January
30, 2024
Imperilled,
tormented Palestinians in Gaza had little time to celebrate the January 26
order of the International Court of Justice.
In a case brought by South Africa intended to facilitate a ceasefire and
ease the suffering of the Gaza populace, Israel received the unwanted news that
it had to, among other obligations, ensure compliance with the UN Genocide
Convention, including by its military; prevent and punish “the direct and
public incitement to genocide” against the Palestinian populace in Gaza and permit
basic services and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
Within
hours, Israel, bruised and outraged by a body its officials have decried as
antisemitic and favourably disposed to Palestinian propaganda, found an excuse
to flaunt the ruling. 12 employees of
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA),
the agency responsible for distributing aid in Gaza, were accused (not found)
by Israel’s intelligence agency Shin Bet, of involvement in the Hamas attacks
of October 7.
The
response from UNRWA was swift. Contracts
were terminated, an investigation was launched, including a full inquiry into
allegations made against the organisation.
The agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini promised, on
January 27, that, “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will
be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
Not
content with this, Israel stormily took to the campaign trail hoping to rid
Gaza of the UN agency it has despised for years. UNRWA, after all, is a salutary reminder of
Palestinian suffering, dispossession and desperation, its existence a direct
result of Israeli foreign policy.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz was severe in laying his country’s loathing
for UNRWA bare. “We have been warning
for years: UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as
a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza,” he stated on Shabbat. “UNRWA is not the solution – many of its
employees are Hamas affiliates with murderous ideologies, aiding in terror
activities and preserving its authority.”
Deviously and fiendishly, Katz was dismissing the entire enterprise of
aid through a UN outlet as a terroristic extension, rather than the ghastly
product of Israel’s own ruthless, generational war against Palestinians. Leave it to us to oversee matters of aid: we
know best.
Powers,
many with military ties with Israel and sluggish about holding the Jewish State
to account in its Gaza campaign, were relieved by the distraction. Rather than assessing their own export
regime, the grant of licenses in the arms market in gross violation of human
rights and the facilitation of crimes against humanity, an excuse to continue,
and prolong the weapons transfers and assistance to Israel, had presented
itself.
Within
hours, nine states had added their names to the list suspending allocated
aid. Australia, along with the United
States and Canada, rushed to the podium to condemn UNRWA and freeze funding. The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, and Finland followed.
The
measure of rage could now be adjusted and retargeted. A spokesperson for the UK government was
“appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack
against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK government has
repeatedly condemned.” The US State
Department was “extremely troubled” and had “temporarily paused additional
funding. Canada was also “deeply
troubled by the allegations relating to some UNRWA employees.”
Australia’s
foreign minister, Penny Wong, despite accepting that UNRWA’s role in conducting
“vital, life saving work”, “providing essential services in Gaza directly to
those who need it, with more than 1.4 million Palestinians currently sheltering
in its own facilities” felt a suspension of funding was wholly sensible. This, from a minister who never tires about
praising international law and its profoundly sacred qualities.
The
assessment by Lazzarini was one of dismay and bafflement by the speed at which
the funding had been halted. “These
decisions threaten our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including
and especially in the Gaza Strip.”
The
measure could almost be regarded as hysterical, given that a mere 12
individuals had been tarnished from a pool of some 30,000 members. Johann Soufi, a lawyer and former director of
the agency’s legal office in Gaza, gave this assessment to Agence-France
Presse: “Sanctioning UNRWA, which is barely keeping the entire population of
Gaza alive, for the alleged responsibility of a few employees, is tantamount to
collectively punishing the Gazan population, which is living in catastrophic
conditions.”
Australian
Greens Senator and defence spokesman, Senator David Shoebridge, also picked up
on the grotesque twist the latest stifling of aid to the beleaguered residents
of Gaza entailed. “The one temporary
pause [Senator Wong] has been able to achieve is not the bombing or killing, or
even weapons exports, it’s providing aid to [Palestinians].”
For
Israel, the focus can now shift back to prosecuting the war against
Palestinians collectively blanketed for terrorist tendencies. Meddlesome aid workers can also be put into
the mix. Cut the aid, cut the means of
survival. Along the way, international
law can be blithely mocked and ignored by the principles of might. With grimmest irony, the provisional measures
outlined by the ICJ order, which includes increased humanitarian aid to Gaza,
are being frustrated by signatories to the UN Genocide Convention. The
collective regime of punishment ushered in by Israel’s policy of murderous
asphyxiation, and which so concerned South Africa’s legal team, can now
continue.
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