Rafah invasion continues...
...despite suspension of US weapons shipments to Israel, UNGA upgrading Palestine's rights as Observer State at the world body, South Africa requesting ICJ emergency measures to restrain Israel, etc.
Note to readers: the article exceeds the length limits of the e-mail. To read it in its entirety, just click on the title to open the full online version.
This morning The Guardian reported that the Israel “Defense” Forces (IDF) ordered evacuation of central Rafah, while eastern Rafah is shelled:
All this is happening despite suspension of shipment of US weapons and ammunition to Israel, allegedly because of the ongoing Rafah invasion by the IDF, as reported by The Guardian a few days ago. Apparently, the Outlaw US Empire has suspended the supply of thousands of large bombs to Israel since last week; however, the Biden administration is doing nothing else (e.g. sanctions) to stop the invasion and bombing of Rafah and the wider Gaza Strip. So, how is such a pause in the US supply of weapons and ammo to Israel affecting the Israeli military operations in Gaza and Rafah in particular?
In short, it is not affecting them that much. First of all because, as we can see, the invasion of Rafah is continuing nevertheless. Secondly because Israel has enough weapons and ammo for the Rafah operation from previous shipments, as confirmed by an anonymous senior official from the Biden administration to the Washington Post and by the IDF itself to the Times of Israel.
I suspect that the Biden administration is just acting and only temporarily stopping the shipment of US weapons and ammo to calm down the growing and ongoing student protests in American and European universities, especially considering that US Presidential elections are less than 6 months away from now, although Joe Biden apparently risks impeachment for daring suspending weapons supply to Israel, as reported by Al Mayadeen. Again, this may be part of a theatrical play.
In the meantime, yesterday (Friday 10th May 2024) the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution recognising Palestine as qualified to become a full member of the UN, upgrading Palestine’s rights as an Observer State at the world body and recommending that the UN Security Council (UNSC) “reconsider the matter favourably”. The text received 143 votes in favour, 9 against and 25 abstentions - the NOs represent about 5% of the world population (~8 billion): the Outlaw US Empire, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau. The meaning of this resolution is explained very well in the following excerpt from this page of the UN website:
Here are some of the changes in status that Palestine will have a right to later this year:
To be seated among Member States in alphabetical order
Make statements on behalf of a group
Submit proposals and amendments and introduce them
Co-sponsor proposals and amendments, including on behalf of a group
Propose items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular or special sessions and the right to request the inclusion of supplementary or additional items in the agenda of regular or special sessions
The right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly
Full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or, as appropriate, of other UN organs
The green light from the UNSC is still a necessary condition for Palestine’s full UN membership, which the Outlaw US Empire vetoed almost one month ago (see my post in the link below).
Before the vote, the Israeli ambassador to the UN headquarters, Gilad Erdan, accused the UN of opening the world body “to modern Nazis”:
“This day will remain remembered in infamy”, he added, speaking of a “Palestinian terrorist state that would be led by the Hitler of our time”.
“You are shredding the UN Charter with your own hands”, he said, passing some pages of the document through a paper shredder. The ambassador also accused the Palestinians of “not being peace-loving” and accused most of the delegations present (without naming names) of “hating Jews”. “For you the UN Charter means nothing, ‘nada’, ‘kaput’”, the Israeli ambassador concluded.
The funny thing in this pantomime is that he himself, Gilad Erdan, Israeli ambassador to the UN, is shredding the UN Charter with his own hands, which is exactly what his country and his enablers (i.e. the Outlaw US Empire and its vassal states) are doing in Palestine every day with the genocide of Palestinians by bombing and blocking humanitarian aid, including food, water and fuel.
What is happening in the UN is quite critical. In fact, as reported by Fox News, if the UN recognized Palestine as a full member State, then US federal law could force the country to stop funding the UN. Yes, you read that correctly!
Section 404 of Public Law 101-246, approved in 1990, clearly states the following:
No funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states.
Now, if the Outlaw US Empire stopped funding the UN, then the former would lose its right to vote at the UNGA, according to Article 19 (Chapter 4) of the UN Charter:
A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. The General Assembly may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member.
It is not clear to me if a permanent member of the UNSC (such as the Outlaw US Empire) could lose also its right to vote also at the UNSC.
In any case, according to Article 6 (Chapter 2) of the UN Charter:
A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
I think it is fair to say that the Outlaw US Empire “has persistently violated the Principles” of the UN Charter and, as such, it should be expelled from the UN by its General Assembly.
The thing is quite funny if you consider that Ariel Cohen, Senior Fellow, Non-Resident, at the Atlantic Council, explained in this article on The Hill how to expel Russia from the UN soon after Russia started its Special Military Operation in Ukraine ~2 years ago. A summary can be found also on Wikipedia:
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and adoption of General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1, the presence of Russia in the United Nations Security Council has been questioned. Specifically, it was pointed out that a permanent member of the Security Council with a veto power became a rogue state without consequence.[4] Although the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics's membership is enshrined in Article 23 of the United Nations Charter and its veto power cannot be revoked because of Article 27 of the Charter, a mechanism has been proposed to expel Russia (which inherited the USSR's position in the UN following the disintegration of the USSR in 1991) or suspend its membership. It involves expulsion through the General Assembly, which can be done under Article 18 of the Charter because if a country loses its seat in the Assembly, it also loses its seat in the Security Council.[4] For that, a resolution proposing Russia's expulsion or suspension should go to the General Assembly from the Security Council, under Charter's Article 12.[4] The General Assembly then must vote by a two-thirds +1 supermajority in favor of expulsion or suspension.[4] Under Article 27 of the Charter, when the Security Council is deliberating an issue concerning one of its members, a party to the dispute shall abstain from voting. This allows the Security Council to avoid Russia's veto when sending the issue to the General Assembly.[4]
Anyway… it looks like the tide is turning!
Another event worth mentioning is the fact that yesterday (10th May 2024) South Africa urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top court, to issue more emergency measures to restrain Israel. As reported by AP News…
South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah; to take measures to ensure unimpeded access to U.N. officials, humanitarian organizations and journalists to the Gaza Strip; and to report back within one week as to how it is meeting these demands.
Also, this morning the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his genocidal actions in Gaza, as reported earlier today by Al Mayadeen. This shows a lot of courage especially after 12 US senators sent a threatening letter to the judges to dissuade them from convicting the war criminal Netanyahu, as reported by Politico a few days ago. This is an excerpt from the letter that the 12 US lawmakers wrote to the ICC judges on 24th April 2024:
Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.
You have been warned!
Nevertheless, I bet that all these US senators welcomed the ICC's arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin as much as Joe Biden did last year:
If the ICC issues an arrest warrant for one of the enemies of the Outlaw US Empire, that’s perfectly fine!
If the ICC issues an arrest warrant for one of the friends of the Outlaw US Empire, that’s very bad!
And let’s not forget the American Service-Members' Protection Act, also known as “The Hague Invasion Act” (link to Wikipedia for summary and overview), according to which the President of the Outlaw US Empire (PotOUSE) can use…
all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court.
Meaning that, if the ICC dares to arrest the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, then the PotOUSE is allowed to order a military action, such as an invasion of the Netherlands, where the ICC is located (at The Hague), to protect him from prosecution or rescue him from custody.