-finger-ayobami-oyalowo
https://twitter.com/ogundamisi/status/393481828427763712
POSTED BY ADAM KELLER AT 8:05 AM