Last Resort

 Your worldly host for these proceedings was initially confounded by the suggestion that the ICC would apply for arrest warrants for the arrest of several Israeli government officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar and his associates. 

Not because the warrants were being issued, but just exactly what the ICC was. Turns out there is an International Criminal Court, who "investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute."

I'm not completely clueless here. I had heard of "The Hague" before. A city in the Netherlands that just happens also to be the location of the court of last resort. This is the place where besides growing some truly spectacular tulips, crimes against humanity are tried. This is a place where cases like serial philanderer former game show hosts paying off porn stars take a back seat to genocide. You may be interested to know that the ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Like the forcible taking of Ukrainian children by Russian troops. 

Which is pretty awful, but the situation in Gaza is perhaps even more bleak. The charges against Netanyahu include  starving civilians, willfully "causing great suffering, or serious injury," willful killing and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population. The warrants for Hamas stem from the terror attacks of October 7 of this year. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan wrote, "We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organizational policies."

So, now you know about the International Criminal Court. And what they do. And you can start wondering how the world will react to this news. The White House, for its part, had this to say: "Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.” This comes from the leader of the only country to use a nuclear weapon during war. To attack civilians. Maybe our perspective is skewed.

A little bit.