'What (Israel) is saying is cover your faces or blur your face before posting videos or try to get lawyers, instead of advising its soldiers not to commit crimes' Francesca Albanese says
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has criticized Israel for instructing its soldiers to "cover or blur their faces before posting videos," calling the directive a tacit acceptance of potential war crimes.
"Instead of advising its soldiers not to commit crimes, what (Israel) is saying is 'cover your faces or blur your face before posting videos or try to get lawyers,'" Albanese told Anadolu, describing the Israeli army's approach as "shocking."
"This is first of all an admission that crimes might be committed by Israeli soldiers," she added. Albanese highlighted the importance of universal jurisdiction, in response to an Israeli soldier's recent escape to Argentina while facing imminent arrest in Brazil.
Albanese highlighted the importance of universal jurisdiction, in response to an Israeli soldier's recent escape to Argentina while facing imminent arrest in Brazil.
"Universal jurisdiction is a powerful tool to bring justice where everywhere, everything else has failed," she underlined. "And it's still retributive justice is necessary because it gives a signal to those who exercise power and force that they are not immune from the application of the law."
- 'Greater Israel project is a very dangerous one'
The UN Special rapporteur said Israel violated non-derogable rules of international laws, including prohibition of aggression, annexation of territory by force, imposing a regime of racial discrimination, apartheid, torture, and genocide.
Pointing out the talk of an expanding "Greater Israel" among Israeli leaders and figures in society, she warned Arab nations and neighboring states in the region.
"Now they are openly talking of southern Lebanon belonging to them and part of Syria, looking into Jordan," Albanese said.
"(This hubris) will stop where the international community draws a line," she highlighted.
"Go back to where you belong, because we recognize the state of Israel and this is it. You cannot exercise self-determination on land inhabited by others."
Albanese stated that in 1947-1949, Palestine effectively ceased to exist for non-Jewish Palestinians --both Christian and Muslim-- whose land and homes were seized, leaving most of them as refugees.
She said Israel pushed the limits of permissibility, not under international law, but within its broad exclusivism, allowed by the international community.
"Impunity breeds impunity and it's a very contagious disease," she underlined.
The emerging evidence, images, and testimonies paint a "very grim picture of civilians" who are targeted through bombardments, snipers, drones and automated weaponry, according to the UN special rapporteur.
- Indifference of Western leaders
Albanese noted that empathy and humanity is lacking among many leaders, particularly Western leaders who "preach about human rights and universal values every other day and simply do not see the Palestinians as human."
"I have heard statements, particularly by American and German politicians, (that) frankly seem not to belong to the 21st century," she noted.
She highlighted the contradiction to the progress made in the past 80 years, following World War II and the Holocaust, which "profoundly marked" the Western world's conscience.
Albanese called the US "attack" on the International Criminal Court (ICC) "dangerous and shameful." "Its attitude towards ICC reflects the "hubris of US political leadership," she said.
The special rapporteur said the US does not view the rest of the world as equals, including its closest Western allies, some of whom have pledged to uphold ICC jurisdiction and arrest anyone with an ICC warrant on their soil.
Albanese criticized some ICC members' refusal to enforce the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling it "shameful."
"I wish Poland was alone, there is Hungary and France, they have had similar statements," she added.
- Killing of Anadolu cameraman by Israeli forces
Commenting on the killing of Anadolu's freelance journalist Saed Abu Nabhan by an Israeli sniper, "Palestinian journalists have been targeted at an unprecedented level," Albanese noted.
"I've noticed that against Palestinian journalists there has been a particular vengefulness, spirit of revenge because they were the storytellers," she added.
