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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2014
9-Dec-14 World View -- State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

Web Log - December, 2014

9-Dec-14 World View -- State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

Canada and Britain close their Cairo Egypt embassies over security concerns

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Canada and Britain close their Cairo Egypt embassies over security concerns
State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

Canada and Britain close their Cairo Egypt embassies over security concerns

British Embassy in Cairo

British Embassy in Cairo

Canada on Monday joined Britain in closing its embassy in Cairo Egypt over security concerns raised by the Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS or ISIL). According to a statement from Canada's foreign affairs minister:

"As a security precaution, and to ensure the protection of Canadian staff, we have closed our embassy in Cairo for the day. We take the safety of our personnel and our mission overseas very seriously. We are monitoring events closely and taking appropriate security measures. ... We don't comment publicly on security precaution specifics at our missions."

According to the UK government web site, "Public services at the British Embassy in Cairo are currently suspended. The office of the British Consulate-General in Alexandria is operating as normal."

The U.S. issued a travel warning, but the Cairo embassy remains open.

The security concerns are thought to be related to recent terrorist attacks in Egypt, and threats by ISIS. The concerns were heightened by a suspicious yellow powder sent to multiple Western consulates in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to an Australian travel advisory:

"Reports of early December, 2014, indicate that terrorists may be planning attacks against tourist sites, government ministries and embassies in Cairo."

Decision on whether to reopen the embassies are being made on a day by day basis. Globe and Mail (Ottawa) and UK Government

State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

Carrying through on his threat, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) with observer status on Monday. In doing so, the PA came one step closer to seeking membership in the ICC in order to bring war crimes accusations against Israel for the Gaza war earlier this year. At present, Palestine has the same observer status as the US, Russia, China, India or any other country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

However, if the ICC takes jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Israel-Palestine conflict, then both sides would have to be held accountable. The Palestinians would have to deal with the following problems:

They would have to prove that Israel's targets were not legitimate military targets, and that the intention was to cause indiscriminate or disproportionate harm to civilians. This would be difficult to prove, since armed Palestinian militias were launching rockets from within the civilian population.

Under its rules, the ICC could only proceed if there were no genuine domestic investigations or prosecutions. Israel has already initiated its own investigations of at least some of the incidents of civilian deaths in Gaza.

On the other hand, Israel could make a much more straightforward case that Hamas's firing of rockets and missiles at Israeli communities had the intention of causing indiscriminate or disproportionate harm to civilians, especially since Palestinian military leaders have stated on numerous occasions that they consider Israeli civilians to be legitimate military targets.

For those reasons, Abbas may completely avoid making charges related to the Gaza war and, instead, accuse Israel of human rights violations in the West Bank. Al Jazeera and Open Democracy

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 9-Dec-14 World View -- State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (9-Dec-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2014 9-Dec-14 World View -- State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

Canada and Britain close their Cairo Egypt embassies over security concerns

State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2014
9-Dec-14 World View -- State of Palestine joins the International Criminal Court