ICJ Ponders Aid While US Funds UNRWA's Targeters
The International Court of Justice is set to weigh in on Israel's obligations to UNRWA and Palestinian aid, a development the BBC notes gravely. Meanwhile, the United States, fresh from its own legal contortions, recently legislated a complete cutoff of funds to UNRWA until March 2025. This defunding was tucked into the $1.2 trillion spending bill (HR 2882) signed by President Biden on March 9,
2024, effectively penalizing an indispensable aid provider based on unverified allegations that even intelligence agencies couldn't substantiate. So, while the ICJ pontificates on abstract 'obligations,' the US actively starves the primary aid agency trying to avert famine (itself a violation of international law, one might argue). One might wonder if 'international law' applies differently when
you're the world's largest funder of the accused, capable of crippling the very organizations meant to uphold humanitarian norms. How many ICJ opinions equal one US funding cutoff?