Palestine requests to join the ICC. Is this the start of a new era?

 

Palestinian President Abbas speaking with his nemesis and main source of income, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. 

     In a shocking turn of events, President Abbas has finally done something that may bring hope for peace in Palestine. President Abbas formally requested for Palestine to become a part of the International Criminal Court. This is a long overdue action, that must be applauded. For those unfamiliar, the ICC works out of The Hague in Switzerland and is responsible for prosecuting persons guilty of  genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and other related war crimes. This request comes after the continuing rejection of all Palestinian proposals including ending the ongoing construction of settlements happening on Palestinian territory. The ICC may give hope to all Palestinians looking to prosecute Israel for the blatant violation of international law and nonstop murder of Palestinian civilians.
        It will take a minimum of 60 days before the ICC responds to the application, although Palestine are expected to be admitted. The real question is whether the ICC will charge Israel for the obvious war crimes and atrocities that have taken place in recent time such as the summer 2014 Gaza attacks. Both Israel and the United States refuses to join the ICC, for fears of their civilians being prosecuted in any laws other than their own.  So far the ICC has only been effective in one area of the world, Africa. They have charged and arrested several African rebel leaders that have committed similar war crimes to the one that happened in Gaza. The massive death toll of 2,200 people, 80% of which were innocent civilians should do more than just raise a couple eyebrows, but rather be a call to action in ending the seemingly endless and extremely bloody conflict. A report by Amnesty International even labeled the Gaza attacks as war crimes. However, Israel have faced no jurisdiction for their inhumane actions but rather continued support from countries such as the United States. In addition, every Palestinian proposal for peace has been immediately shut down, for somehow "hindering the peace process". It has become obvious that there is no point in trying to settle an agreement with a nation that does not want anything to change, so Palestine must look to the ICC for help.
      It is important to note that this prosecution is a double edged sword. Although Palestine will be looking to charge Israel with war crimes, a full investigation will be under way and it may backfire and charge Hamas militants with aggressive actions. However, compared to the 2200 Palestinians killed and the thousands displaced and injured, 67 Israeli military members were killed. Although the killing is just as awful and must condemned, all those who died were members of the Israeli armed forces and knew what they signed up for. This is compared to the thousands of innocent children that were targeted and murdered by those same Israeli forces. The ICC does not have the ability to charge states, entities, or organizations but only persons. This will be a barrier to charging the entire Israeli government for their terrorist actions, but a persecution of any high ranking Israeli official would be a powerful statement against Israel. Israel has already condemned the request to join the ICC and has even gone as far as to freeze all Palestinian tax funds. They said that 127 million dollars collected for the Palestinian Authority will be held back to condemn them for finally acting out. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat did not take long to call out this action, calling it "a new war crime." This is not the first time Israel has done this unjust act, in April of last year they did the same thing because President Abbas applied to join several international conventions and treaties. Through this, it is clear Israel is trying to control Palestine both physically and mentally, and now fear possible punishment for their actions.
     Celebrations should not begin anytime soon, for it is a long time before any type of Israeli punishment would be put in place.  It will take 2 months alone before Palestine is admitted, and then another several months before a conclusive investigation will take place. However, this act of bravery by President Abbas is definitely a first and will hopefully continue in attempting to charge Israel externally, rather than continuing trying to reach peace. This may be the first step in ending the occupation and freeing Palestine.

Is the start of a movement against Israel and for Palestinian independence? Or is this just another public sham that will result in nothing but more Palestinian embarrassment? Only time will tell.