In Episode 325 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case—political, legal and practical—for sending Trump to a jail cell at The Hague to face war crimes charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Actual precedent refutes the conventional wisdom that this demand is "unrealistic." Serbia's long-ruling strongman Slobodan Milosevic died in a cell at The Hague while awaiting trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, while Philippines ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is currently in a cell at The Hague awaiting trial before the ICC. The Court just confirmed that it has jurisdiction in the Duterte case despite the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC. Contrary to the dogma of "American exceptionalism," such an outcome for Trump is within the realm of possibility. (Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons)
An apparent Israeli air-strike on the Iranian capital Tehran "completely destroyed" one of the city's synagogues, according to local media. Footage appeared to show rescue workers searching through the rubble of the ruined Rafi-Nia synagogue, with Hebrew liturgical texts strewn on the ground. The strike came during the Jewish holiday of Passover. There was no immediate report of casualties. A statement from the local Jewish community said: "We, the Jews of Iran, condemn the brutal attacks carried out by the American-Zionist enemy against our dear homeland and the Rafi-Nia synagogue." The the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the IDF "regrets the collateral damage to the synagogue and emphasizes that the strike was targeted at a senior military target within the regime's armed forces, not at any place of worship." (Screenshot via JTA)
Lebanese firefighters, residents, and environmental groups have accused the Israeli militaryof deliberately lighting wildfires across the areas of southern Lebanon it occupies, with some labelling it "ecocide." According to the reports, up to 40% of the land in areas close to the front line has been burned by Israeli drones, flares and munitions since June, with firefighters in some cases attacked as they attempted to respond.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel's announcement of plans to accelerate the authorization of settlement outposts under Israeli domestic law in the occupied West Bank, warning that the move constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the measures following a clash that left four Palestinians and two Israeli settlers dead at the village of Tal, near Nablus. Mosques, farmland and vehicles were set afire during the settler attacks that sparked the clash. Netanyahu simultaneously announced new Israeli military operations on the West Bank. Hundreds have since been arrested in sweeps of Palestinian villages.
Prominent Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit in US federal court alleging a "coordinated" conspiracy between senior Trump administration officials and three private organizations—the Heritage Foundation and online surveillance or "doxxing" groups Canary Mission and Betar—to target him for deportation over his advocacy work. Khalil is a former Columbia University graduate student who became the public face of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism following his detention by ICE last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he has ordered the Israeli military to take over 70% of the territory of the Gaza Strip, adding: "Let's start with that." Defense Minister Israel Katz meanwhile said the government is planningfor large numbers of Palestinians to leave the enclave "at the right time and in the right manner"—which rights groups say amounts to ethnic cleansing. As global attention has shifted elsewhere, Israel has created its own facts on the ground by progressively inching forward the so-called "yellow line" demarcating its area of control. More than 60% of Gaza's territory currently falls within this line, and the Israeli military regularly kills and injures Palestinians in the vicinity of the shifting boundary.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that Israel's treatment of detained flotilla activists is "appalling" and "unacceptable" during a call between the two. This marked the latest in a wave of backlashafter Israel's Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting bound and kneeling detained activists. The activists were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international coalition sailing to Gaza to deliver food and medicine, as well as attempt to break the Israeli blockade of the territory. Forty-five vessels of the most recent convoy were intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces in the territorial waters of Cyprus. The activists were detained without charge, with allegations circulating of beatings and mistreatment in custody. Of the hundreds of detained activists, 12 were Canadian. Nine were returned to Canada last weekend, while one is in Turkey receiving urgent medical care following "appalling abuse."
"Hondurasgate"—an apparent plot involving Israel, the United States, and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández to destabilize Latin America's progressive governments through disinformation—has thrust Israel's ties to the region back into the spotlight. The scandal emerged ahead of a diplomatic visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Central America as part of a push to consolidate alliances with the region's newly ascendant right-wing leaders.
Human Rights Watch protested the Israeli government's plan for increased settler transfers into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, calling the decision a "clear statement of intent to commit war crimes." The $334 million plan, announced by the Finance Ministry, seeks to make the small town of Katzrin the Golan's "first city," by bringing in 3,000 new settler families. Funds are allocated for infrastructure, housing, public services, and academic facilities. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer by an occupying power of any of its own civilian population into territory it occupies. Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, defines such transfers as war crimes. Occupied by Israel in 1967, the Golan Heights has since been declared unilaterally annexed.
Bill Weinberg speaks at the NYC Anarchist Forum on "Neither NATO Nor Qaddafi, Thank You: Anarchist Perspectives on Libya and the Arab Spring," April 27, 2011
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