Statement by former MP M M ZuhairPC
Israel and its powerful backer the United States stand noticeably isolated in the global arena following the arrest warrants issued unanimously on November 21st by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, with increasing numbers of European powers declaring that the World Court’s decision ‘should be respected and implemented’.
Apart from the European Union (EU), Britain, Canada, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Ireland, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovenia made public statements signaling that Netanyahu and Gallant will risk arrest if any of them entered their territories.
Nearly 124 countries which have signed the Rome Statute establishing the United Nations (UN) mandated ICC are obliged to execute the warrant in their territories. The US, Israel and Sri Lanka are among countries which are not signatories to the Rome Statute so far.
The International Court held that reasonable grounds exist to believe the commission of “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts” as well as “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare”. The Court stated that Netanyahu as Prime Minister of Israel and Gallant as Minister of Defence at the time of the alleged conduct, “each bear criminal responsibility” for crimes committed “as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others”.
The “others” would, in my view include Israeli Cabinet Ministers, National Security personnel, Israeli Defence Forces personnel, armed forces personnel some of whom are believed to be in Sri Lanka as tourists, having committed ‘crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts’ as well as war crimes. The ‘others’ could also include the United States of America, if appropriate applications are made to the ICC on the basis of aiding and abetting Israel in the commission of the offences. Most believe that it would be unwise to implicate the US or Joe Biden the US President!
Meanwhile the Israeli killings of Palestinians continues unabated, notwithstanding the arrest warrants!
While tourists are welcome, whether Jews or Israelis, it would be in the national interest of Sri Lanka that Israeli armed forces personnel are not given visas to enter Sri Lanka in view of the findings of the ICC. Ethical and legal considerations also support declining visas to members of the Israeli armed forces. Constitutional and other legal provisions require fostering respect for international law though Sri Lanka is not a party to the Rome Statute.
It is a matter for regret that the ICC took six months and a day to decide on the ICC prosecutor’s application for warrants filed on 20th May 2024, while the number of Palestinians mostly women and children killed by Israeli bombings from 8th October 2023 till 23rd November 2024 totaled 44,056 averaging 108 murders every single day of the last 13 months! The numbers killed do not include those under the rubbles of bombed buildings.
The Telegraph said, “eagle-eyed Magistrates will be watching flight schedules, waiting for the opportunity to strike as Chile’s General Augusto Pinochet found out on a brief trip to London in 1998”. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant on Hamas Commander Ibrahim Al-Masri, alias Deif in a separate application. Evidence, he was already killed by Israel was considered insufficient by the Court.
Out-going American President Joe Biden has described the ICC decision to issue ‘Arrest Warrants’ on Netanyahu as ‘outrageous’ but shockingly the American government does not consider the murder of 108 Palestinians on average everyday, of mostly women and children as a matter of any concern! The US uses Israel as a colonial project to militarily control the Middle East, comprising Muslim countries.
Meanwhile US President elect Donald Trump has reportedly selected Mike Huckabee as the US Ambassador to Israel, who according to a Yahoo report, “has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and Israel is their rightful homeland”.
Israelis misinterpret a verse in the Old Testament in Genesis 17:8 attributed to Prophet Abraham ( Ibrahim-OWBP). The Verse, claimed as God’s promise states,”I will give unto thee (meaning Abraham) and thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan(Palestine) for an everlasting possession…”
They ignore other verses in the Old Testament and in the New Testament which dispute this verse. Even Genesis 17.8 taken alone, speaks of ‘Abraham and after him his seed (his children)’. The children of Prophet Ismail includes the Arabs also, because they are the children of Prophet Ismail, son of Prophet Ibrahim. Zionists misinterpret by ignoring the Arab descendants of Prophet Ibrahim, comprising of both Muslims and Christians!
The British colonial power occupying Palestine announced 108 years ago in 1917 in a letter to the Zionist Federation established in 1897, that British government will support the creation of Israel as a State in Palestine. Until 1917, Arab Muslims (81%), Arab Christians (11%)and Jews (8%) lived peacefully in Palestine. At that time there was no Israel anywhere in existence. Today Palestine is dying a painful death with the UN having given Palestine only an “Observer Status” in the UN in 2012, while Israel is the first racist state created by Western colonial powers and recognised by the UN as a fully fledged UN Member State and the only nuclear armed power in the Middle East.
