Palestinians sign request to join International Criminal Court

Move might make PA eligible to lodge complaints of alleged war crimes against Israel; Netanyahu says Israel to take steps in response

ed note–the comic strip above is from Peanuts, involving a recurring theme whereby Lucy goads Charlie Brown into trying to kick the football as she holds it for him. Each time, right before he is about to kick it, she pulls it away and he falls flat on his back. And yet, later, Lucy is able to talk him into doing it all over again with promises that ‘this time it’ll be different’.

It is like this with the Palestinians and other Arab/Islamic countries who still crawl on the bellies to the Western powers in the (unfounded) hope that they will get a fair shake. The West is the one primarily responsible for the plight of the Palestinians and for loosing this mad dog known as the Jewish state on the Christians and Muslims of the Middle East. Why would anyone in their right mind therefore expect the West to ‘do the right thing’?

The ICC is a creature of the West. The West is owned lock/stock/barrel by Jewish money. The ICC will do NOTHING except to act as a platform for the Palestinians and other aggrieved parties in the Middle East to air their grievances, but when it comes to action, they can forget about it, for the moment that anything like that happens, Jewish monied interests will cause Western economies to collapse like the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Note to the Palestinians–find other friends, such as Iran, Syria, Russia, China, etc. Remaining partnered with the West, the only future lying before you is a slow, torturous, suffocating and humiliating death.

Times of Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a request Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court, a move that would establish a new avenue for action against Israel after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution which aimed to establish a timetable for a full Israeli pullout from the West Bank.

In a live broadcast from the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas signed 20 international treaties, including the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding document.

“Security Council, we want to complain about the harm caused to us and to our land,” Abbas said before signing the treaties, Ynet reported.

“But who shall we complain to? The Security Council refused our request. Where will we go? To the international organizations.”

Abbas said the Palestinians seek a fair solution to the conflict based on international principles, and that such a solution would help quell regional unrest.

“We do not want anything more, but we will not settle for less,” he said.

“Tonight we sign 20 different international treaties, even though we have the right to join any international institutions.”

The Palestinians hope ICC membership will pave the way for war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials. Israel, however, maintains it is Palestinian crimes that would be exposed to the judgment of the Hague-based court.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the announcement that it was the Palestinian Authority, not Israel, that had to worry about the ICC’s judgments because of its partners, Hamas.

“We will adopt steps in response and we will protect the soldiers of the IDF — the most moral army in the world,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Tuesday’s vote at the Security Council came after a three-month Palestinian campaign to win support for a resolution that would have set a timeline for ending Israeli presence in the West Bank.

Israel hailed the rejection as a victory, saying it dealt a blow to Palestinian efforts to diplomatically “embarrass and isolate” the Jewish state.

The Palestinians denounced as “outrageously shameful” the failure of the text to win the necessary nine votes for passage.

The resolution would have set a 12-month deadline for Israel to reach a final peace deal with the Palestinians and called for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank by the end of 2017.

Council heavyweights China, France and Russia were among eight countries voting in favor, while the United States and Australia voted against.

Nigeria, which had been expected to support the resolution, was among five abstentions, which included Britain, Rwanda, Lithuania and South Korea.

Nigeria had assured the Palestinians it would support them, but abstained after lobbying efforts by Israel and Washington.

The failure to win the nine votes necessary for adoption spared Washington from having to wield its veto, which would have caused it embarrassment with key Arab allies.

Speaking Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his special thanks to Nigeria and Rwanda.

“This is what tipped the scales,” he said.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said “the failure of the Palestinian vote at the Security Council should teach the Palestinians that provocations and attempts to force Israel into unilateral processes will not achieve anything — quite the opposite.”

But Russia said the council’s failure to pass the resolution was “a strategic error.”

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi expressed regret over the outcome, criticizing the African nations that abstained and pledging to continue “intensive Arab diplomatic activity” in support of the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinians reacted furiously to the vote and pledged to press ahead immediately with an application for ICC membership.

“The UN Security Council vote is outrageously shameful,” said senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi.

“Those countries that abstained demonstrated a lack of political will to hold Israel accountable and to act in accordance with the global rule of law and international humanitarian law.

The Islamist terror movement Hamas blamed Abbas for the setback, demanding he make good on threats to cut security cooperation with Israel and join the ICC.

The ICC can prosecute individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Palestinian plans to become a party to the court have been strongly opposed by Israel and the United States.

The Palestinians will themselves be judged by this court, which will show the world the nature of Palestinian terrorism and the war crimes committed in the name of the Palestinian Authority,” foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP.