The Jewish Entity is Setting a Dangerous Precedent – but was it the First to Do So?

The actions of the Jewish entity are worrying analysts across the world who are wondering what their blatant disregard for international law means for the future of all the ideals that they hold so dear. The reason for this is because of the significance that ‘precedence’ holds in Western law. It is supposed to help ensure that there is a consistency, reliability, and predictability in court decisions in order to increase confidence in the judicial system.

By consistently, reliably, predictably and blatantly showing a disregard for every significant aspect of their international law, the Jewish entity has made people scared for the future of the system.

Most recently, when the Jewish lawmakers passed two laws severing ties with UNWRA, threatening the agency which provides aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on the occupied soil of Palestine. Under the first law, the U.N. agency, would be banned from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside the Jewish entity. The second law would sever diplomatic ties of the Jewish entity with the agency. It brands the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) a “terror” group and bans the humanitarian organization from operating on the occupied soil of Palestine.

“The law that we passed now is not just another bill. It is a call for justice and a wakeup call,” said lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who co-sponsored one of the bills. “UNRWA is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas.”

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, meanwhile, said the Knesset move set a “dangerous precedent” as it “opposes the UN Charter and violates the State of ‘Israel’s’ obligations under international law”. (Source)

This decision marks the latest step in the Jewish entity’s disregard for the United Nations and its various agencies. It is also just one of the steps in the Jewish entity’s blatant refusal to abide by international law. They have ignored the laws on human rights, disregarded the illegality of their occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, blatantly used illegal white phosphorous weapons, and refused to allow aid to reach the Palestinian people. They have encouraged illegal settlements across the Palestinian territories, justified their disregard for laws that govern war, and have launched attacks on journalists and UN workers, launching drone strikes on UN designated areas in Gaza. And then there are the attacks on Lebanon and an assault on the Iranian embassy in Syria.

“The ramifications of this act are profound, not only politically but also legally. This attack blatantly contravenes established norms of diplomatic immunity, a principle that has been a cornerstone of international law for centuries. By undertaking this aggressive action, the Israeli leadership has demonstrated a blatant disregard for these global legal standards.” Source

They have committed all of these acts under the guise of the ‘right to defend themselves’, stretching it to cover all manner of acts that are supposed to be illegal under international law and ignoring the objections of the UN and human rights organizations across the world.

The global outcry has been immense. So why have the USA and officials in other Western nations consistently denied, misinterpreted or refused to accept the facts that we all are witnessing? Are they inept or simply deluded?

It is safe to safe, that in most cases, it’s neither. The issue is that they cannot acknowledge what is happening – because then they have to choose between the international laws that allow them to maintain control over the entire world and their desire to support the Jewish entity, and they cannot do either not until their plan in the region has come to fruition.

But they also have to toe a careful line, because if they openly acknowledge that they are allowing such a large breach of international law (without legal justification) how can they hold anyone else to account in the future? And that is why everyone walks away astounded at what seems like blatant stupidity.

If we look back at Netanyahu’s choice to compare 9/11 with October the 7th, it’s not an insignificant choice, though perhaps it would be more accurate to compare it with the War of Iraq, at least in the context of this article, because in international law, and political analysis, that was a turning point in history. The US didn’t only defy international law, violating of the United Nations (UN) Charter and the principles governing the use of force, they also shifted how states conceptualized threats, how they justified military action, and how the rules of war adapted to the rise of non-state actors like terrorist groups. The ‘War on Terror’ that followed changed international law and lay the basis for the Jewish entity’s ability to justify their attacks on Gaza by arguing that it’s actually a war against Hamas.

Now, according to International law, the War of Iraq was illegal. But at the time, there were no repercussions, the USA was not held to account, and so the choice of the world to simply ‘condemn’ the act gave us a War on Terror that has lasted more than two decades. And now, 23 years later, we have been watching in horror and disgust as the Jewish entity commits similar acts in Gaza.

It makes you wonder, with these precedents being set, what will the future bring? America established a legal justification for invading a legitimate state in order to eradicate against their national interest. The Jewish entity took that legal justification and stretched it to horrific proportions.

And yet, once again, all we see is a repetition of condemnations and denials. Do we think that things will get better? They didn’t before, in fact they are worse. The world leaders have failed to hold the USA – and the Jewish entity – to account again, and that in itself sets a precedent for any future actions that either state will take.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Fatima Musab
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir