Rep. Jared Golden made a dismaying decision to vote in favor of sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC), which had ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza. The vote to sanction the ICC by representatives of Congress erodes the ability of the court to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law, whose purpose is to reduce suffering during war.
The legislators passed the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act by a vote of 243-140, mostly supported by 198 Republican legislators. The question is why our representative felt it necessary to join in support of a far-right regime in the Israeli Knesset, led by a man who is disliked by most citizens of Israel.
The intent of the legislation was to sanction anyone who assists the ICC in its attempts to prosecute a citizen of an allied country (i.e., Israel). In this case, it involved posting arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for their leadership in promoting genocide in Gaza.
Perhaps it would be to the benefit of Rep. Golden to do some serious reading on the horrors taking place in Gaza, with more than 45,000 civilians having been killed, including 16,000 children, by Israeli bombs, supplied by the U.S.
Several highly regarded Israeli historians have written about the plight of the Palestinians. That group includes Avi Shlaim, an Oxford University scholar, raised in Israel, who served with the IDF; Shlomo Sand, who teaches at Tel Aviv University and wrote “The Invention of the Jewish People”; and Ilan Pappe, who has published a well-known book, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.”
It appears that Rep Golden is making decisions based on a very limited understanding of the history of Palestine. Is he aware that 5 million acres were expropriated from 750,000 Palestinians in 1947, forcing them into homelessness, and into becoming refugees, many having no choice but to move to Gaza.
There are more than 160 peace organizations in Israel and Palestine that include tens of thousands of well-meaning people devoted to building a shared society of cooperation, justice, equality and mutual understanding. Such groups are among a significant number of Israelis who are opposed to the genocidal bombing and killing that is taking place in Gaza.
Other issues apparently not being taken into consideration by Rep. Golden are the walls of separation between Palestinians and Israelis, which have become ever more pronounced. Such walls are a form of apartheid, which former President Jimmy Carter addressed in his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” He noted that Israel’s “construction of settlements” has been the primary obstacle to a comprehensive peace agreement. In addition, he wrote: “Some Israelis believe they have the right to confiscate and colonize Palestinian land and [then] justify their subjugation and persecution [thus creating a sense] of hopelessness among Palestinians.”
A natural question to ask is whether financial considerations were a motive in Rep. Golden’s decision to vote for legislation to sanction the ICC. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been one of his top campaign contributors.
Ireland, the ancestral home of many of Maine’s voters, recently decided to file a declaration at the International Criminal Court of its intention to intervene in [the] genocide case against Israel’s tactics in its war on Gaza. Ireland believes that every state, of the 189 nations that have signed the Genocide Convention, has the right to intervene in the proceedings based upon the principles expressed in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Rep. Golden still has an opportunity to develop a sense of fairness and justice for all.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.