ICJ Orders Aid, Israel Rejects: A Familiar Script
NPR dutifully reports that the ICJ has once again told Israel to permit UN aid into Gaza, an order Israel promptly rejected, declaring the opinion "non-binding." This isn't groundbreaking news; it's a re-run of a well-worn playbook where international law is merely a suggestion for certain actors. While NPR frames this as a fresh development, it conveniently omits that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s government has a history of disregarding UN resolutions and international humanitarian law. One might recall Netanyahu's similar dismissals of UN calls for Palestinian statehood or the protection of civilians in previous escalations in 2014 and earlier. This pattern isn't an oversight, it's state policy, consistently green-lit by nations who loudly champion 'rules-based order'
everywhere but here. Perhaps the ICJ needs to send a strongly worded memo detailing why genocidal situations necessitate aid, as if the concept were new. US politicians, many of whom have received substantial contributions—like the $4.4 million AIPAC contributed to congressional campaigns in 2022, per OpenSecrets—continue to approve billions in unconditional aid to Israel. How many 'non-binding'
international rulings does it take before such 'allies' acknowledge that a pattern of defiance isn't an anomaly, but the established practice? Clearly, some lives are more bind-able than others.