For US, UK and Europe, wars, death and destruction are profitable business

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

US President Donald Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, soaked in Palestinian blood, is the most hated person in this planet today. Some describe him as the Jewish Hitler in view of his endless barbarity unleashed on Palestinians in Gaza for decades. Since 8 October 2023 Netanyahu has been bombing and killing Palestinians in Gaza, once a bustling refugee camp which is today a graveyard. Yet his carnage continues unabated.

Irish Member of Parliament Thomas Gould said in the Irish parliament that Netanyahu and his government deserve to be burnt in hell. Hague based International Criminal Court, ICC, declared Netanyahu a war criminal wanted to be arrested and tried for his war crimes.

Israel had asked the ICC to withdraw or invalidate the warrants. It also called on the Court to suspend its investigation into crimes committed in Palestine. The judges said the Court had the legal authority to issue them. They rejected Israel’s claim that the warrants violated the suspects’ human rights or international law.

Netanyahu’s partner in crime

Despite all Netanyahu’s crime records, President Trump, Netanyahu’s partner in crime and also soaked in Palestinian blood, is pressing ICC to cancel the verdict describing Netanyahu a war criminal. However the ICC has rejected.

This very same war criminal Netanyahu was entertained with all honour and respect at the White House this month by United States President Donald Trump, the most powerful president of the sole super power in the world, installed in power by America’s multibillionaire Zionist Jews to serve Israeli interests.

Trump, like his predecessor Joe Biden, called Genocide Biden, remains an active partner with Israel in their genocide against Palestinians. Thus such meetings were accepted by the West. The rest of the world including Arab dictators remain mere spectators.

The mere fact that the US President entertained Netanyahu, perhaps jointly plotting to further destroy Middle East, shows the moral bankruptcy of US together with UK and Europe, openly supporting Netanyahu’s war crimes against Palestinians.

US also vetoed numerous United Nations resolutions calling to end the Israeli genocide in Gaza and made UN ineffective while crippling ICC.

Theoretically “obligated to arrest”

Meanwhile, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese hit out against countries that have allowed Netanyahu to fly over their airspace en route to the United States, suggesting that they may have flouted their obligations under international law.

Albanese said the governments of Italy, France and Greece needed to explain why they provided “safe passage” to Netanyahu, who they were theoretically “obligated to arrest” as an internationally wanted suspect when he flew over their territory on his way to meet US President Donald Trump for talks. All three countries are signatories of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established The Hague-based ICC in 2002.

In the midst on 9 July the US government imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese following her scathing report on 30 June in which she named over 60 companies, including major US technology firms like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which she said were involved in “the transformation of Israel’s economy of occupation to an economy of genocide.”

Albanese said she is undeterred by sanctions imposed by the US. “It looks like I’ve hit a nerve. My concern is there are people dying in Gaza while you and I are speaking, and the United Nations are totally unable to intervene, she said.

End of the rule of international law

Condemning the move, prominent columnist Chris Hedges had this to state;

The sanctioning by the Trump administration of Francesca Albanese is an ominous harbinger of the end of the rule of international law. When the history of the genocide in Gaza is written, one of the most courageous and outspoken champions for justice and the adherence to international law will be Francesca Albanese, who the Trump administration is sanctioning. Her office is tasked.

“The US government’s decision to sanction Albanese for seeking justice through the International Criminal Court is actually all about silencing a UN expert for doing her job, speaking truth about Israeli violations against Palestinians and calling on governments and corporations not to be complicit. The US is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely. UN and ICC member countries should strongly resist the US government’s shameless efforts to block justice for the world’s worst crimes and condemn the outrageous sanctions on Albanese.”

Top UN human rights officials have voiced serious concern over the imposition of sanctions by the US targeting Francesca Albanese. They’re calling for the decision to be reversed, warning it could undermine the wider international human rights system.

Most systematic assault

Columnist Alonso Garamendi said Israel and the US are conducting the most systematic assault on international accountability mechanisms in UN history.

Reacting to the announcement, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the imposition of sanctions on Special Rapporteurs sets a “dangerous precedent”. The use of unilateral sanctions against Special Rapporteurs or any other UN expert or official is unacceptable.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for the “prompt reversal” of the sanctions against the Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur “in response to work she has undertaken under the mandate” she is tasked with. “Even in face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures,” he said.

Jürg Lauber, President of the UN Human Rights Council, also voiced regret over the punitive move by the US. In a statement, he highlighted that Special Rapporteurs “are an essential instrument” in fulfilling the Council’s mandate and urged all nations to “fully cooperate” with them. “I call on all UN Member States…to refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal against them,” he said.

Chilling effect for all special rapporteurs

The US sanctioning of Albanese, has prompted calls for legal action at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on account of her diplomatic immunity. “It’s a dangerous precedent because it creates a chilling effect for all special rapporteurs,” said Agnes Callamard, head of human rights giant Amnesty International and a former UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

“It undermines their independence and their commitment to do their job without fear or pressure of any kind,” she told Middle East Eye. “There is also the risk that other governments may engage in copycat if they are unhappy or dissatisfied with a special rapporteur’s report.”

UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to monitor, report on, and advise on specific human rights issues or country situations. 

Nevertheless, their effectiveness can be limited by a lack of political will or cooperation from states, particularly when access is denied or recommendations are ignored. Special rapporteurs enjoy diplomatic immunity under international law, including protection from legal measures such as sanctions.

However, due to their criticism of human rights policies, they are often subject to retaliation by states. Some, including Callamard and Albanese, have been declared persona non grata or threatened with lawsuits.