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In America, where the rights of citizens who criticize Israel’s government have been severely compromised, with people even threatened with legal action, Hamas members are portrayed as “terrorists” and Israel as the so-called victim.
However, as is well known, this conflict really did not start on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed about 1,200 people. The conflict has been going on for decades and the majority of deaths have been Palestinians killed by Israel, even long before the latest onslaught against Gaza.
Yet, in America — a country that is supposedly a champion of citizens’ freedoms — politicians and government officials have passed laws to censor pro-Palestinian activists and have recently threatened punishments, including legal action, for using the phrase “From the river to the sea,” which is an expression demanding rights for Palestinians in historic Palestine.
Meanwhile, student protesters criticizing Israel’s violence have been assaulted by armed police, arrested, expelled and denied graduation.
There is so much pro-Israel propaganda in America that you wonder who controls US politics when it comes to the Middle East: Congress or Israel. Pro-Israel interests pour millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of 80 percent of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Netanyahu is, despite the misleading propaganda, the single greatest obstacle to Palestinian-Israeli peace
Ray Hanania
So, it may have come as a rude awakening for many Americans when International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan, driven by the international rule of law — which the American judicial system embraces as its foundation — this week applied for arrest warrants for not only three Hamas leaders, but also Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu is, despite the misleading propaganda, the single greatest obstacle to Palestinian-Israeli peace. He has been driving the violence against Palestinians during his entire time as Israel’s political leader.
Khan said on Monday he was seeking arrest warrants for Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, military wing commander-in-chief Mohammed Deif and long-time spokesman Ismail Haniyeh, alongside Netanyahu and Gallant. All are accused of bearing “criminal responsibility” for the impact of the conflict and violence against civilians. Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh are accused of extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and other sexual violence, torture and “other inhumane acts.”
Netanyahu and Gallant, who are overseeing the military invasion of Gaza and the destruction of civilian homes, businesses, mosques, churches and schools, are accused of starving Palestinian civilians as a “method of warfare,” killing and intentionally targeting civilians and “other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity.”
Rather than prompting American political leaders to stand by the international rule of law, which they often apply to other nations, the ICC prosecutor’s action instead provoked a barrage of threats against him and anyone associated with the ICC.
When it comes to Israel, American politicians compromise on the rule of law and instead apply special punitive punishments to Israel’s critics. Since 2015, for example, dozens of US states have adopted laws that punish anyone who supports a boycott of Israel’s government. Boycotts are fundamental to free speech.
And on May 1, the House of Representatives passed a bill that aims to expand the definition of antisemitism to include any action critical of the government of Israel, in response to university and college students protesting against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Under the bill, which is still to be approved by the Senate, the legal definition of antisemitism will be broadened to specifically include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.”
There is no doubt it will pass, just as prior pro-Israel laws have been approved, mainly because so many members of Congress are recipients of election campaign donations from political action committees coordinated around supporting Israel. There are no similar pro-Arab PACs that seek to influence US foreign policy toward the Middle East, although there should be.
The ICC has reminded the world that the rule of law is not meant for some and not for others based on political alliances or money
Ray Hanania
Many states have also now introduced legislation punishing anyone who engages in the expanded definition of antisemitism.
Students on college campuses who have chanted “From the river to the sea” are being arrested and pro-Israel activists have set up funds to launch legal proceedings in an attempt to bankrupt and punish the students, according to pro-Israel lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who has offered his services free of charge. The legal threats against the right to protest and free speech critical of Israel are described as “lawfare.”
Police have arrested and charged hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters, while only a few pro-Israel protesters have been arrested or expelled.
Israel’s war on Gaza has proved one thing: that there is no such thing as justice when it comes to anyone in the US who criticizes or challenges Israel’s actions, even if they involve war crimes and genocide.
In the eyes of the majority of American politicians who receive money from pro-Israel PACs, Israel’s actions — regardless of the consequences, such as killing more than 35,000 Palestinians, including 14,000 women and children — are defensible and lawful.
But the ICC has this week reminded the world that the rule of law is not meant for some and not for others based on political alliances or money. Real justice is based on the principle that justice is blind and applies to everyone regardless of their race, religion, nationality, friends or political spin.
The ICC prosecutor’s call for the arrest of Hamas and Israeli government officials reinforces that important legal principle and gives the protesters arrested in America a basis for counter-lawsuits.
- Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania