Green Shoots: Those with ears must hear, with eyes must see, with heart must act

I’ve been trying to understand how international law works, and in particular international humanitarian law. This interest was prompted by the capture of the Madleen, a sailboat loaded with 12 doughty individuals from across the world and baby formula in the hold. They were trying to do what governments of the world have failed to do – deliver supplies to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza. The Madleen was intercepted in international waters, and the world watched as the Israeli state violated all the laws that safeguard our coexistence as nations and citizens of the world.

The purpose of the United Nations as stated in their statutes is to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. Their Security Council has been trying to pass resolutions that would enable a ceasefire in Gaza, and the United States has vetoed these five times. And it isn’t just the Trump administration – their lack of interest in stopping the carnage started under Joe Biden.

The USA has imposed sanctions on four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICJ), an institution set up as an independent arbiter of disputes and custodian of international law. They did this because the ICJ dared investigate the illegal actions of Israel. Imagine if our government behaved like this when our judges make rulings against it? So Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia will see their US-based property and assets blocked, and US-based entities are also forbidden from engaging in transactions with them. For me, though, the most egregious criminality that continues today is the denial by Israel of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

They instead are using aid as a weapon, deliberately starving ordinary men and women – and children – into submission. Christian leaders living in Jerusalem issued a desperate plea to the world last week. This is what they said: “In addition to the close to 55,000 dead and over 120,000 wounded, starvation and famine are being experienced (the UN recently identified 10,000 new cases of malnutrition). Hospitals and other civilian facilities are almost completely shut down. More than two million Gazans and the remaining 24 live Israeli hostages are all at risk of their lives at every moment.”

And then, in a calculated move driven by pure evil, the USA and Israel, having blocked international aid agencies from doing their work, instead establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF distributes aid through what are called “Secure Distribution Sites” that are fully controlled by the Israeli army. Even as starving Gazans make their way to these points, they come under attack by the very same army that is supposed to be ensuring the aid reaches them. Diabolical? It is clear that humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war to advance Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza. Gazans are being given a choice: to submit to full Israeli control, or starve. 

I never did get any clarity on how international law works. But then, one doesn’t need to be a law professor to know that we are entering very dangerous times when the community of nations allows a criminal state and its bully-boy protector to have carte blanche with the lives of so many. We who are not in Palestine do not have permission to be indifferent, though, or to throw our hands up in despair and hopelessness. We must heed the cry of the Jerusalem Voice for Justice in Palestine/Israel in their SOS of June 8:

“While the people of Gaza are the first victims of this cruel war, the rest of us are under another, more invisible psychological and spiritual bombardment—flooded with images and competing narratives, we are left feeling hopeless, paralyzed by despair and unable to help. Exhausted! Therefore, we call out to you. The international community must intervene. Although our voices do not seem to be heard by world leaders, we encourage all who have ears to hear and eyes to see, to take action.”