As I've emailed President Biden to cease the USA moral and material support of Netanyahu's genocidal slaughter, I've said there is no way I can/will vote for a person who actively aids a genocidal slaughter. No matter who the opposition candidate is.
Forgive me, Chris, I realize that you are a Presbyterian minister but this will be proof that there is no god. The international agencies will do nothing under pressure from the United States. Yes, there will be long term negative consequences for Israel but that will be nothing compared to the consequences for the real innocents here – the Palestinians who's only crime was to be living where their ancestors had lived for thousands of years when a horde of war crazed European Jews descended upon them hell bent on killing them and stealing their land.
Don't kid yourself. This is a no-lose from the position of Israel.
As Ed Snowden pointed out, the US exerts considerable pressure on the ICJ to ensure that it doesn't issue rulings that the United States doesn't like. So if the ICJ bows to American pressure and rules in favor of Israel, or tries to split the baby or bounce the hearings on procedural grounds, Israel will claim vindication. "See, even the do-gooder wimps at the ICJ endorse this genocide!" The killings will continue.
If the ICJ admits the obvious and rules against Israel, Israel will scream antisemitism and its American thug will ensure that no country dares enforce that ruling. The killings will continue.
Force is the only way to deal with a sociopath. Quote Bible verses all you want and an armed robber will laugh in your face, delighted in your impotence. Hold a loaded .357 to his head and that same robber will change his tune, right quick.
Two things will come out if ruling is not in favor of South Africa. One, Israel will hit with impunity like no tomorrow and the massacre will accelerate. Two, the whole region could implode bringing us much closer to W W III
You amplified my fears that pro-Zionist western nations- the United States above all others- will actively seek to thwart the independence of the ICJ’s decision-making. Ain’t it the utmost hypocrisy to be running a political campaing based on stoking fears over Donald Trump upending the rule of law while at the same time seeking to undermine the independce of an international judicial body?
I will not vote for Joe Biden- or any politician who supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza. That yields me very few options at the ballot box. So be it. My eyes can not unsee what they have seen, and my ears can not unhear what they have heard. I have difficultly sleeping as it is.
We need an awakening. Joe Biden and his accolytes have lost their humanity. I am clinging to mine. Neither my vote- nor yours- is as cheap as these pathetic actors.
I guess MSM CNN, ABC and CNBC has completely blanked out any mention of the ICJ Genocide hearing. Zionist censorship is in your face! Every time they mention the Houthi's they call it an IRAN Proxy, underlined and in capital letters. Like Hamas and Hezbollah. But the US and Israel aren't trying to expand the war. While they bomb and assassinate at will, and chuckle Iran won't knock over the apple cart. Remind me "who are the terrorists again"? The Iranian "backed proxies" look like moderates in comparison! Oh well Viceroy Baghdad Bob Blinken will save the Day!
A ruler in favor of South Africa and failure to comply by Israel should bring the security council to a vote. The United States will then have to veto against the ICJ. A record for eternity.
Chris, you are right about Biden's cynical expectation that he can get away with genocide in Gaza, and anywhere else he fancies, because a majority of Americans won't vote for a Trump dictatorship. You're also right that genocide is a crime greater than all other crimes, hence, a vote for Biden is a vote for genocide and utter immorality. Humankind will truly have hit its end if the ICJ rules in favor of Israel, or, in some highly legalistic way, side-steps any kind of judgement. If the ICJ allows Israel and Biden to continue their genocide in Gaza we will know that there are now no laws in the world, anyone and any country can do anything they want to do and there will be no one or no thing which will stop them. Biden is a monstrous man. A disastrous man for this country and for all other countries.
It's very unlikely that Israel will ever be held to account; it never has been. The US provides its veto in the UN, and uses its influence to dissuade other countries from labeling Israel for what it is -- a state that has total impunity based on the Holocaust. The complicity of the US has sickened me for decades. Israel is also immune to any criticism. Ask the former President of Harvard University.
The US role in this horrible conflict is revolting and unacceptable. I do not see a bright future for the US. Just look at the individuals who are running for the presidency in 2024. They all appear to be psychopaths.
