BHO Called Anti-Semitic and a Jew-Hater

(Law Is Cool) – Yes, the conflict in Israel is incredibly complex.  And there may or not be problems with the methodology of the Goldstone report.

Justice Goldstone’s daughter, Nicole, lives in Canada and says that his involvement actually moderated the tone of the report,

● My father took on this job because he thought he is doing the best thing for peace, for everyone, and also for Israel..
● It wasn’t easy [for him].  My father did not expect to see and hear what he saw and heard.

Is this your Mid-Eastern hospitality, Ambassador Oren?

 « click to enlarge
Roadside posters from my last trip to Israel of Barack Obama
saying "Anti-Semitic" and "Jew-Hater." ©2009 Omar Ha-Redeye

He is currently in Canada, visiting his family for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana.  He will be speaking at the University of Western Ontario tomorrow on the subject of war crimes, and the discussion is guaranteed to prove interesting.

Labeling motivation as driven by hatred though should be reserved for the worst and clearest cases of animosity, or it stonewalls genuine attempts to achieve peaceful resolution of the conflict.  Even worse, the terminology will lose its impact, and sympathy for combating racism will be eroded.

Level heads will be needed to address the outcomes of the report, to contemplate perhaps if it does have some merit, and to acknowledge its flaws. The true test will come if the case does go to the ICC.

The Israeli media has stated that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, as a non-signatory to the Rome Statute. Israeli legal scholars have generally taken a similar position, but this appears to be flawed.

Subject-matter jurisdiction under the Rome Statute can be found even for non-signatories when the matter is referred to the court by the Security Council, as was the case with Sudan.

But a case can also be independently investigated by the Prosecutor when using their proprio motu powers under Article 15.  The Goldstone report would likely be used as supporting material as part of any investigation initiated under this section,

2. The Prosecutor shall analyse the seriousness of the information received. For this purpose, he or she may seek additional information from States, organs of the United Nations, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, or other reliable sources that he or she deems appropriate, and may receive written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court.

Irrespective of either of these routes, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo indicated in an interview with an Arabic paper that one of the Israeli legal advisers involved was South African, and the ICC could gain jurisdiction through that route as well. South Africa ratified the Rome Statute on Nov. 27, 2000.

Moreno-Ocampo also revealed that he is contemplating charges against Israel for Operation Cast Lead.

THE HAGUE –  Amira Al-Qirim, a Palestinian girl aged 15, a victim and survivor of the Israeli massacre in Gaza in January 2009, held a press conference together with her lawyer Gilles Devers in International Criminal Court (ICC) during which she stated: “I am here to present a complaint and to hand to the office of prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in the ICC a file requesting an investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli Zionists against the Palestinian civilians of Gaza Strip in which my father, my brother aged 14, and my sister aged 16, all civilians, were murdered by the IOF in the Tel Al-Hawa area south of Gaza city”.