The Distant Ocean

The upside of mass murder

In the wake of Israel's vicious attack on Gaza, there's at least one major bright spot, which you can see in news like this:

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was conducting a "preliminary analysis" of alleged crimes committed by Israelis during the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, his office said today.

And this:

Israel's concerns about possible international lawsuits following Operation Cast Lead is apparently growing, as even the fate of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's  trip to Brussels remained vague until the very last minute, fearing she may face legal action in Belgium for alleged war crimes.

And this:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has put the justice minister in charge of defending Israel against charges of war crimes during its 22-day Gaza assault, a government source said Friday.

And this:

Last week, the military censor ordered local and foreign media in Israel to blur the faces of army commanders in photos and video footage of the Gaza war for fear they could be identified and arrested while traveling abroad.

These would be positive developments under any circumstances, but what's most remarkable is that all of this has happened so quickly.  Already—within only two weeks of the end of Operation Cast Lead—all of the soldiers, commanders, and government officials involved in any way with the attack are living under the threat of legal sanctions, knowing that they'll have to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders whenever they leave Israel.  Here's a perfect example:

An Israeli colonel involved in Operation Cast Lead returned to Israel in haste on Friday, fearing arrest on charges of war crimes during a visit to the UK. [...]

Calling for police to arrest him, the protesters blocked public pathways, while one scaled the building's walls. Police made several arrests.

The event was cancelled and the decision was made for [Colonel Geva] Rapp to return to Israel out of fear of a universal jurisdiction arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

And as these examples also show, Israel has been given no choice but to take the threat of justice seriously—which will no doubt be a consideration whenever they contemplate large-scale military action in the future.  You'll notice the word "fear" in several of these articles, and for good reason; protesters can be ignored by the hundreds of thousands, but even one lawyer with a subpoena gives these violent cowards pause.

This is why I focus so much attention on legal action against war criminals, whether in Israel, the United States, or anywhere else—because these kinds of sanctions are available and in active use right now, they pose a genuine threat that's taken very seriously indeed by the targets, and they're only getting stronger.  This is the most formidable of our weapons, and it's the one that stands the best chance of ultimately silencing theirs.

The Big Lieberman

Our guest speaker today is the Jörg Haider of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman:

[Lieberman] was referring to fears that Mitchell seek to pressure Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank.

Lieberman added: "This diagnosis is incorrect. This is simply idle chatter; there is no connection between settlers and the conflict through which we have been living for so many years."

Now you may be expecting me to trot out some analogy like, oh, I don't know, P.W. Botha claiming that ANC attacks had nothing to do with apartheid.  Or, hmm, maybe Truman saying that the sudden absence of people and buildings in Hiroshima was entirely unrelated to any bombs that may allegedly have been dropped in the vicinity, atomic or otherwise.  But you would be wrong.

No, I'm just overwhelmed with wonder at the sheer scale and chutzpah of this colossal fabrication.  You might say I'm impressed that Lieberman could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously (to coin a phrase).  Most of Israel's army of liars will dance around the issue of settlements, or if they're pinned down they'll blow smoke about "disputed land", agreeing that yes, the settlements are a source of friction, but they're nonetheless legitimate.  But I don't recall ever seeing someone come right out and describe the notion that there's any connection whatsoever between settlements and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as "idle chatter".  This is a man with a vision: a vision of dirty Arabs driven out of Israel while the world cheers on its terror-fighting democracy-loving government, it's true, but hey, that's still a vision.

So I applaud Lieberman's ambition, and I look forward to ever grander and more entertaining lies in the future.  Keep shooting for the stars, Avigdor!  After all, to coin another phrase: it is not truth that matters, but victory.