The United Nations calls it a genocide: Starmer still can’t
JVL welcomes the authoritative UN Report on Genocide in Gaza published today. The Report concludes, based on both the compilation of data and on detailed legal analysis, that “the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”. This report from the UN carries even more weight than the previous carefully researched reports from Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and genocide scholars
A final determination of South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice is some years off. Till then we now have the unambiguous report of this UN Commission. It makes Starmer’s long refusal to acknowledge the reality of Israel’s genocidal action impossible to sustain
The Report concludes that the Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit acts against the Palestinians in Gaza that meet the definition of genocide by
- killing members of the group;
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
These acts are genocidal when they are committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. The Report finds that intention is clearly expressed in statements inciting genocidal actions made by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The Report reminds us that even in the absence of an express order by the International Court of Justice, all States have a duty to assess whether a violation of the Genocide Convention has occurred or may occur and take steps to determine their own obligations in preventing and punishing such acts. Starmer has no excuse for delay.
The Israeli response that the three experts on the commission served as “Hamas proxies” and relied “entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others” that had “already been thoroughly debunked” is derisory. The report contains over 60 pages of detailed evidence of genocidal acts from the UN’s own observations and other non-Hamas sources. Israel’s continued insistence that every allegation of their misconduct is invented by Hamas only demonstrates its refusal to be held accountable for its actions and its refusal to be required to exhibit the behaviour expected or demanded of any other democratic nation*.
JVL demands that the UK Government responds to the UN Report by immediately ending all arms sales to or from Israel and imposing wide ranging trade and financial sanctions on Israel.
- the standard specified in the IHRA working definition of antisemitism
Will the “Labour Friends of Israel” change its name to “Labour Friends of Genocide”? Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth, Luke Akehurst and their motley crew of political opportunists and supporters of Zionist murderers, may now find accusing us of “anti-semitism” rings very hollow, and has become meaningless. Whilst they have repeated that claim verbatim, their Prime-Minister meets with the genocidal President Herzog, and will dine later with the President of the world’s biggest supplier of bombs and military hardware to the Zionist colony. Starmer is finished, and his Party is finished. We all know it’s a genocide, whilst Starmer and Lammy play semantic games with peoples lives. The genocide has been ongoing, not just since October 2023, but ever since the formation of supremacist colonial “Israel” in 1948.
What caused the three jurists to all resign at the same time?
The UNGA is imminent and this intervention is timely and very welcome. There is some talk about the “Uniting for Peace” opportunity to bypass the US veto and convene an international peacekeeping force. I hope we hear a lot more about it and that it becomes a serious possibility. Reports declarations and discussions must give way to concrete action, given credibility and justification by this ruling.
Or better still end all contact with, and disallow participation in any sporting event at any level by, Israel. I can but dream.
We do not actually need a report from experts as anyone can see and has seen that Israel has been carrying out genocidal policies , it is not possible for it to be denied .