Our government at work. The US voted against the United Nations resolution denouncing the use of deadly force against the Palestinians Gaza, who were continuing to protest our governments acknowledgement of Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel. During the protest thousands of Palestinians were wounded and dozens died as Israeli soldiers fired on the crowd which offered burning tires and other low tech weapons to defend themselves. Among the dead were women and children. The United Nations Security Council was blunt in its assessment. The Kuwaiti lead resolution sought international protection for the Palestinian civilians. US Ambassador, Nikki Haley sited the document as ” grossly one-sided and morally bankrupt, pointing out that the blame should fall squarely on Hamas, ” the terrorist group that governs Gaza.” Haley said they provoked the bloodshed by urging civilians to try and breach the border. Meanwhile, in response to the deadly protest, Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Malik, met the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on Tuesday in The Hague. The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer situations to the Court. The Palestinian minister said the move was “due to the intensity and the rate and the severity of the crimes against our people” including the targeting of “unarmed protesters in the Gaza Strip”. Israel is not a signatory to the ICC and the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Israeli-Palestinian issue, since Israel is not a member of the court and because the Palestinian Authority is not a state.
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