Israel's establishment in 1948 was built on stolen Palestinian land, which it has since claimed to be its own. The decades-long illegal occupation has left millions without a home, without a family, and without the freedom to roam around land that belongs to its people. The illegitimate state continues to >murder Palestinians day in and day out.
Yet, Israel's Defense Forces military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Sharon Afek, still thinks the country is a law-abiding one. But, who is he kidding? Israel is a country whose mere existence is illegal, so really, does he comprehend what law-abiding really entails?
Afek's statements were made on Tuesday in response to demands made to the international court to investigate Israel for its war crimes. Afek >said the International Criminal Court should not have jurisdiction over its conflict with the Palestinians because "Israel is a law-abiding" country.
"The State of Israel is law-abiding, with a strong and independent legal system, and there is no reason for its actions to be assessed by the court," Afek said during an international law conference in Herzliya.
Are we missing something?
Earlier this year, a United Nations inquiry confirmed that Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by targeting unarmed children, journalists, and disabled individuals in response to the Great March of Return demonstrations in 2018. According to the report, Israeli forces killed 183 Palestinians at the time, including 35 children.
Is that what "law-abiding" really means? Does it translate to hundreds of deaths and over 6,000 injuries in Israeli live-fire over a period of nine months?
Does it translate to generations of Palestinians being murdered, imprisoned, and left without a home? Israel has maintained a military occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967 and very little is being done about the segregation and torture Palestinians endure.
Apartheid. Has Afek heard of it? The illegal Apartheid wall runs 280 miles long and has been under construction for 15 years. Eighty five percent of the wall runs inside the occupied West Bank, corroding even more land from the Palestinians, destroying more villages, uprooting centuries-old trees, cutting off Palestinian farmers from their lands and crops, and allowing more illegal Israeli settlers to occupy more territory. And let's not get started with the hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.