#Netanyahu arrest warrant

[latestnews-now]

The International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant have triggered a major political clash in the United States. Republicans are outraged, calling for sanctions on the ICC, while Democrats stay mostly silent, with a few exceptions. Watch our detailed analysis of the reactions and what it means for international law and US-Israel relations.

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[themilfking]

do you think anything will come if the ICC arrest warrants?

Immediately? Probably not.

But there is def impact here.

Their (Netanyahu and Gallant's) international mobility just took a massive hit. There are 124 member states that have to abide by the ICC's ruling here. I'm really curious to see which members come forward the quickest.

More importantly I think the impact this is going to have on the broader political landscape is super interesting. Israel doesn't recognize ICC jurisdiction and it's attempt to delegitimize them is gonna hurt relationships with many of the 124 member states that do.

Charles Taylor, Al-Bashir, Karadzic, and Bemba all had warrants issued by the ICC and it took years before anything came of them. So yeah I'm hopeful something will come of this but doubt it'll be anytime soon

[agentfascinateur]

The Druze tell Smotrich off in occupied Majdal Shams

The visit of Israeli ministers to the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan has angered the residents, according to the Israeli media. Channel 13 reported angry protesters shouted at Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, asking him to leave. “Get out of here, criminal, we don’t want you in the Golan,” one person said, according to the broadcaster.

[girlactionfigure]

[nando161mando]

ICC issues arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

[offtherecordvibes]

[cavalierzee]

Antisemitic Decision?

[muddypolitics]

(via ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel's Netanyahu, Gallant for alleged Gaza war crimes)

A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.

It is the first time the ICC has issued arrest warrants against a major U.S. ally, as well as the first time it has issued warrants for the leader of a democratic country.

[athena5898]

(RNN) - Palestinian factions welcomed the decision (https://t.me/PalestineResist/69442) of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for war criminals Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. The decision was also praised by some European officials, urging its implementation.

🟢 Hamas called the move an "important historical precedent and a correction of a long history of injustice against our people, and a disturbing neglect of the heinous violations they have endured for 76 years under fascist occupation," which came despite obstruction for months by the US administration, "complicit in zionist war crimes." They called on the ICC to expand efforts to include all criminal zionist leaders, ministers, and officers, "who have soaked their hands in the blood of our Palestinian people and committed the most horrific acts of killing, terrorism, and starvation in modern history."

⚫️ Palestinian Islamic Jihad kept its comments brief (https://t.me/PalestineResist/69460), welcoming the decision, but affirming that it came very late.

🔴 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also noted that the step was an important, albeit delayed one. They stressed that "this critical decision must not remain theoretical but must be translated into actionable steps on the ground" through a binding resolution enforcing the arrests. They warned against interference by the US and West, and added that, while these charges are significant, they are "minor compared to the extensive crimes they have committed," including genocide, ethnic cleansing, and starvation. They also called for prosecuting all political and military leaders of the occupation, as well as US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to their deep complicity in the genocide and disregard for ICC rulings, calling the decision a "glimmer of hope."

⚔️ The Popular Resistance Committees called the decision a "victory for the innocent blood shed by these butchers in Palestine and Lebanon," calling for its immediate implementation and stating that the ICC now faces a serious test. "The decision of the International Criminal Court will remain incomplete if all zionist war criminals and the members of the extremist zionist government, led by Netanyahu, Gallant, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich, are not prosecuted."

♦️ The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine noted that the decision "would not have been achieved without the heroism, steadfastness, and courage of our people on one hand, and, on the other hand, it is a stark testimony to the fascist nature of the occupation state, its genocide, racial discrimination, and ethnic cleansing under Netanyahu's leadership." They too called on the ICC to expand its scope of prosecution to other zionist leaders, calling on other countries to respect the ICC decisions, and warned against American interference.

⚪️ The Mujahideen Movement called it an important, but very late step. Like other factions, they said the decision "must not remain ink on paper" and called for expanding it to all political and military leaders of the zionist entity, as well as its soldiers. They called for "serious action to stop the holocaust waged by Netanyahu's Nazi gang in the Gaza Strip."

⬜️ The Ahrar Movement noted that the decision came despite intense American protection and cover, including through illegal means, calling it a "triumph over the arrogance of the zionist-American lobby. It is a victory for the justice of the Palestinian cause and a prelude to holding zionist war criminals accountable, who have long evaded punishment." They urged for judicial integrity and transparency, and also called for expanding the arrest warrants. They also called for countries to hand over zionist leaders to the ICC.

