Bolstered by a momentous ICJ ruling, Palestinians, including Americans, gave three hours of testimony against the Biden administration.
Lawyers involved with the lawsuit playing out in federal court said that the ICJ ruling bolsters their case. Their lawsuit argues that Biden, Blinken, and Austin are liable under U.S. law for failing to uphold their obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza.
Barry Trachtenberg, a professor of Jewish history and author of two books about the Holocaust, testified as an expert witness in the case – over repeated objections from Justice Department attorneys. When he filed his declaration in the case in November, he said, some 11,000 Palestinians had been killed. Today, that number is far greater.
“Everything that we feared and more is unfolding,” he said, noting that often, legal actions about genocide happen long after the fact. “What makes this situation so unique is that we’re watching the genocide unfold as we speak. And we’re in this incredibly unique position where we can actually intervene to stop it using the mechanisms of international law that are available to us.”
Claiming Palestinians have religious extremism while defending Israel, an apartheid ethnostate that has different courts depending on your religion and is doing a genocide for an old book, is hilarious. And if you don’t know that Israel is an apartheid state, something claimed by Amnesty, international, Human Rights Watch, and multiple other NGO’s and countries, then I’m not sure you’re educated enough on this issue.
First of all, none of those things have been happening for hundred years. Everyone got along in that area until Zionism took hold and it became obvious the British and French were going to renege on their deal to the Palestinians in order to carve out a bunch of their land to give to foreigners without giving them a state. People they had rejected to this land to avoid dealing with their own antisemitism. The same people that had been forming terrorist groups to take over more territory and achieve their dream of their own state at the cost of wiping out the local people living there. The first Intifada wasn’t until the late 1980’s, and Hamas wasn’t until around then. They won the election in Gaza because diplomacy and non violent resistance hadn’t been working for 20-40 years.
Second, all those things Israel has been doing more of and worse. Except instead of suicide bombings, it’s been just regular bombings. And even then, there hasn’t been suicide bombings for like 20 years. Israel kills way more civilians and claims human shields just as an excuse to keep doing it, which is the dumbest excuse in the world to kill a bunch of civilians. It’s like entering a hostage situation and just mowing down everyone. No police force has done that (except for maybe Israel’s). Unless you think they mean physical human shields, which I’ve rarely seen any evidence of that being mass practiced.
Most Palestinian resistance has been peaceful, and even peaceful resistance has been denigrated. People lose jobs for supporting BDS and people have lost their legs for doing the Great March of Return. They still lose West Bank settlements, still have no water, not enough food, no sovereignty or control over power, massive unemployment, and no way to fix it because Israel occupies them. Israel has promised they’d start working on a two state solution within 5 years for the last 20 years and finally gave up that farce with Bibi’s comments recently. Of course Hamas sucks, but what else do you expect? What would you have them do? Just sit down and die?
That you’re claiming everyone got along in the region prior to Zionism demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of the history of the region. That’s simply not true, there’s hundreds of years of evidence showing that’s not accurate at all.
I’d have the Palestinians people deal with their shit, violently smash Hamas and charge them with crimes against humanity.
Fat chance that’ll happen, Hamas is more popular than ever., had massive support for October 7.