Why Israel Is So Concerned About Jeremy Corbyn
By TruePublica
August 16, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "TruePublica"
- Disinformation and propaganda can take the
form of omission just as much as straight forward lies and
deception. There is no doubt that that all political parties, one
way or another, in the past have been staunch supporters of Israel’s
illegal actions over Palestine and its people, more particularly, in
the offensive of Gaza starting July 2014.
British government complicity that enables impunity of Israeli
war criminals also profits from the death, destruction and apartheid
regime imposed.
A future Labour government under the leadership of
Jeremy Corbyn would almost certainly reinstate the law on Universal
Jurisdiction that was quietly amended by the previous Cameron
government in order to facilitate the entry into Britain of Israeli
politicians and military personnel without fear of arrest for
alleged war crimes.
That contentious action was taken by the then
Conservative Foreign Minister, William Hague, in order to accede to
the demands of Binyamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel, and
against the opposition of UK human rights groups.
The then Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said at
the time:
‘We are clear about our international
obligations and these new changes to existing law will ensure the
balance is struck between ensuring those who are accused of such
heinous crimes do not escape justice and that universal jurisdiction
cases are only proceeded with on the basis of solid evidence that is
likely to lead to a successful prosecution. These changes are
essential to ensure we do not risk damaging our ability to help in
conflict resolution or to pursue a coherent foreign policy.’
In other words, it means the current government
can choose what is and what is not a ‘heinous crime’ and what is and
what is not ‘solid evidence’. This would likely be changed under
Jeremy Corbyn which is why Israel has been vocal in its criticism of
the labour leadership frontrunner.
A legal
update in 2014 included the following;
“Any person, whatever his nationality, who,
whether in or outside the United Kingdom, commits, or aids, abets or
procures the commission by any other person of a grave breach of any
of the scheduled conventions or the first protocol shall be guilty
of an offence”
The “scheduled conventions” cover:
(1) the amelioration of the condition of the
wounded and sick in armed forces in the field / (2) wounded sick &
shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea / (3) the treatment of
the prisoners of war / (4) the protection of civilian persons in
time of war. (The “first protocol” relates to the protection of
victims of international armed conflicts).
And:
Under each convention (Geneva Convention Act,
Criminal Justice Act and International Criminal Court Act) is an
Article (50, 51, 130 & 147 respectively) which sets out the “grave
breaches” – acts including:
wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment,
including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering
or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or
transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a
protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or
wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and
regular trial prescribed in the present Convention, taking of
hostages, and extensive destruction and appropriation of property.
Interestingly almost all of the ‘grave breaches’
stated above have been carried out by Israel either before, during
or after the 2014 Gaza offensive
The re-instatement of this important piece of
human rights legislation would bring Britain back into line with
most of Europe where those alleged guilty of war crimes can be
arrested pending trial.
The current suspension of this law in Britain has
since enabled various members of the previous and/or present Israel
government to visit the UK and to travel freely within the country
to raise funds and/or disseminate propaganda to support the policies
of Likud Prime Minister, Netanyahu, without fear of apprehension by
the authorities.
There is certainly a strong feeling that a
reversal of that erroneous policy is now well overdue in order to
maintain Britain’s obligations to respect human rights and the
International Court.
Sources of information of listed ‘grave breaches’
of the conventions constituting war crimes:
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