A London judge rejected a call to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
As this disgraceful farce is all based on a corrupt and biased UN report, please see previous posts relating to the report:-
Major Error in UN Goldstone Report Calls into Question Work’s Credibility
LONDON (JTA) — A London judge rejected a call to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Barak is in Britain, where the lawsuit for an international arrest warrant was filed Tuesday.
Deputy District Judge Daphne Wickham said allegations of war crimes had been well documented, but added that ”I am satisfied that under customary international law, Mr. Barak has immunity from prosecution as he would not be able to perform his functions efficiently if he were the subject of criminal proceedings in this jurisdiction.”
A British attorney had filed the lawsuit against Barak on behalf of several Palestinian families, who were victims of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, on suspicion of committing war crimes.
Barak, in the country to speak at the British Labor Party’s annual conference at an event for the Labor Friends of Israel lobby, was due to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday and Foreign Secretary David Miliband the next day. The British Foreign office spokesman confirmed the meetings, saying the leaders were to discuss “the Middle East peace process, Gaza and Iran.”
The suit was filed in relation to war crimes committed during Israel’s Gaza military offensive last winter, which Barak oversaw as defense minister. The suit was filed under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which gives courts in England and Wales universal jurisdiction in war crimes cases.
The accusations are based in part on the Goldstone commission’s report to the United Nations, which accused Israel of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
Attorney Michel Massiah, who filed the suit, told Al-Jazeera Tuesday that “There are allegations of war crimes, there are families seeking redress and because these families are seeking redress, they have asked the advice of lawyers in Palestine who have asked the advice of lawyers in the United Kingdom.”
“The request for an arrest warrant for the defense minister is the continuation of a campaign to dehumanize and delegitimize the State of Israel,” said Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to Britain. “The Embassy of Israel in the UK is working together with the British government to have this unsubstantiated motion dismissed. We strive to protect the officials of the defense establishment and IDF officers. As they protect us, it is now our duty to protect them.”
Though Israeli government legal sources recommended he leave Britain immediately, Barak decided not to change his schedule, according to Ynet.
EDITOR
I have just come across this piece from Phillis Chesler at Pajamas Media
Israeli Minister Barak Escapes Arrest in England
British Lawyers Try to Have Israel’s Minister of Defense Arrested as a War Criminal
Really, guys, you can’t be serious.
I am afraid they are maliciously, purposively serious. The noose continues to tighten around the collective Jewish neck, just as I feared it would.
The United Nations just listened to Qaddafi speak — Amadinejad too: they honored these terrorists, monsters, menaces to decent people everywhere, beginning with their own people. The monsters came, they left, and neither assassin nor legal eagle sent them on a one-way trip to Hell or to the Hague.
But British lawyers, acting on behalf of 16 Palestinians, just tried to have Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrested for his alleged “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in Gaza — partly based on their interpretation of the infamous Goldstone Report. How Goldstone could have lent his good name to this treacherous, ignoble document is slightly above my pay grade; only God can judge him now.
Earlier today, Anne Bayefsky referred to the Goldstone Report as a blood libel, quite equivalent to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I totally agree with her.
Tayab Ali, who is representing the Palestinian groups, filed legal papers with London’s City of Westminster Magistrates Court. Ali accuses Minister Barak of “violating the Geneva conventions” as well. Let me emphasize: This lawsuit was brought by an individual, and not by the British government.
In fact, according to Ynet, a Defense Ministry source said the petition was denied following a recommendation by the British Foreign Office. Justice Daphne Wickham rejected the claim altogether, saying that while the papers filed with the court seemed “serious,” under “international law Barak has diplomatic immunity and therefore cannot be prosecuted.”
For now, the British government is protecting Minister Barak. But what about an Israeli civilian-soldier who is not a diplomat? What if an Israeli soldier or ex-soldier is traveling in Europe, Asia, or Africa: What then? Will governments protect ordinary Israelis from becoming prey?
Please recall: The Palestinians leadership launched the al-Aqsa Intifada in the fall of 2000. It continues to this day. The Palestinians have mainly targeted Israeli civilians with bombs and rockets. Lethal anti-Israeli propaganda, boycotts, demonstrations by human rights groups, academics, pro-Palestinian Muslim, Christian, and Jewish groups soon followed, all of which condemned Israel for defending herself and which portrayed the Palestinian aggressors as “victims.”
Please also recall: In 2005, “human rights groups criticised British authorities for failing to arrest Doron Almog, an Israeli general for whom an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes had been issued when his aircraft landed in London. Almog stayed on the plane at Heathrow after being informed that he could face arrest and was allowed to return to Israel.”
Israel, the historic and religious homeland of the Jewish people, was originally conceived of as the solution to the ceaseless persecution of Jews in both Christian and Muslim lands. Now, since anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism, the existence of Israel, especially it’s attempt to defend its people, is being used against both Israel and against Jews everywhere.
Obviously, even an Israeli diplomat has diplomatic immunity. But, to repeat myself: What about any other IDF soldier on leave or in the reserves who happens to visit England and who does not have any diplomatic immunity? If this is not dealt with, then Israelis will be walled up into a new kind of ghetto. Come out—but risk being arrested as an international war criminal.
The rough beast is back, slouching, slavering for Jewish blood. Technology allows us all to see it all. Contrast the carefully reasoned, world-class presentation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanu at the UN with the rantings and ravings of Qaddafi and Amadinejad there. The world has a clear choice to make. Good versus Evil. The Truth versus Big Lies. The government of sane men versus those of madmen who literally wish to destroy the world.
Apathy is dangerous, appeasement is not an option; even as I write, Iran is one day closer to nuclear weaponry.
God, (the IDF too), if you’re listening: The world needs a miracle.
If you have stumbled onto this blog and are not a Christian, get yourself a hot drink, pull up a comfy chair and then tuck into the following article written by one of the best in the business:- All Of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
Tags: Law