[hungriestofbears]

I'll take the ICC seriously whenever they convict Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, and the Ayatollah for their crimes against humanity

[news4dzhozhar]

[head-post]

ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, Gaza death toll surpasses 44,000

Gaza health officials said on Thursday that the death toll from the 13-month war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, as the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes related to the Gaza war.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Al-Masri

According to the warrants, Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested if they travel abroad. According to unconfirmed reports, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif. may have been killed by Israel.

The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested the arrest warrants in May, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant were “criminally responsible” for the mass starvation in Gaza, which constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Thursday, the court said it found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and hostage-taking.

Gaza officials say death toll surpasses 44,000

Gaza health officials said Thursday that the death toll from the 13-month war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000.

Gaza’s health ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it said more than half of the dead were women and children. The Israeli military claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants, without citing any evidence.

Meanwhile, a rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to Israel’s main ambulance service.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said paramedics found the body of a man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the Lebanese border, after a rocket fired on Thursday.

Israel launched a war against Hamas after Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 251. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third of them believed to be dead.

Most of the rest were released during a ceasefire last year. The Israeli offensive has caused severe destruction in the vast coastal territory and displaced 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

770 children arrested in the West Bank since last October

More than 770 children from the West Bank have been arrested since the start of Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip last October, human rights sources said.

On International Children’s Day, which is marked on November 20, the Commission for Detainees and Former Detainees and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said on Wednesday that in light of the ongoing crime of enforced disappearance of Gazans, there are no accurate figures on arrested children from Gaza.

They explained that at least 270 children remain detained in Israel’s Ofer and Megiddo prisons, as well as in other military detention camps, including new camps established following the escalation of Israeli arrest operations that have affected thousands of citizens.

Human rights groups indicated that arrested children have been subjected to severe beatings and threats, confirming that statistical studies and documented evidence indicate that arrested children have been subjected to some form of physical or psychological torture through a number of systematic means and methods that contravene human rights laws, international conventions and the rights of the child. According to them, some children were executed on the spot during detention operations.

Statistical studies have also documented a number of cases of children being used as hostages by the Israeli army to force their family members to surrender, noting that the most striking of these cases was the story of a three-year-old child from the town of Beit Liqya in Ramallah who was arrested for an hour and a half before being released when his father was forced to surrender.

Read more HERE

[agentfascinateur]

The keffiyeh adorned Nativity scene of the Pope 💜

Jesus's very existence was in jeopardy by the Jewish king, as male babies were ordered killed to prevent Jesus from taking his throne as "king of the Jews". Today, Palestinian children are persecuted by the same system.

[bopinion]

2024 / 47

Aperçu of the week

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

(Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of the current Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1999)

Bad News of the Week

They try to spin it as a success, even a breakthrough: using a newly developed telescopic robotic gripper arm over 20 meters long, it has been possible to retrieve 0.7 grams of radioactive material from a reactor at the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima. The plant was damaged by a tsunami 13 years ago. No, that's not a bad joke: 0.7 grams after 13 years. 880 tons still need to be salvaged. There are so many things that upset me about this story that I don't even know where to start. So I will limit myself to two aspects.

If things continue at this rate, it will take over 16 billion years to completely decommission the plant. That won't be the case, of course. But it is a fitting image to illustrate the immense time spans that are fundamentally involved with radioactivity - keyword half-life. Specifically, the operator TEPCO expects to be able to complete the decommissioning of the reactor units by 2051. Experts consider this timetable to be completely unrealistic. In addition, there is still no suitable equipment for recovering the nuclear waste, nor is there an interim storage facility, let alone a final repository.

For me, this is precisely the core reason for being against nuclear energy: the problem of final storage. According to Wikipedia, in 2022 there were 423 reactors in operation worldwide, 56 under construction and more than 100 planned. There are already more than 250,000 tons of heavy radioactive waste awaiting final disposal. The world's first final repository is due to be completed in Finland in the next few years. In Germany - incidentally, we shut down all nuclear power plants after the Fukushima meltdown and have already dismantled some of them - almost 2,000 employees of the state-run Federal Company for Final Disposal are working on this issue. Depending on the scenario, the planned end date for the search for a site is currently 2046 to 2068. The issue is therefore obviously highly complex. And only one thing is certain: future generations will be burdened with high costs and high risks for literally eternity.

Another issue is that of site security. Since Three-Mile-Island, but at the latest since Chernobyl, everyone knows how fatal any serious system failure at a nuclear power plant is, or must be. So you have to rule out as many eventualities as possible from the outset. Therefore - please excuse the direct question, dear Japanese - I wonder how stupid you have to be to build a nuclear power plant on the coast of an earthquake-prone tectonic plate boundary? As a result of the Niigata-Chūetsu coastal earthquake in 2007, the company's largest power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, had to be shut down for 21 months due to earthquake damage. The consequences of the Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 2011 for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were therefore anything but a surprise, but rather a disaster with an announcement. The question was not if, but when the catastrophe would occur.

What have we learned from this? Nothing. In March 2022, a majority of Japanese voted in favor of nuclear energy for the first time since 2011. In 2022 and 2023, the Japanese government adopted guidelines that provide for the lifetime of existing reactors to be extended beyond the previous limit of 60 years. And the current government under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is even planning to build new nuclear power plants: “We need to make full use of nuclear energy”. In order to reduce its dependence on oil and gas imports, avoid electricity shortages and achieve its climate protection targets more easily. But at what cost?

Four lithospheric plates - the Eurasian, North American, Pacific and Philippine plates - meet beneath Japan. At their boundaries, the permanent plate displacement creates tensions that must discharge regularly but unpredictably - in the form of earthquakes that lead to tsunamis in the sea. Three-Mile-Island and Chernobyl are hundreds of kilometers away from such influences. And the meltdowns happened anyway. In Japan, it has always been madness to build such sensitive systems as nuclear power plants. And it will always be.

Good News of the Week

Oops, they did it again. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for a top politician. Last time, all the staunch democrats applauded - because it was issued against Vladimir Putin for war crimes against Ukrainians. This time, far fewer apparently convinced Democrats are applauding - because it was issued against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes against Palestinians. At this point, I must once again make one thing very clear: I am a German. Who is fully aware of the historical guilt that our nation has for the suffering of the Jewish people. And who nevertheless refuses, as is expected of Germans and usually happens reflexively, to criticize nothing and absolutely nothing that Israel does.

Okay, now let's all take a deep breath and devote ourselves to the facts without any emotion. All kinds of independent observers - from journalists to the Red Cross to the United Nations - agree that the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza are also massively endangering the life and limb of civilians. To put it mildly, 43,972 people have been killed and 104,008 injured - according to figures released by the Israeli military itself on November 21, 2024. And according to the Geneva Conventions, this is a war crime. For which the head of state is, so to speak, vicariously liable under international law. In the past, no one has doubted this in the case of African despots, and they have not slaughtered thousands single-handedly either.

Many victims on the Palestinian side are not even in focus. This is because they live in the Israeli heartland, with many families having been resident there long before the Israeli state was founded. And they come to terms with their Jewish neighbors. After all, they are all human beings and not everyone allows themselves to be radicalized by political or ideological currents. And these Palestinians are now suffering from a tipped mood. And little Fatima wonders in the playground why little Sarah is no longer allowed to play with her. The same applies to the labor market, where low-skilled jobs were traditionally held by Palestinians. Now they are being thrown out and replaced by guest workers from India or Pakistan - “Hindus only” is the slogan of the hour.

At this point I have to take a short detour. Apartheid in South Africa shaped my political youth. In 1987, I enthusiastically sang along to white Zulu Johnny Clegg and Savuka: Asimbonanga, Asimbonang′ uMandela thina, Laph'ekhona, Laph′ehfeli khona. We have not seen him, We have not seen Mandela, In the place where he is, In the place where he is kept. “Free Mandela” was one of the first political pins I pinned to my school backpack back then. And when Nelson Mandela, Madiba, Tata, became South Africa's first truly freely elected president in 1994 and didn't spend a second contemplating revenge that would have been so well understood, I was proud to be a young man working for the South African Economic Consul to get the country back on its feet after years of sanctions.

What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is nothing less than apartheid. Part of the population is treated as second-class citizens. This has always been unjust and inhumane. And it will always remain unjust and inhumane. Condemning this has nothing whatsoever to do with anti-Semitism. It's also not automatically sexist if I think a female colleague is stupid. After all, I don't think that because she's a woman. It's because I think she's stupid.

