ICC Prosecutor statement: Fears over justice for Gaza victims

In the first week of April, 2012, after three years of deliberation, the prosecutor for the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo decided not to bring charges against Israel for war crimes in Gaza since 2002. The stated basis for the decision was given as the fact that Palestine "is not a state." The failure of the ICC to take action in this matter has given rise to very loud cries of "foul" by many commentators, particularly in the Developing World. [See the Amnesty International article below. And this photo is from that article.]

For those who seek "justice" in the law, it should be brought to mind that despite the language of whose who wield the law, "justice" may not be perceived as being the intended outcome.

Law is merely a process of Authoritative Control whereby certain community elites establish and maintain a particular public order.

It is wrong to assume that law always works to the good of humanity. Laws in 1940 Germany meant to oppress Jews, laws enforced in 1940 in the southern states within the United States in order to deny African Americans their human dignity and laws administered by colonial powers Africa in 1940 to oppress Africans give evidence to this fact.

The laws established and maintained by the ICC are no different than any other laws, they are meant to create and maintain a certain order within the global community that work to the benefit of certain elites within that community.

In this sense, law is not unlike a gun. Whether it is used for good or ill is determined by who is using it and at whom it is aimed. Like a gun, law, in reality makes no moral judgment; it merely serves those who hold it in their hands. It is not the gun that is tried for the crime of murder, it is the one who pulls the trigger. And so, we must not condemn law as a process, but we must accuse that would use it for ill.

If you wish the laws of the ICC to better serve an egalitarian and humanistic world, then it must be placed in the hands of those would be egalitarian and humanistic in their purpose. And in order to do this, we must begin to think of the law as a process and recognize it as such; because, in order to control something, you must understand it.

ICC Prosecutor statement: Fears over justice for Gaza victims

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/icc-prosecutor-statement-fears-over-justice-gaza-victims-2012-04-04

THE U.S. VIEWS CUBA THROUGH THE LENS OF RACE

In 1854 U.S. Diplomats penned “The Ostend Manifesto” in which it declared that the U.S. should take Cuba away from Spain – by force if necessary. The question arises, why would the U.S. want Cuba? The answer is in the Manifesto itself.

“After we shall have offered Spain a price for Cuba far beyond its present value, and this shall have been refused, it will then be time to consider the question; does Cuba, in the possession of Spain, seriously endanger our internal peace and the existence of our cherished Union?

“Should this question be answered in the affirmative, then, by every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess the power; and this upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home.

“Under such circumstances we ought neither to count the cost nor regard the odds which Spain might enlist against us. We forbear to enter into the question whether the present condition of the island would justify such a measure. We should, however, be recreant to our duty, be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and become a second St. Domingo [read; “Haiti”], with all its attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to extend to our own neighboring shores, seriously to endanger our actually to consume the fair fabric of our Union.”

http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/havana/Ostend2.htm

Yup, the answer is race. Well, race and slavery. The Southern states wanted to expand the available territory for slavery after the Missouri Compromise and the admission of California as a free state.

Racial issues have always dominated the Cuban landscape; and that is true today as well.

In a 2010 the online article “The fight against racism in Cuba goes viral” written by Marlie Hall appeared among the webpages of The Grio. One of the statements in that article reads:

“According to Afro-Cuban activists, racism against blacks in Cuba is systemic and institutional. They say, to this day, blacks are excluded from tourism related jobs, relegated to poor housing, have poor access to health care, are excluded from managerial positions and are more likely to be imprisoned.”

http://www.thegrio.com/news/the-fight-against-racism-in-cuba-goes-viral.php

Cuba will be an important issue in America’s near future. And for those of us for whom race matters, it is necessary to come to a clear understanding about how the issue of race is being played out in that nation. Is the Cuban government oppressing its African descendants, or is it being unjustly vilified as a racist society in order to diminish its support among African Americans.? And we should also consider the possibility that remnants of the sentiments that drove the penning of the Ostend Manifesto still reside in the breasts of many Americans who would be loathed to suffer an “Africanized Cuba.”