International Criminal Law

Articles

Base Nation

Israel’s 57-year military occupation of Palestine is unlawful, the World Court rules, and must come to end. Will Israel abide by the ruling? Will countries like Canada enforce it? Washington certainly won’t. The GPM speaks about Canada’s response with Ottawa commentator Peter Larson. And, perpetual occupation of other people’s lands is an activity the US supports, defends and engages in, all around the world. The GPM speaks with United States of War author David Vine.


Gaza, the West Bank & Belgium

Navi Pillay, chair of the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, reports to the Human Rights Council in Geneva about high Israeli and Hamas crimes — crimes one Palestinian and a good Israeli friend know too well. Atta Jaber and Jeff Halper describe settler land theft and violence in occupied Hebron. And, ugly crimes recalled, a century later, in German-occupied Belgium.


Wheels of Justice

Some thought it would never happen. This past week it did: criminal charges against Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court, in The Hague. Israeli leaders can kiss their overseas travel plans goodbye. Days earlier, the International Court of Justice ordered it to halt its assault on the southern Gaza city, Rafah — an order Israel is now defying, with US and British backing. Which does international law serve – power or justice? What difference does it make? The GPM speaks with three international law and human rights scholars — Toby Cadman, William Schabas and Michael Lynk.


Dear Mr. Trudeau

Starvation and famine in Gaza. A UN expert speaks out. And, a group of Canadian lawyers demand that the Trudeau government stop supporting Israeli genocide.


Landmark Ruling in The Hague

A victory for South Africa and the Palestinian people at the International Court of Justice. State parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention will now have to act, starting with Israel’s friends. One of those friends is Canada, with famously double standards.


Genocide in Gaza

South Africa versus Israel at the International Court of Justice. Lawyers for South Africa depose. And, weaponizing genocide justice. Western powers accuse official enemies of committing it, while defending their dearest friend and ally. A conversation with Canadian genocide scholar William Schabas.


Crime of Crimes

Genocide in Gaza — Is Israel guilty of this crime of crimes? One thing is clear: genocidal incitement permeates Israeli society. The GPM speaks with Israeli human rights attorney Michael Sfard. How to stop Israel’s assault? Some call for international intervention. The GPM speaks with Canadian international law expert Ardi Imseis. And, the Anthropocene. A wake-up call from Canadian Earth scientist Martin Head.



Waging War On Refugees

Hamas didn’t parachute into Gaza from another planet. The Islamic Resistance Movement, its leaders and militants are an organic part of a packed population of refugees, with no other place to fight. The GPM speaks about this with Israeli-British historian Ilan Pappe, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 attack? Collective punishment. The GPM speaks with international law expert Toby Cadman.


Canada Stands On Guard

The Canadian military shops for surveillance drones that can kill. The GPM speaks with arms researcher Matt Korda. The Canadian government slaps sanctions on a Russian discussion group. Who’s disinforming whom, University of Manitoba political scientist Radhika Desai asks? And, Canadian activist Dimitri Lascaris calls on real leftists to challenge fake peaceniks on the right.


Israel’s War on Palestine

Almost a month after the brazen assault on Israeli communities by Gaza militants, smashing through and flying over the militarized perimeter of their besieged ghetto, Israeli retaliatory super-violence is now shifting into high gear. The GPM speaks with Fathi Nimer, from the Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network, and Dror Sadot, from the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem.



Old Nazis & International Law

A small Canadian lake records humanity’s impact on Planet Earth. On the floor of Canada’s House of Commons, an old Nazi veteran gets a standing ovation. And, when official enemies are to blame, Canada calls for justice. For a beloved ally, Canada calls for justice to be suspended.


The First 9-11

A year after the US Supreme Court banished abortion rights, millions of American women and girls face dire health and emotional health threats. Twenty two years after the Twin Towers’ destruction, we recall the first 9-11 — back in 1973. And, Palestine Panopticon. Israel’s vast carceral system for subjugated Palestinians.


Covid Apartheid

The A-word seems apt. How better to describe Israel’s national Covid vaccination campaign? Since December 20, Israeli health authorities have administered jabs of the Pfizer vaccine to an astonishing quarter of Israel’s ‘official’ population, while reportedly denying the vaccine to the five million Palestinians living under military rule in the occupied/colonized West Bank and Gaza.


Pandemic Reporting Police

No newsroom is too small to evade the vigilant and exacting gaze of staunchly pro-Israel “Honest” Reporting Canada. The PEI Guardian, based in Charlottetown, received a furious, hateful blast after publishing a letter about Covid-19 in occupied Palestine. Listen to what Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem has to say on the matter.


Trump’s Big “Deal”

Late last January, after over a year of teasing talk and suggestive leaks, US President Donald Trump finally announced his so-called “Deal of the Century,” ostensibly aimed at resolving what is commonly referred to as the Israel-Palestine “conflict.”Predictably, Trump’s deal has been widely referred to in the mainstream media as a “peace plan.” Nothing could be further from the truth.


The A-Word

That awful A-word, preceded by the adjective ‘Israeli’. Israel boosters scream ‘antisemitism’ when they hear or read the phrase. Mainstream media avoid it like the plague. The international legal community has no difficulty likening Israel’s system of governance in the colonized West Bank to the South African prototype. Listen to my conversation with Professor Dugard.


Talking Palestine-Israel

A roof over one’s head. A home. Other than food and water, nothing is more essential to human life and health. Conversely, save forced starvation, there’s no better way to eliminate a people than to reduce their homes to rubble. No one knows this better, or carried out the practice more ruthlessly and efficiently, than the State of Israel.