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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Killing of Sligo based doctor's brother-in-law and family in Gaza condemned at council meeting
At the County Council's monthly meeting last Friday, Cllr Bree proposed the Council extend its deepest sympathy to Sligo based Dr Alaa Al-Najjar, and to the extended al Najjar family in Gaza and here in Sligo on the tragic death of her husband Dr Hamdi and nine of their 10 children. 'The deliberate Israeli missile strike on their home can only be described as one of the most heartbreaking tragedies to befall a paediatrician who dedicated her life to saving children, only to have her own motherhood stolen from her in a moment of fire, death and destruction,' he said. Cllr Bree further proposed that the Council also extend its sympathy to Dr Ali Al Najjar, who has looked after so many local people in Sligo University Hospital, on the deaths of his beloved nephews, nieces and brother in law Cllr Bree added that the agony and heartbreak that Dr Alaa and her extended family feel today could only be imagined> The UN's special rapporteur for the Palestinian territory described the attack as a 'new phase of genocide' facing Palestinians in the besieged enclave, he said. 'While offering our sympathy and solidarity we hope and pray that Dr al-Najjar's sole surviving child, 11-year-old Adam, who was severely injured, will receive the necessary medical treatment and survive. I would ask members, as a mark of respect to observe a minute's silence,' said Cllr Bree. Meanwhile, speaking on a separate motion tabled by Cllrs Arthur Gibbons, Gino O'Boyle, Thomas Healy and himself, Cllr Bree said they must recognise that 'what is happening in Palestine and Gaza today is not a war; it is a campaign of starvation, destruction and ethnic cleansing. Palestinian men, women and children are being exterminated as the world looks on.' He added that the Irish Central Bank is facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds, raising €4.5 billion for Israel's campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people. Following criticism the Central Bank recently wrote to the Dáil Finance Committee and said, for it to stop facilitating the sale of the bonds, it needed either the EU or the Dáil to intervene. 'It is just over a year ago since the Government recognised the State of Palestine, sending a message to the world that Ireland stands with the people of Palestine and Gaza. ADVERTISEMENT 'However in the intervening period the Irish Central Bank has been facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds. 'Section 5A of the Central Bank Reform Act states: "The Bank is required to perform its functions and exercise its powers in a manner consistent with the Rome Treaty and the ESCB Statute." 'Article 3.5 of that Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union says: In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter. 'In January of 2024 the International Court of Justice found that the Palestinian people in Gaza had "plausible rights" to be protected from the imminent risk of genocide. 'This ruling triggered obligations under the Genocide Convention for countries, including Ireland, to take all possible action to prevent genocide. 'So therefore enacting legislation and regulations to allow the Minister for Finance to prohibit or impose restrictive measures on the sale or purchase of any security or class of security that is issued by or on behalf of the state of Israel, would be in compliance with the Rome Treaty. "The International court of Justice opinion clearly stated not only that we should act but that we have a legal obligation to act and to do absolutely everything that we can. It demands that every state look at every possible lever to exert pressure on Israel. A motion which was tabled jointly by Councillors Gino O'Boyle, Arthur Gibbons, Thomas Healy and Cllr Bree called on the Government to introduce the necessary legislation and regulations, to allow the Minister for Finance to prohibit or impose restrictive measures on the sale or purchase of any security or class of securities that is issued by or on behalf of the State of Israel.
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Leaders Flex Muscles Against International Criminal Court
There aren't a lot of countries Israel's prime minister can visit without risking arrest. Which makes the red-carpet treatment Benjamin Netanyahu received in Hungary — Europe's only proud "illiberal democracy" — all the more noteworthy. Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, invited Mr. Netanyahu right after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant last November for his country's alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. And within hours the Israeli president's arrival in Hungary last week, Mr. Orban announced his country's withdrawal from the court. There are several things going on here, analysts say, which tie together the affinities of Mr. Orban, Mr. Netanyahu and President Trump. Bonding: The International Criminal Court is the most ambitious and idealistic — if deeply imperfect — version of an global judicial system to enforce human rights. Most liberals love it. Mr. Orban, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump hate it. Signaling: Mr. Orban is telling the world that Hungary does what it wants: It may be a member of the European Union, but it is not constrained by it. He's telling China and Russia that Hungary is open for business. And he's telling his voters at home that it's Hungary First all the way. Testing boundaries: At a moment when global institutions are crumbling and a new order has not yet emerged, no one knows what's allowed and what's forbidden anymore. Leaders vs. the judiciary Hungary is not the first country to make exceptions for Israel. The United States and Germany have long done so. Friedrich Merz, Germany's incoming chancellor, has also ruled out arresting Mr. Netanyahu, even as Germany remains a committed member of the International Criminal Court. Hungary is also not the first signatory to the Rome Treaty that established the court to ignore it. When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia visited Mongolia last year, it took no action on an I.C.C. warrant against him. But Mr. Orban's defiance of the court is also about something else: a desire to sideline independent judges, both at home and abroad. 'Quite simply, some international institutions have become political bodies,' he told a Hungarian radio program on Friday. 