Love of the Land: Israel and the illusion of international justice

Israel and the illusion of international justice

Gerald Steinberg/Anne Herzberg
Haaretz
15 January '10
Posted before Shabbat

Speaking at a legal conference on January 4, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak suggested that Israel would benefit from participation in bodies such as the International Criminal Court in order to fight for "its positions and justice." In endorsing Barak's recommendation, a Haaretz editorial ("Join the Court," January 6) contended that such participation would "place Israel on the side of the enlightened nations." Similarly, the argument goes, Israel erred in refusing to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council's Goldstone Commission and the International Court of Justice proceedings on the security barrier.

While surely well-intentioned, in practice this line of thinking is pure folly. The dominance of nondemocratic and Islamic nations in international organs, and the increasing politicization of these bodies, virtually guarantees that no justice will be done when it comes to Israel or even NATO countries. In such morally corrupt frameworks, international law and human rights have become political weapons, disconnected from legitimate judicial processes and legal systems in democratic societies.

The ICJ's handling of the 2004 case regarding Israel's security barrier is a telling example. The suit was initiated by the UN General Assembly at the behest of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. European-funded advocacy groups such as B'Tselem, aided by NGO superpowers Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, were central to this effort. Legal scholars sharply criticized the court for accepting a predetermined political mandate from the UN and for its breach of procedural protocols in deliberations on the matter.

The ICJ's resulting advisory opinion negated Israel's right of self-defense and displayed an utter lack of sympathy for terror victims. Its simplistic and troubling legal analysis clearly reflected the influence of the Arab League and politicized NGOs. Hardly an independent judicial inquiry, this distorted proceeding encouraged subversion of the rule of law, rather than its enforcement, by allowing for political manipulation of the judicial process.

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Gerald Steinberg is a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and president of NGO Monitor; Anne Herzberg is NGO Monitor's legal advisor
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Love of the Land: Israel and the illusion of international justice

Love of the Land: Don't Establish An Investigative Panel

Don't Establish An Investigative Panel

Israel Harel
Haaretz
1 October 09

No committee headed by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak should be established, nor should any other committee. It would evolve from an "investigative" committee into a commission of inquiry. And instead of concentrating on preparing the army for the coming battles, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and our senior officers would concentrate on defending their honor and innocence.

We should not delude ourselves: The campaign against Israel will continue even if a committee exonerates the Israel Defense Forces and the political leadership - even more so if it finds them at fault. After all, Aharon Barak will want to preserve his international reputation as a prophet and admonisher of Israel. Let's not dig our own grave.

I've spoken to officers. They understand that in addition to endangering their lives on the battlefield, they will have to give up trips and studies in certain countries - a negligible price for those with a sense of mission. On the other hand, they are angry at what is beginning to look like a ritual: facing a commission of inquiry after every campaign. If this absurdity does not stop we will not have a fighting army. After all, emasculating the IDF is the goal of Israel's enemies, both within and without.

They want to turn us into the leper among nations. There is a primeval fear of lepers. And fear gives rise to hatred. And the blood of lepers, certainly lepers who perpetrate crimes against humanity, is permitted. That's what happened in Europe throughout history and reached a climax during World War II. This service - official legal authorization that we are a nation that frequently sins against humanity - has been granted us by one of our own (those who agree with him, but don't dare say so, repeatedly emphasize that he is a "Zionist").

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion accused us of a worldwide conspiracy; now comes a Jewish judge and reveals that the truth is even more bitter: From the moment we returned to our homeland we have been committing far worse crimes. Controlling the banks and the world media and causing conflict among nations - even using the blood of Christian children for baking matzah - was only the tip of the iceberg. When the Jews run an army they reveal the full extent of their satanic nature. That's another reason why the independent Jewish entity must be disbanded.

And if the defamatory campaign does not succeed, there is the other option, the one being created in Bushehr and Qom. And to prepare the ground for that option we must expose the true face of the Jews. And that is what Richard Goldstone is doing.

An example of this preparing of the ground is what happened in Britain. The ordinary Englishman who reads in The Evening Standard that Israel's defense minister is wanted for crimes against humanity was reinforced in his awareness - after all, the delegitimization campaign did not begin yesterday - that everything he has been fed about the Jewish people is nothing compared to the harm this nation really does.

The plot to turn us into the lepers of the world is deeply etched in the consciousness of many nations, even those who pretend to carry the flag of justice and purity. What all those enlisted against us have in common - countries, non-governmental organizations and foundations that finance the hunt - is the desire to depict Israel as an impure, unprotected animal that may be hunted freely.

And then the reader of the popular press on the London Underground, the New York subway or the Paris Metro will react with indifference at best regarding the powerlessness of his government, which is not fighting to prevent the nuclearization of Iran. After all, so he is told, this arms race is directed only against Israel.

Love of the Land: Don't Establish An Investigative Panel