23 Jul, 2006

Israel is a law unto itself

Imtiaz Muqbil

Originally Published: 23 July 2006

Pardon my confusion, but wasn’t there a lot of hand-wringing about threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to “wipe Israel off the map”?

So why isn’t there any outrage now among the so-called “civilised countries”, the paragons of democracy, transparency and accountability, the upholders of rule of law, human rights, freedom, liberty and justice, about….

….Israel first wiping Lebanon off the map?!!

In the Shakespearean drama The Merchant of Venice, a masterpiece of literature about human conniving, the Jewish money-lender Shylock only sought a pound of flesh from his debtors.

But the Israelis have left Shylock in the shades – it’s not just a pound of flesh they seek, but kilos and kilos of it. Not just an eye for an eye, but an eye for as many eyes as possible.

Israel has become a law unto itself, above criticism, beyond reproach, and unreachable by even the longest arm of the law. It can build walls, ignore UN resolutions, drive people from their homes, occupy lands, carry out “extra-judicial killings” and “targetted assassinations”, and enjoy the backing of powerful people who control the global media, monetary and military empires, all the while making itself look like the victim.

I have to give it to the country, home to a truly new Master Race. The sheer ingenuity of strategic planning and execution deserves detailed study in the annals of diplomatic and human relations.

In seeking to better understand this phenomena, I referred to a document known as Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A cursory check on Wikipedia referred to the Protocols as “a text purporting to describe a plan to achieve global domination by Jews. Numerous independent investigations have repeatedly proven it to be a hoax.”

But a detailed look at the checklist themes for this strategy further down that website found that several of the 23 themes included geopolitical considerations which are proving very true.

These include: Curtailment of civil liberties with the excuse of defeating the enemies of peace; Distractions; Brainwashing; Economic depressions; Decimating states by foreign loans; and Unleashing forces of violence. Thailand has been at the receiving end of at least two of those strategies.

Several other themes are listed but readers should simply look the Protocols up themselves for further debate and discussion. In a world where nothing is now out of bounds, it would not help to simply dismiss them as hoaxes and forgeries.

Remember that International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed el Baradei had dismissed as a “forgery” the original document alleging that Saddam Hussein was seeking to procure uranium from Niger, although that did not stop the hoax campaign of global brainwashing which led to the attack on Iraq.

As the Lebanon crisis raged last week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said that the shelling of cities was an “unacceptable targeting of civilians.”

She was quoted as saying by the UN communications office: “International humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligation to protect civilians during hostilities…International law demands accountability. The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control.”

But US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, had a different view, as reported by AFP on July 17: “It’s simply not the same thing to say that it’s the same act to deliberately target innocent civilians, to desire their deaths, to fire rockets and use explosive devices or kidnapping versus the sad and highly unfortunate consequences of self-defense.”

Whichever view one shares, the reality of international relations today is that neitherIsraelnor the country it controls, theUnited States, can be brought to justice in a world that is increasingly becoming one big protection racket. A small group of immensely powerful and wealthy countries can do pretty much what they want.

Violence in the Middle East would end tomorrow if the Palestinians had recourse to a proper legal channel of justice where they could seek peaceful settlement of claims to their land – the root cause of all mayhem in the Middle East – along with an assurance that the verdict would be respected.

But because there is no such channel, and because the hypocrisy and double standards of international diplomacy means that might is right, both sides continue to battle it out, with no end in sight.

Perhaps because it is not hyped up in the public domain as vigorously as “weapons of mass destruction”, “terrorism” and “right to defend oneself,” the following verdict by the International Court of Justice about the illegality of Israel’s apartheid, land-grabbing wall is an indication of that country’s respect, or lack of it, for global norms.

Read it for yourself: http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-28_mwp_20040709.htm

This apparently is a nonbinding decision. Nonbinding? Then what’s the use of the exercise? Israel could easily ignore it, and did.

The so-called UN Security Council is in reality an Insecurity Council, a total travesty where a handful of elitist powers hold the most undemocratic tool ever created in global history, a veto. The UN General Assembly is relegated to passing only nonbinding resolutions after a few days of routine speech-making.

Without justice, societies fester and eventually putrefy. Corrupt doctors, politicians and bureaucrats, even doctors and lawyers fall within limits of tolerance. But not judges because they are the souls of societies.

His Majesty the King is loved so dearly because the Thai people know that he is their last recourse for justice against those seeking to manipulate the levers of power for their own ends, and that he will act with honesty, trust and integrity.

But global justice is selectively applied. Saddam Hussein can be brought to book for “gassing his own people” and various other alleged atrocities, but Messrs Bush and Blair get away scot-free inspite of launching a war on the false claim that the dictator had weapons of mass destruction, which he didn’t.

The total and absolute vacuum of global justice leaves power in the hands of the rich and powerful who operate free of all norms of accountability and transparency, even while they preach these principles to others.

It’s not a sustainable situation, and as I have accurately predicted often before, it will get worse before it gets better.