On Tuesday, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their role in the genocidal war in Gaza.
The bill, which had already passed through the House, needed 60 votes to advance through the Republican-controlled Senate, but it failed in a vote of 54-45. Every Republican voted in favor, but the bill only received support from one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (PA), who has been extremely supportive of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
“Deeply disappointed by the outcome of the ICC sanctions bill,” Fetterman wrote on X after the vote. “My vote follows Israel—not the ICC that equivocated the democratically elected leader of our special ally to the terrorists and rapists of Hamas.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing. The court sought warrants for two other Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh — but they were both killed by Israel before the warrants were actually issued.
Congress is still expected to pass some sort of legislation to sanction the ICC since Democratic leadership wants to punish the court for investigating Israeli war crimes but thought the bill brought to the floor on Tuesday was too broad and could lead to sanctions against US allies that are ICC member states.
“The ICC bill is one I largely support and would like to see become law,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote. “However, as much as I oppose the ICC bias against Israel, as much as I want to see that institution drastically reformed and reshaped, the bill before us is poorly drafted and deeply problematic..
“Bias” is bs.
An interesting, different perspective on bias, primarily in Germany, but by extension throughout Europe, “philosemitism”:
German Apartheid Politics
Memory, Democracy and Genocide
Wieland Hoban
https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/083TQdMx0j9QuWp59kNadw?si=642e4bd445eb4854
https://thebattleground.eu/podcast/germanys-philosemitism-crisis/
https://thebattleground.eu/book/german-apartheid-politics/
What's that sound? …Never mind. It's the sound of the simultaneous opening of 45 cans of whoop A$$.
I wish. More like make the language better so we can vote like Fetterman (Israel). Or should I say the US' Smotrich.
The whole legislation was illegal to begin with…!
The headline was encouraging and then I made the mistake of reading the article.
Schumer (Israel) summed it up:
“The ICC bill is one I largely support and would like to see become law,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote. “However, as much as I oppose the ICC bias against Israel, as much as I want to see that institution drastically reformed and reshaped, the bill before us is poorly drafted and deeply problematic..
Because of people without honor like him I did not vote this time and may never vote again.
So, after supporting Biden's complicity in genocide, and giving Netanyahu 60 standing ovations, the Dems are finally doing the right thing, or are they just going through the motions to appear to be the opposition?
Good question. Democrats seem wedged between two deeply desirable yet irreconcilable options – support the Apartheid State of Israel at every opportunity, OR oppose Trump at every opportunity ?
If the Dems were a malevolent Star Trek computer, they'd have just self-destructed over this conflict of primary commands.
Absolutely not:
Most likely they need to strengthen the Bill to have some sort of penalty like sanction, prison time, or the death penalty on ICC officials to pass. The House and the Senate like to one-up each other to impress their AIPAC pimps.
The Republicans and President Trump (withdrawal from the WHO, Paris Climate Agreement, etc.) are working against the international community of the United Nations. The USA is losing its reputation in the world, which is why the UN should give up its base in New York.
https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-mast-introduces-sanctions-on-international-criminal-court-for-targeting-israel/
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr23/BILLS-119hr23ih.pdf A copy of the ICC sanctions bill
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8282/text The ICC sanctions bill
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/un-experts-urge-us-senate-reject-international-criminal-court-sanctions-bill
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-senate-republicans-blocking-critical-revisions-of-icc-sanctions-legislation
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-the-worldhealth-organization/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
Agree. Move the UN to Switzerland (legendary neutrality), or India (world's largest democracy), or somewhere in Africa (to honor the origin of our genus).
More:
Sana Saeed @SanaSaeed
Ali Abunimah – arguably the leading long-standing American educator on the occupation of Palestine through El – was arrested in Zurich, ahead of a talk he was invited to give.
This is bone-chilling. Not only a case of more targeting of Palestinian journalists but also to the increasing authoritarian approach Western governments are taking to anti-Zionist, anti-genocide speech.
@AliAbunimah must be released @SwissEmbassyUSA.
• THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
El's Ali Abunimah arrested in Switzerland
The Electronic Intifada
25 January 2025
All Abunimah
The Electronic Intifada's executive director Ali
Abunimah was arrested by Swiss police ahead of a speaking event in Zurich on Saturday
afternoon.
https://x.com/SanaSaeed/status/1883313545527308693
https://x.com/AliAbunimah/status/1883973272695627992
Acceptance and welcome for Authoritarian governance has taken off exponentially in the West, since COVID. Which is not a coincidence.
And notice how all of the so called “news” reporters, who claim to be warriors for free speech and speaking truth to power reported on this arrest of a US citizen journalist by a western ally, nonetheless?
Yeah, me neither.
Exactly.
They are neutral but de facto NATO allies.
The US is putting pressure on the Swiss to join NATO, they need paying members in NATO, maybe to fight Iran and China.
I have been a member of two Unions (and worked at a place that was decidedly Confederate in its wage-slavery, ha-ha) but in neither case was my job a “primary” client of either Union. I was a member of a Government Employees Union but was not a gov’t employee; and the other Union was a generic catch-all Association.
What I discovered, as the Swiss would and Canada & USA & Italy et. al. who are not “front-line beneficiaries” already know in terms of NATO, is that such associations benefit the “needy want-y” members the most and the constant contributors the LEAST.
But union connected jobs are better paid jobs. Of course they are not perfect but neither are the business associations.
They are, yes.
But in the case of NATO membership, for members under no detectable threat (or in a Union, an employee unlikely to be fired or harassed) their fees (2.85% of gross income OR 2% of GDP as the case may be) just subsidize all the other workers/ countries who ARE stirring up s**t with Management (or Russian Federation, or Libya, or Serbia, or Afghanistan) and who aren’t useful to or contributing proportionately to the Union’s financial strength OR NATO’s overall dispensation.
Canada covering Latvia or Romania’s a$$ when they’re of negligible financial or military use to us – neither of which we need for any foreseeable reason apart from the threat that being in NATO casts upon us. Even then, WITAS are they going to do for us ??
https://x.com/jmcevoy_2/status/1883512274310307872
The same quality of bastards who undermined the UN and other international institutions, turning them into an extension of the US GOVERNMENT are still there and if and when they go the same kind of bastards will replace them. Maybe we will have a civil war to change it. That may be the only way to bring about change
bigotry is old school racism
even if your diary
chose you above all
forever and ever
above reproach or law
coincidentally
Fetterman is just another characterless opportunist.