The ICC claims to be impartial - but its own statement proves it is a kangaroo court against only Israel

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced today that she was opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel and the Palestinians.

But she is stacking the deck.

The statement by Fatou Bensouda says:

Any investigation undertaken by the Office will be conducted independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favour. The Rome Statute obliges the Office, in order to establish the truth, to extend its investigation to cover all facts and evidence relevant to an assessment of whether there is individual criminal responsibility under the Statute and, in doing so, to investigate incriminating and exonerating circumstances equally. 

To both Palestinian and Israeli victims and affected communities, we urge patience. The ICC is not a panacea, but only seeks to discharge the responsibility that the international community has entrusted to it, which is to promote accountability for Rome Statute crimes, regardless of the perpetrator, in an effort to deter such crimes. In meeting this responsibility, the Office focuses its attention on the most notorious alleged offenders or those alleged to be the most responsible for the commission of the crimes.

In the end, our central concern must be for the victims of crimes, both Palestinian and Israeli, arising from the long cycle of violence and insecurity that has caused deep suffering and despair on all sides. 

Sounds very fair and impartial, doesn't it?

Except for one thing:

The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed in the Situation since 13 June 2014...

Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel.were kidnapped and murdered on June 12, 2014.

The ICC is deliberately excluding their kidnapping and murders from being investigated. It begins with Israel's response to that horrible event.

Does that sound objective, "without fear or favour"? Does that sound like an investigation that will "cover all facts and evidence relevant to an assessment of whether there is individual criminal responsibility under the Statute"? Does that sound like the ICC's "central concern must be for the victims of crimes, both Palestinian and Israeli"?

This is a kangaroo court, and its own words prove it to be so.

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