‘We should welcome Palestinian membership of the International Criminal Court’
‘We should welcome Palestinian membership of the International Criminal Court’
SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is extremely critical of the Israelis’ withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, a measure taken in response to the latter’s application for membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC). ‘The Israeli action means that the Palestinian government is losing €100 million per month’ says Van Bommel. ‘This could lead to major problems in the Palestinian territories. It has every appearance of a collective punishment by Israel on the Palestinians.’
Human rights organisations have observed time and again that impunity is the rule when it comes to war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, as was shown last summer during the war in Gaza. Membership of the ICC will open new possibilities to combat this impunity.
‘It’s important that Foreign Minister Bert Koenders and his European colleagues take action to put pressure on Israel so that payment of tax moneys to the Palestinian administration is immediately restored,’ insisted Van Bommel. ‘In addition, the Palestinian application for membership of the Court must simply be welcomed, because further enlargement of this institution’s jurisdiction is very much to be desired. Finally I am asking the minister to encourage Israel also to join the ICC.’