Sunday, November 24, 2024

GUESS WHO IS NOT INVITED TO DINNER

Canada will follow ICC warrant and arrest Netanyahu, Gallant if they enter country, Trudeau says

"We are one of the founding members of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. We will abide by all the regulations of the international
 court," he said.

NOVEMBER 23, 2024 
Canada's Justin Trudeau tours the Toronto Holocaust Museum in North York, Ontario, Canada, May 5, 2024(
photo credit: REUTERS/COLE BURSTON)

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the country would abide by the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu and Israel's former defense minister Yoav Gallant and will arrest the two should they enter the country, he told reporters on Thursday at a press conference.

"It's really important that everyone abide by international law. This is something we've been calling for since the beginning of the conflict," he said. "We are one of the founding members of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. As Canadians, we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international court."

US President Joe Biden rejected the ICC's decision to issue the warrants, saying that "whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security." The United States, however, is not one of the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, unlike Canada.

Canada is among 124 countries that are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Hamas on Thursday welcomed the arrest warrants. "We call on the International Criminal Court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders," it said in a statement

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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with members of Canadian Armed Forces in Toronto, Ontario, Canada February 24, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/CARLOS OSORIO)
Student protests across Canada the same day

The same day as Trudeau's comments on the ICC warrant, the Canadian province of Quebec saw about 85,000 students across over a dozen college campuses going on strike for two days, demanding their schools divest from Israel.

The main protest took place at Concordia University in Montreal but was joined by students from McGill and Dawson College.

Joanie Margulies, Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Mathilda Heller, and Reuters contributed to this report.

ICC warrants are binding, European Union cannot pick and choose, EU's Borrell says


Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country.

By REUTERS
NOVEMBER 23, 2024

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a press conference on the day of EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/YVES HERMAN)


European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri (Mohammad Deif) for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

THE INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court in The Hague. (credit: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfill," he told Reuters.

While Borrell welcomes ICC ruling, US rejects decision

The US rejected the ICC's decision, and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza."

The warrant for Mohammad Deif lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Deif.



The International Criminal Court decided to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, based on “reasonable grounds” that they bear responsibility for a war crime and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Global reactions have been mixed. The United States fundamentally rejected the court’s decision. The U.K. reiterated its support for the court but stopped short of saying whether it would arrest Netanyahu if he visited. Donatella Rovera, senior crisis adviser at Amnesty International, answered France 24's question





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