What apathetic response by the best "legal" minds for Israel. Their tired old hasbara repeated again and again. Those speeches have been repeated hundreds or thousands of times in every slaughter and attack in Gaza and the West Bank! The ICC should have used the "Mowing the Lawn" trope! They should have opened with the smiling cute 10 year old girls singing the Genocidal Racist Nursery Song "The Friendship Song 2023" A few lines is more than enough to make you sick to your stomach " In another year there will be nothing there" " Within a year we will annihilate everyone" "And we will remember everyone THE PRETTY AND PURE" "We will show the world how to destroy our enemy"! It is pure hate speech, and if you changed a few words pointing it at Jews, the Police would be knocking on your door immediately! Our illustrious sycophant PM Justin Trudeau gave his disgusting support for the Judeo Fascist Likud Neo-Kach regime of Netanyahu, and his terrorist ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir! What a hideous JOKE! P.S. I have sent e mails to him and Melanie Joly since the Genocide began!
Thank you Mr Hedges for your excellent work. Canada has joined the ranks of craven cowards, subservient to the Jewish Lobby, The Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs. "Anti-Semitic" is hurled at anyone who dares to criticize Israel's behaviour. Diamond and Diamond, a Toronto law firm, has launched a class action suit against 6 Canadian universities because Jewish students don't feel safe!
" Six prominent Canadian universities are facing a series of proposed class-action lawsuits with claims that Jewish students are unsafe on campus. The list includes Queen's University, York University, Concordia University, Toronto Metropolitan University , McMaster and the University of British Columbia"
"You should not be allowed to bring the Hamas flag to a university," Diamond and Diamond lawyer Sandra Zisckind told CTV News. "These are basic, basic tenets of human rights." {this baffles me} and then she says "You can disagree with Israel, you can say there needs to be a ceasefire, those are things that are tantamount to free speech, but you cannot say we need to kill the Jews,” she explains."
I don't know who has said we must kill Jews. Jews must stop killing others, which is what started this tit-for-tat environment, decades ago.
Chris: You cannot write more plainly than you have here. I have just written a message to my local MP - here in Australia - a Minister in the current ALP government which is now implicating our entire nation in war crimes against Palestinians and also in the blatant illegal attacks against Yemen. The only reason I could see for the ICJ to NOT find against Zionist Israel is if Mossad, the CIA (?) or MI6 were to suborn the judges - you offer other reasons - but to NOT find Zionist Israel guilty of genocide would be to say that there is NO justice for any country attacked by the bullying US (or others of the same ilk) as another writer I admire (Bill Wolfe) has pointed out. And from the apartheid days of the early 1970s when I taught Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country - how far - on some levels has Suid-Afrika progressed to now take this position. Countries CAN turn around - Australia proving it indeed by now being little more than a spear-carrier for the US (always on the wrong side of history at least from the time of the Korean war onwards)! Or as some might justifiably point out - continuing its own invasion colonial settler ethnic cleansing character established from the late 18th century. Therefore of course supporting the genocidal Zionists and the attacks on Yemen - preparation for a Taiwan/China embroilmernt? How galling it is to come to this realisation.
American voters face a serious dilemma in 24. Vote for the Democrat Joe Biden who is a war criminal, or the Republican tRump who is a seriously mentally ill crime boss.
Israel has so swallowed the Stockholm Syndrome, has so embraced the idea of a "final solution," is so cruelly cynical, that the only solution is to de-power or eradicate Israel's Nazi leadership and population, and this can mean eliminating the country as a power. Bloody catastrophe may be the only path to this: either that or watch the horror play to out, and then try to call it realpolitik.
After WWII Spain's fascists escaped because of a veneer of neutrality during the war. Now the US is not neutral in Gaza. The US provided great portion of the bombs and shells for the specific purpose of killing Palestinian civilians. The consequences won't stop at the shores of the Mediterranean.
