The exceptional immunity in which Israel has enjoyed the international law and its institutions on the edge of the knife for decades. Israel has killed UN workers,, Forbidden UNRWAThey banned the UN entry representatives and have repeatedly insulted the UN and its officials.
The consecutive Israeli government and their allies also took advantage of all funds to execute the pressure on the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to investigate Israeli crimes – from direct threats of physical violence to sanctions and slander. The attacks on the court intensified only after issuing orders to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoava Gallant.
US President Donald Trump – A passionate fan of Israel – has already signed an executive order that re -introduced sanctions for ICC staff members. This is above the other decisions he made – including the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization – which represent a direct attack on international multilateralism. On Tuesday, the US president swallowed his complete disrespect for international law, declaring his intention to “take” Gaza and “his own”.
All these movements ask questions about whether the current global system that leads the UN is beyond salvation.
Despite the fact that in 1945 he “saved the following generations from the war”, the UN has not been able to prevent and stop conflicts for decades. His creation launched the era of “peace for some” – peace for economically advanced states dealing with proxy wars in previously colonized countries. So, do we give up the idea of an international legal order?
As we face the immediate danger of climate change and fast escalation of militarization, it is clear that we need a system that unite people under the ideal of justice. An international legal order not favored by powerful but proposed by various thinkers.
For example, the reputable Chilean legal scientist Alejandro Alvarez suggested a “new international law” some 70 years ago. During his term (1946-1955), as a judge at the International Court of Justice, he claimed that the European legal tradition, which is based on most of the international law, is inadequate to resolve legal issues in places like America.
In a series of opinions that disagree in the cases he discussed, Alvarez called for a “new international law” accepted by a certain historical moment of declonization around the world and reflected the interests and attitudes of decolonized states.
There was a a clear attempt At that time, the state of the global south to seek international law in their favor. However, economically advanced states used their influence to eradicate such attempts.
We are now at a historic moment where these efforts must be restored if the idea of an international legal order is to survive. The action on Palestine can be a driver because genocide in Gaza is an emblematic major patterns of dominance and exploitation that define the current world system.
There are already efforts of the global south states to exclude Israel from the United Nations. Petition signed 500 legal scholars He also called on the UN General Assembly to remove Israel to preserve his legitimacy.
In response, the US Congress sent a letter to the UN secretary to Antonia Guterres, threatening to withdraw to us financing if such vote should go forward. Although the power of the US lobby to the UN is no secret, the public threat to withdraw funds from the UN if it executes its normal functions, it is a form of economic coercion that publicly undermines the powers of the institution and the premises of international law.
If they now decide to reduce the funds for the entire UN, then there is a clear answer – to move the UN outside the US -Ai Fortress of Europe somewhere in the global south. Moving the UN headquarters from New York would drastically reduce costs, promote global support for the south and enable its stronger participation. This would be removed with the dilemma of an international legal institution based in a country that proved to be the most consistent perpetrator of the crime that the institution was created to prevent.
At an institutional level, history clearly shows the need to abolish the institutional structures that the Imperial authority draws, such as the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Calls to abolish these institutions are led by the leading figures of the movement of decolonizations such as Thomas Sankar and Amilcar Cabral. As a platform for Global South Voices, the UN -AI General Assembly of the International Court of Justice must be endowed with more power – this point was repeatedly claimed by Algerian judge Mohammad Bedjaoui. Furthermore, this may be a moment of fast international adoption of a law based on historical efforts to create a new international legal order. The Pacific Islands are already challenging International law limitations asking ICJ to invest in state responsibility for climate change.
The progressive International, coalition of progressive organizations from around the world, recently sought to revive some past efforts by launching a project for the development of a framework for the new international economic order. There is power in the unity of votes, and the people of the global south are united in their experience of economic and physical domination and obedience. In order for such a change to happen, political tides should be harmonized – even just briefly.
The current moment of genocide, neocolonialism, climate crisis and sick impunity imposes a duty to re -examine the status quo. Cynicism is something we can’t afford. We need to start the foundation of a new international legal system that finds Vrlin in justice, not power.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeere.
