This 1945 file picture shows the interior view of the courtroom of the Nuremberg Trials against Nazi leaders in Nuremberg. (dpa via AP)

“The ICC will act according to a legal plan, according to the ‎legal measures for extradition and prosecution, and there were ‎experiences with this after World War II: the court in Nuremberg and ‎in Tokyo for prosecuting and punishing the Nazis.” 

By Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch

Earlier this month, the pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court ‎‎(ICC) issued a decision granting the ICC jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute ‎Israelis for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against ‎Palestinians in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. ‎

The decision came despite the fact that Israel is not a member of the ICC, and there ‎is no “State of Palestine.” Nevertheless, the PA has been a member of the ICC – a ‎right otherwise reserved for states – since 2015.

The ICC’s decision also opens the ‎possibility of prosecution of Palestinians who have committed such crimes against ‎Israelis.

Praising the ICC’s decision, PA Minister of Justice Muhammad Al-Shalaldeh ‎compared the ICC’s prosecution of Israelis with the Nuremberg prosecution of Nazi ‎leaders.‎

“The International ‎‎[Criminal] Court (has full authority for judging and extradition. The ‎Israeli settlers, or the Israeli war criminals… There will be a list of ‎names that may begin- We can investigate the [Israeli] prime ‎minister… The ICC will act according to a legal plan, according to the ‎legal measures for extradition and prosecution, and there were ‎experiences with this after World War II: the court in Nuremberg and ‎in Tokyo for prosecuting and punishing the Nazis,” Al-Shalaldeh stated February 7 on the ‘Palestine This Morning” program on official PA TV.‎

PA Prime Minister Shtayyeh also welcomed the ICC’s decision and its “ruling” ‎that “Palestine is a state.” He furthermore exploited the opportunity to ‎whitewash all Palestinian terror against Israel as mere “defense.”

Asked if he would ‎welcome an ICC probe into the crimes of Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas, ‎Shtayyeh said: “Of course not,” claiming that “Palestinians have never been on the ‎attack,” but “always on the defense,” he told a France 24 interviewer. ‎

“We are very happy to see the decision by the ICC… ‎Not only because of the opening of the investigation but also the court ‎has ruled that the Palestinian territory is the West Bank, including East ‎Jerusalem as well as Gaza and that Palestine is a state! … I think it is ‎very important that the whole world will realize the crimes that have ‎been committed by Israel,” he said. ‎

The journalist asked: “But this could also imply possible crimes by ‎Palestinian groups, especially Hamas. Would you also welcome that?”‎

“Of course not,” Shtayyeh responded. “I mean, by all means we will leave it to ‎the court to decide in which direction to take the investigation, but by all ‎means, Palestinians have never been on the attack. Palestinians have ‎always been on the defense.”‎

The head of the PLO’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, Qadri Abu Bakr, called the ‎ICC’s decision “a national achievement saturated in the blood of the Martyrs, the ‎wounded, and the prisoners,” and called on the ICC to hurry,” the independent Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported on February 6.‎

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that PA Minister of Justice earlier admitted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel.‎