You Will Anyway: I Didn't Realize There Is a Ranking to War Crimes

Thursday, November 6, 2014

I Didn't Realize There Is a Ranking to War Crimes

Israeli forces may have committed war crimes when they stormed an aid flotilla boat heading to Gaza in 2010, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said Thursday — but she said the possible crimes are not grave enough for prosecution at the ICC.

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In a 61-page report, prosecutors concluded that "there is a reasonable basis to believe" that Israeli forces may have committed the crimes of willful killing, willfully causing serious injury and committing outrages upon personal dignity.

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"Without in any way minimizing the impact of the alleged crimes on the victims and their families, I have to be guided by the Rome Statute, in accordance with which, the ICC shall prioritize war crimes committed on a large scale or pursuant to a plan or policy," Bensouda said, referring to the court's founding document.

alJazeera

Funny. It looks to me like Israel has a plan and a policy both.

"This is a moral struggle that we're pursuing by ourselves. It's a legal struggle, a struggle in the name of humanity. This struggle isn't over," attorney Ramazan Ariturk told reporters in Istanbul.

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"The same International Criminal Court accepted the gravity of the Abu Garda case in the Sudan in which 11 people were allegedly killed," Ariturk said. "In this situation, the International Criminal Court has set a double standard and the International Criminal Court has nullified itself.

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"We will object to a higher court at the International Criminal Court and we believe without a doubt that we will prevail."

That may be a little too optimistic.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.