The United States of America (USA), which exists on deception, double-speak, and Islamophobia, is at it again. Twelve subhuman US Senators, like the warmonger President Joe Biden, who is thirsty for Palestinian blood, have dared to threaten the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan with ‘severe sanctions’ if arrest warrants are issued against the subhuman Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet.
In a distasteful, one-page rant signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, Karim Khan was notified that any attempt by the ICC to hold Netanyahu and his colleagues to account for their actions in Gaza will be interpreted “not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.”
The name is Cotton, but Tom Cotton is hard-hearted like iron and incites violence. When people in the US began protesting against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, urging an end to war, Cotton incited violence against the protestors, thus:
“I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic to take matters into your own hands. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense.” Cotton posted on X, April 15, before editing the post six minutes later to add “to get them out of the way.” Cotton accused the protesters of being pro-Hamas, though he offered no evidence of any kind. Cotton is going to run for a seat in the Senate in 2026, too.
It may be recalled that Karim Khan, a British lawyer, was appointed as the ICC’s chief prosecutor in February 2021, a week after the court had already decided by majority that its territorial jurisdiction extended to “Gaza and the West Bank.” After the attacks on October 7, 2023, Khan declared that the court had jurisdiction over any potential war crimes committed both by Hamas militants in Israel and by Israeli forces in Gaza. The ICC, according to the Rome Statute of 2002, can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and as per recent reports, Israeli officials increasingly believe that the ICC is preparing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other senior cabinet and military officials. This makes Netanyahu and his cabinet members lose sleep and wet their pants!
Last Friday, the Hague-based office of the chief prosecutor published an unprecedented statement of concern on Twitter, calling for an end to threats of retaliation against the ICC and attempts to “impede” and “intimidate” its officials. The statement added that such threats could “constitute an offence against the administration of justice” under the Rome Statute.
After the October 7 attacks, anti-Palestinian rhetoric has featured heavily in Israel and in extremist spaces, including in the political sphere. In November 2023, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, claimed that there are “two million Nazis” in the West Bank. Bezalel did not provide any evidence of Palestinians putting the Jews in a gas chamber! The ultra-extremist MK Amichai Eliyahu of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party suggested that Israel could drop “some kind of nuclear bomb on Gaza, flattening them, and eliminating everybody there.”
The United States is complicit in the genocide of the Palestinians. The letter of threat is a clear indication of this dual policy. As I was filing this report, news came in that the Israeli tanks have started rolling into Rafah for a final onslaught on the helpless Palestinian people. Israel has refused to call a ceasefire, despite Hamas showing its acceptance in a change of heart.
The shameless Muslim and Arab countries are silently watching the dance of death and destruction in Gaza, along with the passive international community.
(Views are personal.)