As I've emailed President Biden to cease the USA moral and material support of Netanyahu's genocidal slaughter, I've said there is no way I can/will vote for a person who actively aids a genocidal slaughter. No matter who the opposition candidate is.
Forgive me, Chris, I realize that you are a Presbyterian minister but this will be proof that there is no god. The international agencies will do nothing under pressure from the United States. Yes, there will be long term negative consequences for Israel but that will be nothing compared to the consequences for the real innocents here – the Palestinians who's only crime was to be living where their ancestors had lived for thousands of years when a horde of war crazed European Jews descended upon them hell bent on killing them and stealing their land.
Don't kid yourself. This is a no-lose from the position of Israel.
As Ed Snowden pointed out, the US exerts considerable pressure on the ICJ to ensure that it doesn't issue rulings that the United States doesn't like. So if the ICJ bows to American pressure and rules in favor of Israel, or tries to split the baby or bounce the hearings on procedural grounds, Israel will claim vindication. "See, even the do-gooder wimps at the ICJ endorse this genocide!" The killings will continue.
If the ICJ admits the obvious and rules against Israel, Israel will scream antisemitism and its American thug will ensure that no country dares enforce that ruling. The killings will continue.
Force is the only way to deal with a sociopath. Quote Bible verses all you want and an armed robber will laugh in your face, delighted in your impotence. Hold a loaded .357 to his head and that same robber will change his tune, right quick.
Two things will come out if ruling is not in favor of South Africa. One, Israel will hit with impunity like no tomorrow and the massacre will accelerate. Two, the whole region could implode bringing us much closer to W W III
A masterful essay. Thank you Chris.
You amplified my fears that pro-Zionist western nations- the United States above all others- will actively seek to thwart the independence of the ICJ’s decision-making. Ain’t it the utmost hypocrisy to be running a political campaing based on stoking fears over Donald Trump upending the rule of law while at the same time seeking to undermine the independce of an international judicial body?
I will not vote for Joe Biden- or any politician who supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza. That yields me very few options at the ballot box. So be it. My eyes can not unsee what they have seen, and my ears can not unhear what they have heard. I have difficultly sleeping as it is.
We need an awakening. Joe Biden and his accolytes have lost their humanity. I am clinging to mine. Neither my vote- nor yours- is as cheap as these pathetic actors.
I guess MSM CNN, ABC and CNBC has completely blanked out any mention of the ICJ Genocide hearing. Zionist censorship is in your face! Every time they mention the Houthi's they call it an IRAN Proxy, underlined and in capital letters. Like Hamas and Hezbollah. But the US and Israel aren't trying to expand the war. While they bomb and assassinate at will, and chuckle Iran won't knock over the apple cart. Remind me "who are the terrorists again"? The Iranian "backed proxies" look like moderates in comparison! Oh well Viceroy Baghdad Bob Blinken will save the Day!
A ruler in favor of South Africa and failure to comply by Israel should bring the security council to a vote. The United States will then have to veto against the ICJ. A record for eternity.
Chris, you are right about Biden's cynical expectation that he can get away with genocide in Gaza, and anywhere else he fancies, because a majority of Americans won't vote for a Trump dictatorship. You're also right that genocide is a crime greater than all other crimes, hence, a vote for Biden is a vote for genocide and utter immorality. Humankind will truly have hit its end if the ICJ rules in favor of Israel, or, in some highly legalistic way, side-steps any kind of judgement. If the ICJ allows Israel and Biden to continue their genocide in Gaza we will know that there are now no laws in the world, anyone and any country can do anything they want to do and there will be no one or no thing which will stop them. Biden is a monstrous man. A disastrous man for this country and for all other countries.
It's very unlikely that Israel will ever be held to account; it never has been. The US provides its veto in the UN, and uses its influence to dissuade other countries from labeling Israel for what it is -- a state that has total impunity based on the Holocaust. The complicity of the US has sickened me for decades. Israel is also immune to any criticism. Ask the former President of Harvard University.
The US role in this horrible conflict is revolting and unacceptable. I do not see a bright future for the US. Just look at the individuals who are running for the presidency in 2024. They all appear to be psychopaths.
