I'm so tired of the phrase "must be held accountable". What an over-used, cliched, and often-times empty threat!
Recall the Gaza flotilla of late-May 2010 when the Israeli army surged aboard a fleet of boats headed for Gaza to distribute badly-needed medical, educational, and infrastructural supplies. The raid on the boats left nine people dead at the hands of the IDF, including a 19 year-old Turkish civilian. I found it almost laughable that Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu called this a "clear case of self-defense of the IDF soldiers". Really? The IDF entered International Waters, and boarded a boat carrying non-blockaded goods, and then attacked the unarmed civilians onboard. How can that possibly, in the mind of any logical-thinking human being, be deemed a case of self-defense!? But I digress...
Before I began this post, I wondered what exactly the international community had done to "hold Israel accountable" for the murder of people who were only trying to enhance the incredibly poor quality of life for Gazans? (Notwithstanding that this flotilla should have followed standard procedures for shipping equipment into Gaza, since when is it acceptable for armed people to board a civilian ship in international waters, kill unarmed civilians, and seize the vessels? Last time I checked, that was called "piracy". Not to mention the fact that the blockade on Gaza is unlawful in and of itself - meant to stop weapons and ammunition from entering Gaza, the blockade also banned chocolate, diapers and numerous medical supplies.)
Fortunately, wikipedia has an article on exactly that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid#Reactions
I discovered that many countries condemned, protested, and expressed deep concern and regret over the actions of Israel. Only four countries downgraded their diplomatic relations with Israel and/or withdrew ambassadors: Ecuador, Nicaragua, South Africa, and Turkey. Good for them!
I was pleased to know that the Human Rights Council adopted a vote of 32-3 that condemned Israel's actions and would begin a fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law in this instance. Hopefully this case will yield positive results that will provide justice to all the people affected by the horrible way the IDF acted.
In this instance, maybe Israel will be "held accountable" after all...?...despite clearly being held unaccountable for its occupation of Palestine including the building of the apartheid wall, construction of illegal settlements, wanton destruction of Bedouin villages, violence against Palestinian civilians, diverting water from Palestinian villages and using that water to irrigate their illegal settlements within the West Bank, and the list goes on...
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After the successful protests in Egypt led to the ousting of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, other Arab countries, including Libya, are following suit to overthrow their repressive and oppressive regimes! While Arab leaders are stepping down (Egypt and Tunisia) or trying to quell revolutionaries with promises that they will not run for re-"election" (Yemen), Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi has threatened his country with a bloody massacre, promising to crush all the "cockroaches" who oppose him!
This is an incredibly frightening thing for the leader of a country to say!! The other frightening thing is that the international community has no idea how to respond, other than to condemn Gadhafi's actions (obviously) and say that he would, of course, be "held accountable". Would that be the same accountability that Mubarak is enduring, as he sits with his feet up in Saudi? Mind you, will the US really charge Mubarak for his years of oppression when it was they who funded it? ($1.3 billion in military aid each year)
Hopefully Gadhafi will be "held accountable" for the lives he has commanded his military to take.
I suppose the really ridiculous thing is that all of these countries are talking about "holding people accountable" as though they bear no responsibility themselves. The international community should be trying to *prevent* atrocities and crimes against humanity before they happen!
Speaking positively of my own country, Canada: "Under the previous Liberal government, Ottawa had pushed for the “responsibility to protect” doctrine, which would oblige the international community to take action if a sovereign country is obviously failing to protect its citizens from mass atrocities. The concept has won support from the UN in recent years, but Libya could be a crucial test of the principle."
( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/world-leaders-unsure-of-how-to-respond-to-gadhafi/article1918231/ )
Let's see if the Harper government has the balls to act (likely not...).
Hopefully the world leaders will start acting before it's too late and they have to issue yet another official declaration of their condolences at lost lives and a condemnation of the Gadhafi regime. Save the ink, save your voices, save some lives and take action!
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Maybe it's easy for a 25 year-old Canadian girl to sit back and criticize the world scene for its seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards genocide...but too often the greed for oil allows politicians to sit on their laurels lest they disrupt a relationship with a country that lets them drive their Hummers and other tree-killing SUVs.
Where are our priorities?! Where are the consciences of these people?!
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