A Sober Assessment of Accountability

Richard Falk

In its March 1st, 2009 issue, the influential French monthly publication Le Monde Diplomatique published a very long account of the Palestinian-Israeli developments in light of the impasse caused by many respected figures in wanting to investigate and charge Israel of "potential accountability" for the 22 day blitzkrieg in the Gaza Strip.

The author is Richard Falk, a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University whose analysis here can be regarded as one of the most intimate and complete descriptions of what has been taking place after the conflict in Gaza.

Falk ultimately argues that ever "since the establishment of Israel in 1948", today like never before, the authority is being confronted with serious and much deserved allegations of legit crimes against humanity. With that said, Falk still feels rather skeptical about the "political will" behind these allegations and concurs that it is very likely that Israel will walk away untouched.

Be that as it may, Falk's Le Monde article is quite significant not only because of its peculiar theme but also because it is one of the first post-Gaza conflict accounts of the developments and charges brought upon the Israeli authority.

The Gaza blockade is a direct violation of the fourth Geneva convention that prohibits collective punishment, says Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories.

The article deserves to be translated in many different languages seeing that the most plausible path the Palestinians can now take would have to deal with national legislation and national courts alone initiating prosecution proceedings of war crimes. Falk also notes that such legislation already exists in more than 12 countries or so, including some key EU participants.

In sight of the present crisis still harboring much of the Gaza Strip, it seems rather evident that a great deal of accountability for the horrors of what the Palestinian people endured at the will of Israeli authority was also due to the complacent attitude of the international community. Expecting the Israeli authority to initiate and indulge on the self-critical notion of prosecuting their own officials for war crimes has proven to be futile; the catchy idiom of "beating a dead horse" comes to mind.

According to UN investigator Richard Falk, Israel's refusal to allow civilians any exit route from Gaza as its military rained bombs down on schools and houses appears unprecedented in modern warfare.

We also have to bear in mind that the oppressive political atmosphere in Israel does not allow for any of this to occur. For the innocent, be they Palestinians or Israelis, the future cannot look any bleaker hence it is our collective duty as part of human society to intervene and help resolve the crisis afflicting them with complete detachment and disregard of special interests; these could be political, commercial, religious or military.

Although in comparison to these past few decades it can be argued that progress has been made, the present political climate within the international community still dramatizes the disparity between reality and the media.

In the meantime, exposing the Israeli leadership for who they are and what they have done should not be a priority of the international community - for that is well too evident to most just by analyzing the toll of the 22 day attacks on innocent Palestinians – but ultimately it should be our duty to finally sober up and at least reflect on the importance of holding the state of Israel accountable for any war crimes committed against innocent families. To avoid such an encroaching call for justice is to avoid reality.