If the ICJ judges let Israel off the hook on this one they might as well shut down the court. Another victim of Empire's craven despotism.
What apathetic response by the best "legal" minds for Israel. Their tired old hasbara repeated again and again. Those speeches have been repeated hundreds or thousands of times in every slaughter and attack in Gaza and the West Bank! The ICC should have used the "Mowing the Lawn" trope! They should have opened with the smiling cute 10 year old girls singing the Genocidal Racist Nursery Song "The Friendship Song 2023" A few lines is more than enough to make you sick to your stomach " In another year there will be nothing there" " Within a year we will annihilate everyone" "And we will remember everyone THE PRETTY AND PURE" "We will show the world how to destroy our enemy"! It is pure hate speech, and if you changed a few words pointing it at Jews, the Police would be knocking on your door immediately! Our illustrious sycophant PM Justin Trudeau gave his disgusting support for the Judeo Fascist Likud Neo-Kach regime of Netanyahu, and his terrorist ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir! What a hideous JOKE! P.S. I have sent e mails to him and Melanie Joly since the Genocide began!
Thank you Mr Hedges for your excellent work. Canada has joined the ranks of craven cowards, subservient to the Jewish Lobby, The Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs. "Anti-Semitic" is hurled at anyone who dares to criticize Israel's behaviour. Diamond and Diamond, a Toronto law firm, has launched a class action suit against 6 Canadian universities because Jewish students don't feel safe!
" Six prominent Canadian universities are facing a series of proposed class-action lawsuits with claims that Jewish students are unsafe on campus. The list includes Queen's University, York University, Concordia University, Toronto Metropolitan University , McMaster and the University of British Columbia"
"You should not be allowed to bring the Hamas flag to a university," Diamond and Diamond lawyer Sandra Zisckind told CTV News. "These are basic, basic tenets of human rights." {this baffles me} and then she says "You can disagree with Israel, you can say there needs to be a ceasefire, those are things that are tantamount to free speech, but you cannot say we need to kill the Jews,” she explains."
I don't know who has said we must kill Jews. Jews must stop killing others, which is what started this tit-for-tat environment, decades ago.
Thanks for being the voice of sweet reason.
Chris: You cannot write more plainly than you have here. I have just written a message to my local MP - here in Australia - a Minister in the current ALP government which is now implicating our entire nation in war crimes against Palestinians and also in the blatant illegal attacks against Yemen. The only reason I could see for the ICJ to NOT find against Zionist Israel is if Mossad, the CIA (?) or MI6 were to suborn the judges - you offer other reasons - but to NOT find Zionist Israel guilty of genocide would be to say that there is NO justice for any country attacked by the bullying US (or others of the same ilk) as another writer I admire (Bill Wolfe) has pointed out. And from the apartheid days of the early 1970s when I taught Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country - how far - on some levels has Suid-Afrika progressed to now take this position. Countries CAN turn around - Australia proving it indeed by now being little more than a spear-carrier for the US (always on the wrong side of history at least from the time of the Korean war onwards)! Or as some might justifiably point out - continuing its own invasion colonial settler ethnic cleansing character established from the late 18th century. Therefore of course supporting the genocidal Zionists and the attacks on Yemen - preparation for a Taiwan/China embroilmernt? How galling it is to come to this realisation.
American voters face a serious dilemma in 24. Vote for the Democrat Joe Biden who is a war criminal, or the Republican tRump who is a seriously mentally ill crime boss.
Israel has so swallowed the Stockholm Syndrome, has so embraced the idea of a "final solution," is so cruelly cynical, that the only solution is to de-power or eradicate Israel's Nazi leadership and population, and this can mean eliminating the country as a power. Bloody catastrophe may be the only path to this: either that or watch the horror play to out, and then try to call it realpolitik.
After WWII Spain's fascists escaped because of a veneer of neutrality during the war. Now the US is not neutral in Gaza. The US provided great portion of the bombs and shells for the specific purpose of killing Palestinian civilians. The consequences won't stop at the shores of the Mediterranean.