The latest chapter is the so-called “administrative detention” that Israel has invented. In principle, this means being arrested without any concrete accusation or suspicion. Just like that. Which should not exist in a state governed by the rule of law. This is how Israel is taking action against terror suspects in the West Bank. And now there should only be detention for Palestinians. And no longer for Israeli settlers, even though they are known to be much more militant.

The whole thing makes me so incredibly sad. And I would be so incredibly happy if someone were held accountable for this. Preferably Benjamin Netanyahu. I have no illusions that one day he will actually sit in the dock, let alone be convicted. But I find it more than just symbolic value that an internationally recognized institution based in Europe has come to the conclusion, that he would deserve it. And nobody is above the law.

I couldn't care less...

...about the ridiculous results of the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. “When reality doesn't give more” is the headline of the German Tagesschau news portal. And that is exactly what happened: not enough was given. Especially from the rich polluter countries in the North to the poor countries in the global South that are suffering the most from the consequences. My hopes are now pinned on the next conference in Brazil. Because Lula da Silva is undoubtedly the most convinced ecologist of all the G20 heads of state.

It's fine with me...

...that the SPD once again wants to go into the early federal elections with Olaf Scholz as its lead candidate. A spirit of optimism and glamor may look different to the beleaguered Chancellor, who is not called “Scholz-o-mat” for nothing. But he stands with both feet in the here and now and follows a solid moral compass. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his main rival - the conservative candidate Friedrich Merz, who is far ahead in all polls. It's rare that Russia and I are of the same opinion: Scholz is the lesser evil.

As I write this...

...as a Swede, I would be reading the booklet “When a crisis or war comes”. The Swedish Civil Protection Agency (MSB) wants to prepare the population for an emergency with this information brochure, which has been sent to all households: “The security situation is serious and we must all strengthen our resilience in order to be able to face various crises and ultimately a war”. This reminds me darkly of the Cold War era with its fear of a fatal nuclear strike.

Post Scriptum

A colorful coalition - the red-yellow-green traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens - has just collapsed at federal level in Germany and it is almost surprising how long it has lasted without a fundamental consensus. Another colorful coalition - the black-purple-red blackberry coalition of conservatives, populists and social democrats - has just come together at state level in Thuringia and it is surprising that they have found a basic consensus.

A general newcomer, and not only in this constellation, is the populist party Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht). Formed less than a year ago through a split from The Left, it is difficult to categorize, as the party is considered left-wing in socio-economic terms and right-wing in socio-cultural terms. As a protest party, the BSW was quickly accused of focusing on fundamental opposition and shying away from taking responsibility.

This is why the down-to-earth pragmatism with which the Thuringian state association has set itself apart from its eponymous founder and drawn up a coalition agreement with the CDU and SPD is surprising. And regardless of what this agreement says, it is already a democratic victory. Because the association of these three parties prevents the election winner AfD (Alternative für Deutschland / Alternative for Germany), which is classified in Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist, from taking power. Thank you.

[edeschmedie]

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and ex-Defense Minister Gallant.

This follows months of frustration in the legal community (especially international law circles) where efforts to bring about this very outcome have been met with malicious accusations of racism. It is outrageous that this (otherwise small) win comes at such a great price to Palestinians. But it is still greatly welcomed news.

[plethoraworldatlas]

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday reaffirmed the Biden administration's opposition to the International Criminal Court potentially issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top officials related to Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

"Would the U.S. or the White House see any potential arrests by the ICC as an aggravating factor in the negotiations?" one journalist asked about talks to end the bloodshed and free hostages.

Jean-Pierre responded: "So, we've been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it. We don't believe that they have the jurisdiction. And I'm just gonna leave it there for now."

Asked later about President Joe Biden's Sunday call with Netanyahu and whether the U.S. government is involved in any attempts to avert warrants from the Hague-based court, the press secretary echoed her previous comments.

The exchanges followed reporting that the Israeli government, in partnership with the U.S., is "making a concerted effort to head off" possible arrest warrants from the ICC targeting Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Citing two unnamed Israeli officials, Axiosreported that Netanyahu on Sunday asked Biden to help prevent the ICC from issuing warrants. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told the outlet that "as we have publicly said many times, the ICC has no jurisdiction in this situation and we do not support its investigation."