The Palestinian leadership has recently presented documents to the International Criminal Court (ICC) asserting that Israel should be investigated for war crimes with regard to the 2014 Gaza War and for its continued construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank. It was a commendable decision by the Palestinian leadership to seek the trial of Israeli military officials and political leaders for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel's occupation of Palestine is not only the oldest, longest and worst occupation on earth but also the gravest human rights violation. Ever since the start of the occupation of Palestine in 1948, Israel has continued to perpetrate gross human rights violations and war crimes by killing civilians and driving them out of their homes. There have been several Israeli massacres of unarmed Palestinian civilians, the worst of which were Deir Yassin, and Sabra and Shatila. After the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, Israel continued its aggression on these territories, especially on Gaza over the past few years. Scores of women and children were among the civilian victims of these atrocities. Those unarmed civilians who took shelter in schools, mosques and hospitals were victims of war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces. It is a known fact that the report of the Commission of Inquiry, constituted by the UN Human Rights Council, on the 2014 Gaza War was an attempt to determine who was responsible. However the figures of casualties and the atrocities committed by each party in the conflict provide a clear picture of who the aggressors and the victims really were. Taking the case to the ICC is a good step even though it will certainly face several hurdles. There will, of course, be mounting pressure from the United States, the biased sponsor of Israel, for the ICC not to accept the war crimes accusations of Palestine or at least to delay them. The United States will do this under the pretext that taking the case to the ICC will hinder the peaceful settlement of the issue, with the ulterior motive preventing Israel from being convicted of committing war crimes. Everyone knows that such words about peace talks are useless and are not going to bring about any positive outcome toward resolving the Palestinian issue. On the other hand, it will give Israel sufficient time to grab more land to build settlements and complete the Judaization of the holy city of Jerusalem. Palestinians want the holy city to become the capital of the independent Palestinian state while Israel is adamant on making it the permanent capital of Israel in usurped territories in defiance of international conventions, UN resolutions and all international agreements that prevent and criminalize making demographic changes in any occupied territory. The position of the recently formed extremist government in Israel is very clear with regard to war crimes. Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the government, is himself a war criminal who was reelected after making the controversial statement that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state. The positions of Netanyahu's partners in the coalition government are also evident with their repeated calls to kill Palestinians and drive them from their homeland. The homes of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem are being demolished under the pretext that they were built without a license. This is happening at a time when the Israeli occupation authorities are not giving Palestinians permission for even the renovation of their homes. The occupation forces confiscate the property of all Palestinians who leave the holy city even if it is only for some time. The Israeli authorities continue to use all possible means to evict Palestinians from Jerusalem. It is unfortunate that neither the peace talks nor the initiatives taken by Arab and Muslim countries as well as the United Nations and United States have been helpful in preventing this blatant aggression and gross violation of international conventions and agreements safeguarding the inhabitants of any land under occupation. As for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), it was formed for the sake of the liberation of Jerusalem, Islam's third holy city. It was decided at the time of the OIC's foundation that its permanent headquarters would be in Jerusalem and Jeddah was chosen as its temporary headquarters until the holy city was liberated. However, the pan-Islamic body has not been able to do anything to save Jerusalem and its people from the oppression of Israeli occupiers. In the current scenario, the best thing the OIC secretary general can do is to pay visits to the capitals of member countries of the OIC to meet with top officials to rally their support for serious and bold initiatives to save the holy city. They have to shoulder their historic responsibility toward the holy city and the Aqsa Mosque by supporting the Palestinian leadership in its move to approach the ICC to have Israel prosecuted for its war crimes against unarmed Palestinian civilians as well as to foil its attempts to obliterate the Islamic and Arab identity of Jerusalem. The OIC should also draw the attention of the world to the war crimes and the gross human rights violations being committed by Israel against Palestinians. In this way the OIC chief can fulfill his obligation to Almighty Allah.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
