British Lawyers Seek Arrest of Ehud Barack on War Crimes

The Guardian is reporting today that 16 British lawyers have filed to obtain an international arrest warrant for Ehud Barak, accusing him of committing war crimes in Gaza.

Fat chance. If recent history is any indicator then it would appear that these laws only apply to people of color in former Soviet or American puppet states as well as a couple of people in the Balkans.

Nonetheless, the Guardian reports:

The legal action relates to alleged war crimes and breaches of the Geneva conventions during the war, which was launched by Israel in response to Palestinian rocket attacks and widely criticised internationally. The death toll is disputed, but the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem found that 1,387 Palestinians died, among them 773 people not taking part in hostilities.

Solicitors are asking a district judge at the City of Westminster magistrates court to issue a warrant for Barak’s arrest under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which gives courts in England and Wales universal jurisdiction in war crimes cases. The application alleges that Barak has committed offences against the 1957 Geneva conventions.

Barak, who is also deputy prime minister of Israel and leader of the country’s Labour party, could argue that his government office guarantees him “state immunity” from prosecution. But lawyers from two London law firms, Irvine Thanvi Natas and Imran Khan & Partners, believe the warrant that the international criminal court issued in May last year for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, offers a precedent. Bashir is accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.

This would be the shock of 2009 if Barak were dragged away in handcuffs, but don’t hold your breath in anticipation.

gaza, january 2009. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

“Death to Britain?” What gives Iran?

While traveling through Shiraz about one year ago I happened upon a conversation with a thirty-something man about massive drug abuse in Iran. During the conversation, I was surprised to learn that in addition to heroin, crack had made its way into the Islamic Republic. “Crack?!.” I asked him, “how on Earth did that get to Iran?”

“Those bastards the British brought it!,” my Shirazi companion told me.

I have been thinking about this conversion since recent news is full of accounts (here and here) of Iran’s leadership blaming the post-election unrest on British (and Zionist) agents. To the rest of the world, this is an absolute absurdity, but from the perspective of Iran watchers the Britain accusations are clever politics by the state.

By blaming the British for some of the unrest, the regime might be able to make certain factions from the reform movement think twice before taking to the streets.

Those who know Iranians well soon realize that Iranians are conspiracy theorists and have been for quite some time. But then again, they are not without reason.

Although never colonized, 19th century Iran found itself caught in the middle of the “Great Game” of imperial politics between Britain and Russia. The results were devastating for Iran. Concessions were handed over and the country was left impoverished as the imperial powers walked away with great material wealth and substantial political power. Just take the Reuter Concession as one example, which Lord Curzon (the British Viceroy of India) called, “the most complete and extraordinary surrender of the entire industrial resources of a kingdom into foreign hands that has probably ever been dream of, much less accomplished.”

The 20th century did not bode better for British-Iranian relations, most specifically, Britain is long remembered in Iran as having had a major hand in the overthrow of the democratically elected Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 which Stephen Kinzer chronicles in his excellent book, All the Shah’s Men.

These days, Tehran can’t scream “Death to America” now that America’s president quotes the Koran and has called for a dialogue with Iran and other Muslim societies. With Russia a firm regional ally of Iran, all that’s left to blame for the unrest (from the State’s perspective) is little old England (and those pesky Zionists.) So there you have it…”Death to Britain” it will have to be.

I will leave you with a joke an Iranian friend once told me about Iranian Conspiracy theories: An Iranian marine biologist came across two worms fighting at the bottom of the ocean. When he was asked the cause of the worms’ conflict he replied “The British.”

Caption from a 1911 English satirical magazine reads: “If we hadn’t a thorough understanding, I (British lion) might almost be tempted to ask what you (Russian bear) are doing there with our little playfellow (Persian cat).” (great find wikipedia people!)