Building a world where justice trumps power

International law is fighting for relevance. The outcome of this fight is likely to change the entire world’s political dynamics, which were shaped by the outcome of the Second World War and sustained through the selective interpretation of the law by dominant countries.

In principle, international law should always have been relevant, if not paramount, in governing the relationships between all countries, large and small, to resolve conflicts before they turn into outright wars. It should also have prevented a return to the era of exploitation that allowed Western colonialism to practically enslave the Global South for hundreds of years.

Unfortunately, international law, which is in theory supposed to reflect a global consensus, is hardly dedicated to peace or genuinely invested in decolonization.

From the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to the war on Libya and numerous other examples, past and present, the UN has often been used as a platform for the strong to impose their will on the weak. And whenever smaller countries collectively fight back, as the UN General Assembly often does, those with veto power and military and economic leverage use their advantage to coerce the rest based on the maxim “might makes right.”

Therefore, it should hardly be a surprise to see many intellectuals and politicians in the Global South arguing that, aside from paying lip service to peace, human rights and justice, international law has always been irrelevant.

This irrelevance was on full display through the 15 months of relentless Israeli genocidal war on Gaza that killed or wounded some 160,000 people — a number that, according to several credible medical journals and studies, is expected to dramatically rise.

Yet, when the International Court of Justice last year opened an investigation into a plausible case of genocide in Gaza, followed by a decisive ruling regarding the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the international system began showing a pulse, however faint. The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant offered further proof that Western-centered legal institutions are capable of change.

The angry American response to all this was predictable. Washington has been fighting against international accountability for many years. In 2002, the US Congress passed a law that shielded American soldiers “against criminal prosecution” by the International Criminal Court, to which the country is not a state party. The so-called Hague Invasion Act authorized the use of military force to rescue American citizens or military personnel detained by the court.

Naturally, many of Washington’s measures to pressure, threaten or punish international institutions have been linked to shielding Israel under various guises.

The global outcry and demands for accountability following Israel’s genocide in Gaza have once again put Western governments on the defensive. For the first time, Israel was facing the kind of scrutiny that rendered it, in many respects, a pariah state.

However, instead of reconsidering their approach to Israel and refraining from feeding the war machine, many Western governments lashed out at civil society for merely advocating the enforcement of international law. Those targeted have included UN-affiliated human rights defenders.

On Feb. 18, German police descended on the offices of the Junge Welt newspaper in Berlin as if they were about to apprehend a notorious criminal. They entered the building in full riot gear, sparking a bizarre drama that should never have taken place in a country that perceives itself as democratic. The reason for the security mobilization was a speech by Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer and outspoken critic of the Israeli genocide in Gaza who is the current UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Territories.

If it were not for the UN’s intervention, Albanese could have been arrested simply for demanding that Israel must be held accountable for its crimes against Palestinians.

Germany, however, is not the exception. Other Western powers, lead among them the US, are actively taking part in this moral crisis. Washington has taken serious and troubling steps, not just to protect Israel and itself from accountability under international law, but to punish international institutions, judges and officials for daring to question Israel’s behavior.

Many of Washington’s measures to pressure, threaten or punish international institutions have been linked to shielding Israel.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Indeed, on Feb. 13, the US sanctioned the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor due to his investigations into Israeli officials. After some hesitance, Karim Khan last year did what no other prosecutor had done before: request arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders, Prime Minister Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Gallant. The warrants were issued in November, meaning Netanyahu and Gallant are currently wanted for “crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

The moral crisis deepens when those seeking to implement international law become the accused, as Khan found himself on the receiving end of endless Western media attacks and abuse, in addition to US sanctions.

As disturbing as all this is, there is a silver lining — specifically, an opportunity for the international legal and political system to be fixed based on new standards: justice that applies to all and accountability that is expected from all.

Those who continue to support Israel have practically disowned international law altogether. The consequences of their decisions are dire. But for the rest of humanity, the Gaza war can be an opportunity to construct a more equitable world, one that is molded not by the militarily powerful but by the need to stop the senseless killing of innocent children.

• Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud