Gaza and the Resounding Fall of the Human Rights System
By Mayssaa Moukaddem
“Israel” has committed countless crimes in occupied Palestine since its ill-fated establishment in 1948. Today, it is cramming decades' worth of atrocities into Gaza - the current venue for its crimes.
These include the occupation of land, seizure of property and homes, the killing of civilians, use of internationally prohibited weapons, targeting first aid and medical personnel, storming hospitals and using them as military centers, imposing a siege, cutting off the supply of medicine, water, and food, and assassinating journalists. In short, these are the crimes of the essence of evil in this world - “Israel”.
The ongoing “Israeli” war on Gaza has so far claimed more than 18,000 lives, including thousands of children and women. The constantly rising death toll brought about by the enemy’s barbarism prompted Al-Qaous [a Palestinian civil society organization] to create a special page on its website to track and document these numbers under the title: “'Israeli' Crimes Calendar.”
* The continuing crimes reflect the enormous inabilities of all international organizations and bodies:
Speaking about “Israel” and its crimes, we must return to history and human rights and an important paradox that Dr. Omar Nashabe, an analyst in Criminal Justice and Human Rights, pointed out.
Seventy-five years have passed since the establishment of the entity, at a time when the world is not celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights launched by the United Nations in 1948.
In an interview with Al-Ahed News, Nashabe says, “This year there were supposed to be major celebrations for the jubilee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but they did not happen. What is there to celebrate? The continuous and systematic killing of thousands of civilians and children in Gaza?
“If we want to imagine the ugliest and worst crimes, I do not think we can surpass these ongoing daily ‘Israeli’ criminal actions. 50,000 tons of explosives were dropped on a narrow, besieged area no larger than 360 square kilometers, in which more than two million people are besieged and bombarded with the most advanced weapons. What mind can imagine a crime more heinous than this and with such a high level of effort?”
All the appeals, demonstrations, and popular objections from around the world have not prevented genocide in Gaza. According to Nashabe, “The continuation of these crimes reflects the enormous inabilities of all international organizations and bodies that talk about human rights and human dignity. This is a collapse of the entire human rights system. The heresy of international humanitarian law has fallen, and we had a cover in Al-Qaous in which we spoke in detail about this resounding fall of the human rights system that was supposed to create minimum guarantees to protect children, hospitals, warehouses, food, and the most basic things a person needs to survive.”
* Accountability takes place after the crime is committed
Many people today are demanding that “Israel” be held accountable, but this demand is not valid, according to Nashabe. “Accountability for crimes occurs after the act is completed, while what is required now is that ‘Israel’ stop its crimes. The court convenes after the crime occurs. How can any process of accountability take place while the crime is ongoing and expanding day by day?”
The “Israeli” enemy violated all standards and transgressed all considerations with its crimes. Nashabe says, “The ‘Israeli’ enemy targeted people and entities that are supposed to be protected according to international law, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, ambulances, hospitals, medical teams, journalists, the press, and the most important is the United Nations. They targeted the largest international organization that has facilities, schools, and offices in Gaza. They targeted its offices and killed its employees, as well as the people who thought they could take shelter under the UN flag. It was a trap for them just as it was a trap for our children in Qana. Today, UNRWA schools that fly the blue UN flag in Gaza are being targeted, without anyone talking against the ‘Israeli’ enemy at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva. There was no reaction commensurate with the blood that was shed."
* The Security Council must issue a resolution to impose a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
What is the human rights body concerned with stopping the genocide in Gaza? Dr. Nashabe explains that “This situation is within the jurisdiction of the UN Security Council under the United Nations Charter, which stipulates that the function of the Security Council is to impose global security and stability, and therefore, the Security Council has the right to intervene and impose a solution, and it can issue a legally binding decision to do so, and it can also move militarily to implement any decision it issues.” Dr. Nashabe believes the Council “should have issued a resolution to impose a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
* International organizations in Gaza did not stop the killing
What about the role of international organizations in Gaza? According to Dr. Nashabe, “The people in Gaza relied on these organizations, and it’s natural to say that they were not up to the task because we were killed under these institutions. I hope that these institutions understand the criticisms directed at them. How can I accept having a United Nations office in Gaza where I can take shelter with my children while it is being bombed and no one from the United Nations is standing up to stop this aggression against me? Of course, it will be exposed to great criticism, and we must conduct a comprehensive review of the work of these institutions during the aggression so that we can make an accurate assessment. However, I believe that their criticism is valid and justified because the role it played was not effective as it did not stop the killing. We want representatives of the International Red Cross in asylum centers, hospitals, UNRWA schools, bakeries, and food warehouses, and all of these are protected according to international law."
"Where is the international body that should be in Gaza?" Dr. Nashabe wondered.
*What about the role of the International Criminal Court?
There is a clear disconnect shown by the International Criminal Court in dealing with the Palestinian issue compared to others. Nashabe recalls, “Palestine obtained its membership in the International Criminal Court, which legally gave it the ability to file a complaint against ‘Israel’ in 2015. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at the time, Fatou Bensouda, deliberately procrastinated until the end of her term, and the investigation was relaunched in 2021. Nothing happened until the new British Attorney General, Karim Khan, came. Ironically, in 2022, the same court launched an investigation into the events in Ukraine, and quickly, an arrest warrant was issued against the head of a major country, Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Nashabe had written a long article in the last issue of Al-Qaous about Khan’s biased performance towards the entity. In his interview with Al-Ahed, he expressed surprise about “what Karim Khan said from the Rafah crossing that he was not allowed to enter Gaza without clarifying who it was that prevented him from entering. Khan issued a statement in which he said that preventing the entry of medicines, food, and drink into Gaza may constitute a war crime. He spoke about it as a mere possibility, knowing that he is an international prosecutor and not a researcher in the field of human rights. A public prosecutor usually points the finger and does not talk about accusations.”
Nashabeh continues, “After a while, Khan visited occupied Palestine, and there he did not talk about possibilities as he did at the Rafah crossing, but rather he condemned the Hamas movement, based on hearsay and uninvestigated news about beheadings, which are Zionist rumors and have no evidence. By doing so, he shot himself in the foot, and he is supposed to step down because of what he said to Haaretz newspaper.”
Nashabe presents a radical approach at the conclusion of his conversation with Al-Ahed regarding the reality of the conflict with the entity. “This entity is a criminal entity whose function is to attack people and impose apartheid and racial superiority of a group of people on the basis that they belong to a specific religion.
It is not possible to establish any entity in this world that is based on aggression against others. This entity is based on aggression against others, and punishing the entity through the judiciary is an acknowledgment of it. I do not believe that it is reformable because punishment is to correct behavior, while this is an entity that is not reformable. Therefore, I am not in favor of holding it accountable, but rather in favor of rethinking its entire existence as a usurping entity.
The call today is ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’ This slogan that continues to be raised is the one that the ‘Israelis’ object to. Yes, it is the cancellation of the existence of the entity that must be replaced by a Palestinian state that respects the dignity of the people and the abolition of apartheid and crime.”
