Israel needs to be held accountable for its military conduct in Gaza. After the conflict’s end — which is long overdue — there will no doubt be Israeli judicial, parliamentary and military commissions of inquiry. Israel’s vibrant, independent media will do its own investigations. Some Israeli reserve soldiers have already been arrested over accusations of abuse against Palestinian detainees. More investigations will follow. The ICC is supposed to become involved when countries have no means or mechanisms to investigate themselves. That is not the case in Israel.A "legal scholar" from Egypt named Abdelghany Sayed, currently a graduate student in England, responds in Al Jazeera.
Complementarity in no way means that the elected officials and independent judiciary of a democratic state shall enjoy immunity from ICC prosecution. Instead, it means that Israel needs to show it has active investigations. The fact of Israel’s inactivity in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in and of itself already means that the complementarity assessment has been exhausted and the court may proceed.And even if it were active, Israel would need to demonstrate the willingness and ability to genuinely prosecute the perpetrator and conduct. The law of the ICC allows it to intervene if the “investigative activities undertaken by the domestic authorities are not tangible, concrete and progressive”, as laid out in a decision in the case of Ivory Coast first lady Simone Gbagbo, accused of crimes against humanity.
First of all, the war is still going on. To say that Israel must mount an investigation on its top leaders during a war - and its failure to do so is evidence that it has no ability to independently investigate any crimes - is insane.
But the absurdity of the argument doesn't end there.
Before Israel can investigate itself for genocide, there needs to be a shred of evidence for genocide. There isn't any. Genocide requires intent, and every sane Israeli from the right to the left knows that there is no intent to wipe out the people of Gaza. Every piece of evidence proffered by Israel's enemies for genocide has been handily refuted by actual facts that show that the supposedly genocidal statements are twisted and Israel's military actions are consistent with what every army would do under the same circumstances
According to people like Sayed, the "genocide" charge requires no solid evidence. Just the repetition of the charge by antisemites is enough to make it respectable enough to be investigated. And, they say, if Israel doesn't mount an investigation around every bogus accusation, that is proof that it is unwilling to investigate itself and therefore the ICC must step in.
Calls for investigation of bogus charges against Israel is a standard playbook by antisemites. In 2010, the "Palestine Telegraph" made up a story that Israeli teams helping earthquake victims in Haiti were stealing their organs, and former British MPO Jenny Tonge called for an independent investigation - for Israel's own good, of course. “To prevent allegations such as these — which have already been posted on YouTube — going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti,” she said.
Last week, Hamas called for an independent investigation into the absurd lie that Israel is using illegal weapons to "vaporize" Gazans.
* The head of Gaza's Health Ministry accuses Israel of using weapons that vaporize bodies.
* The EuroMed Monitor NGO made the same accusation in May, suggesting Israel might be using thermobaric weapons.
* Antony Loewenstein wrote a book that claims that Israel uses experimental weapons in Gaza in order to be able to market them worldwide.
Put them together, and antisemites have all the proof they need!
The bogus evidence for this mythical weapon was bolstered by Electronic Intifada in September:
Did Israel kill my friend Bashar Abed al-Wahad along with his family by using banned thermal weapons?I learned that when a civil defense crew came to find the bodies left under the rubble of the house they shared in Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighborhood which was bombed in August, they didn’t find any human remains.This suggests Israel might have used special munitions – like thermobaric bombs – that can vaporize human bodies.
Only one problem. The bodies of the family were recovered and transferred to the Baptist Hospital. They weren't "vaporized." The Gaza writer lied to create this story, which was reproduced numerous times on social media. Now it is part of the canon that Israel uses vaporizing weapons.
(By the way, there are still body remains even with the most powerful thermobaric weapons. Outside of nuclear bombs, I cannot find any weapons that "vaporize" bodies.)
In other words, anyone can make up a lie, whether it is "genocide" or "vaporizing weapons," and given enough time to dig up or manufacture evidence, make a case that it is worthy of "investigation." And if Israel refuses to mount such an investigation - because it knows it is not engaged in genocide nor in manufacturing vaporizing ray guns - that is considered evidence that it is covering up its crimes.
Calls for "independent investigations" is a means to make a lie sound plausible. In genocide case, the ICC willingly went along.
The playbook of the "vaporizing" case is the exact same thing. Falsely accuse Israel, support it with lies, and then use the Big Lie technique: let the Israel haters repeat it until people believe it. Israel's denials are just more evidence of its "truth."