'Unfortunately, the International Criminal Court is one of these. It is a political court.' The power struggles between leaders and judges — whether international or domestic — have become a defining political theme in many countries, including Hungary, Israel, Brazil and the United States. Mr. Orban, in power since 2010, is seen by conservatives worldwide as a pioneer in asserting power over the judiciary. He has packed Hungary's constitutional court with loyalist judges and forced others to resign. He has battled against European Union courts and blasted their 'judicial overreach' when they take Hungary to task for violating E.U. rules. Mr. Netanyahu, who has denounced bribery and fraud charges against him in Israel as an effort to derail the will of voters, is pushing for his own controversial judicial overhaul. He and his allies have argued that the judiciary has granted itself increased authority, and is not representative of the diversity of Israeli society. Mr. Trump, who was convicted on 34 felony counts before being re-elected last year, says that the many legal cases against him were politically motivated. In recent weeks, his administration has defied several court orders, which could eventually lead to a constitutional crisis. And in February, he signed an executive order placing sanctions on I.C.C. officials in response the arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu. All three leaders — Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Orban and Mr. Trump — talked on the phone about the court during the Israeli leader's visit to Hungary. Mr. Netanyahu visited the White House on Monday, and his office said the I.C.C. was again going to be on the agenda. 'It takes a lawless autocrat like Orban to welcome rather than arrest an accused war criminal like Netanyahu,' said Kenneth Roth, the founder of Human Rights Watch. Mr. Trump's imposition of sanctions on I.C.C. staff, he said, 'is of a piece with Orban's move.' Hungary First As Orban is strategically bonding, he is also strategically signaling to allies, investors and voters that Hungary will not be constrained by international rules and norms. It's a form of identity building, says one prominent thinker about democracy. 'Orban is playing special relations — special relations with the Russia, special relations with Trump, special relations with the Chinese,' said Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Center for Liberal Strategies. 'He's trying to create a story of Hungary being the member of the European Union that can do what they want. ' 'So if somebody wants to invest in a country in the EU, go with Hungary,' Mr. Krastev said. 'Because they can do what they want. They can veto sanctions. They can leave the International Criminal Court. They're kind of the only free spirit in the E.U.' Mr. Orban has called fellow European leaders 'warmongers' because of their support for Ukraine. He's openly lobbying for re-establishing relations with Russia after the war. Welcoming Israel's prime minister in defiance of the international court was another opportunity for him to showcase Hungary's contrarian sovereignty. Mr. Krastev sees Mr. Netanyahu's visit as a precedent — and perhaps preparation — for an even more controversial invitation for someone like Mr. Putin down the line. Mr. Orban laid out his grand strategy for Hungary in a wide-ranging and detailed speech last July, in which he outlined his vision of a new emerging world order. As he sees it, Western liberalism has lost and nationalism is back. For the next decades, or perhaps centuries, the dominant center of the world will be in Asia, he predicted. For a small economy like Hungary, that means ignoring any marching orders from Brussels or Washington to isolate Moscow or Beijing. 'We will not get involved in the war against the East,' he said. 'We will not join in the formation of a technological bloc opposing the East, and we will not join in the formation of a trade bloc opposing the East.' China's top leader, Xi Jinping, during a visit to Hungary last year, promised to invest in the country and open up opportunities for Hungarian firms to invest in China. 'We have received an offer from China,' Mr. Orban said. 'We will not get a better one.' Trump's world order Mr. Orban's defiant welcome of Mr. Netanyahu has highlighted one way the world has changed since Mr. Trump came to power: By throwing out the global rule book on longstanding alliances and trade rules, the American president has given permission to others to break the rules too. They are now testing just how far they can go. 'No one knows what's allowed and what's forbidden anymore,' Mr. Krastev said. 'They're testing the boundaries.' But Trump's ideological allies are also experiencing firsthand the unpredictability of the Trump administration, whose policies won't necessarily be favorable to their countries. Israel and Hungary — a major site of production for Germany's car industry — are among the major exporting countries that have been hit with significant U.S. tariffs. That's the intrinsic paradox of 'America First' for leaders like Mr. Orban and Mr. Netanyahu: It's one thing to make common cause with an ally who shares your nationalist agenda. It's another when 'America First' policies put every other country last.
Arab News
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan calls on Sudan's warring parties to engage, work to end humanitarian crisis
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, has called on Sudan's warring parties to re-engage in negotiations to end a 21-month-long war that has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger. The war between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the two forces. The war has displaced more than 12 million people, while plunging half the population of 49 million people into hunger, for which both the RSF and army are blamed. 'We call on both sides to implement the commitments made under Jeddah declaration on protection of civilians and the facilitation of humanitarian action to meet the emergency needs of the Sudanese people,' Akram said in a speech to the UN Security Council. The Pakistani envoy spoke after the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, briefed the 15-member council on the deteriorating situation in Sudan's Darfur region on Monday. 'The blatant violations of international humanitarian law with impunity must stop, and the suffering of the Sudanese people brought to an end,' Akram said. 'The Sudanese people have seen unimaginable atrocities during the nearly two years of the recent conflict.' He extended Pakistan's condolences to the victims and their families of a RSF drone attack on a Saudi hospital last week in which at least 70 people were killed. 'Pakistan firmly upholds the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sudan,' Akram added. 'We call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire … The parties need to find a sustainable political resolution through peaceful means. The humanitarian crisis in the country needs to be addressed.' Akram said although Pakistan was not a party to the Rome Treaty establishing the ICC, it was committed to the objective of accountability for international crimes, whether they were committed in Darfur, Gaza, Afghanistan, or elsewhere. 'The ICC can gain global credibility if it displays full objectivity and impartiality in the cases and persons it decides to investigate and prosecute,' he said. 'Some jurisdictions have so far been immune from prosecution for widely reported crimes, including those committed in situations of foreign occupation and intervention.'
