Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni canceled a visit to Britain this weekend over fears pro-Palestinian lawyers would seek to have her arrested.
Ms Livni had been due to speak at Sunday’s JNF Vision 2010 conference in Hendon, north-west London. She had also been expected to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown for private talks.
But she pulled out of the trip for fear of lawyers obtaining an arrest warrant.
International law experts from the Israeli Foreign and Justice ministries have also advised Israeli officials to avoid Spain, Belgium and Norway, out of fear of similar “universal jurisdiction” arrest warrants for war crimes.
Haaretz reports that an arrest warrant for Livni was in fact issued for her role in last winter’s Israeli attack on Gaza. Although Livni’s office has said she canceled her appearance due to "a scheduling conflict," they also said that "the opposition leader was proud of all the decisions she made as foreign minister during the Gaza war."
Related posts:
- Tzipi Livni won’t be visiting the UK any time soon
- Israel Wants to Claim Livni as Its Obama (Good–Now Rise to the Occasion!)
- Livni said to fear prosecution!
- American press reported on Roxana Saberi’s arrest in Iran; will it pick up Amira Hass’s arrest in Israel?
- Reporter calls Livni a ‘terrorist’ at National Press Club
{ 36 comments }
proud of being part of War criminals, how cruel these Zionists are!
Tzipi Livni. Proud, but petrified.
At least she would not have been subjected to the same ordeals one can only imagine Palestinians go through upon arrest. Israeli officials should be barred from visiting all countries that treat their citizens equally.
If shes so proud she should stand trial for war crimes.
She’s full of pride, Mr. Bradley — not bravery.
Chaos:She’s full of pride, Mr. Bradley — not bravery.
Ironic actually, since the entire “Cast Lead” massacre was intended to show voters how “brave” she was. In Hebrew, this kind of behaviour is called “being strong with the weak”.
The USA and Israel hide lots of war criminals if the judge be the international ethical principals articulated
at Nuremberg after WW2, followed by Geneva conventions.
Meanwhile Shrub has joined the ranks of the “Positive Thinkers” selling their kool-aid
for a good buck. Chaney continues to play Doctor Strangelove. The Zionists neocon
propagandists emerge ever new before our eyes as neocons cum neoliberals when it comes to giving Israel free reign in the best interests of “the realm.”
Go UK!
Just think: should the US become a broke, imperial has-been, we too might cultivate a healthy respect for international justice..
Will never happen. A sitting FM from Israel arrested by an EU nation? Never ever ever. Thinking beyond the first move, however, if it did it would benefit Israel enormously.
A sitting FM from Israel arrested by an EU nation … would benefit Israel enormously.
Please explain. If this would have been such an enormous benefit to Israel, why didn’t Livni go ahead with her trip and ‘take one for the team’?
Sitting FM, OJ? Livni is former FM and current Leader of the Opposition (i.e. an ordinary MK). I think her better-safe-than-sorry change in travel plans was a wise move. Besides, cramping the style of Israeli pols and generals, and making them feel unwanted in Europe is far more effective than actually almost arresting them and having the Foreign Office illegally intervene at the last minute. On second thought, the latter sounds nice too ;-)
@slowereastside
You’re already a a broke, imperial has-been, and you’ve forgotten the high standards that you set before the Nuremburg Trials and the Geneva Conventions.
@ihsan
“Tzipi Livni. Proud, but petrified.
At least she would not have been subjected to the same ordeals one can only imagine Palestinians go through upon arrest. Israeli officials should be barred from visiting all countries that treat their citizens equally.”
Superb.
Great, I can rescue a moment of pride at being British, then I remember… Iraq… Tony Blair… complicity in torture of “terror suspects”… :(
Perhaps Israel can retaliate by issuing an arrest warrant for Blair, that’d stop him jaunting around in his perverse joke job as Quartet Middle East Peace Envoy?
Amazing that she fears the consequences, but still no plans for change, which tells you they will do the same damn thing if not worse. Perhaps we should go hunting, I mean even though some of the stories about Nazi hunting were questionable (as to truth by some) maybe this could be my shot. Going after war criminals, what a role reversal.
“We are right, and they are all against us.”
If there is any idiotic action that will precipitate an escalation of conflict it would be England or Spain or Sweden arresting Tzipi Livni.
Will Obama be arrested when he arrives in London (presiding over more unnecessary civilian deaths than Livni), or the prime minister of England, or nearly ANY head of state?
So basically Israel is holding a gun to world? “Arrest any of the Chosen Ones, and we will make you all suffer!”
And so now you think prosecuting war crimes is idiotic? So you’re not a fan of the Nuremberg Trials? I take it you think it’s idiotic to still be deporting and putting on trial Nazi soldiers and prison guards decades and decades after the fact, too?
Or is it Wittypocrisy, yet again?
“If there is any idiotic action that will precipitate an escalation of conflict it would be England or Spain or Sweden arresting Tzipi Livni.”
So if Israel massacres more Palestinians, it will be Europes fault is that it Witty?
Last time, Israel attacked Gaza and it was Hamas’ fault. It’s never Israel’s fault it is Witty? Much like how the settlers in the West Bank are puniching Palestinians for the so called “freeze” on settlement activity.
We have to accept that Israel is an irrational and psychopathic state, and not question the status quo. Just don’t upset Israel.
They have nukes, you know.
The UK has better nukes.
Livni is hardly a head of state. And if it’s unthinkable to arrest an ordinary MK, then why is Israel indicting MK Said Naffaa for taking a trip to Syria?
Oh, yeah, Naffaa isn’t Jewish.
I don’t think arresting Livni would spark anything except a momentary rise in Livni’s street creds in Israel and a long term plus to the right wing of Israel- look how the world is against us. The right wing of Israel does not really want it, because they have no need for a boost in the polls at home, and they don’t want Livni’s arrest on the news around the world. They would prefer the item on page 10 about Livni skipping her date in London rather than the front page item of Livni’s arrest.
According to today’s Haaretz, the arrest warrant was real. I’m assuming it was the Foreign Office that tipped Livni off, preventing an embarrassing situation for both sides.
WJ, You underestimate Israeli feelings about Europe in general, and the UK in particular. It is a big blow to many Israelis (even if their first response is righteous indignation) that the “moderate” leader of the opposition (as well as various other politicians and military officers) cannot safely visit Britain. The siege mentality is one response, but by no means the only one. The more this happens – especially in countries that are important to Israelis – the more Israelis will start to wonder about the “whole world is against us” conception.
There was never any real danger of Livni’s arrest, and it is not the first time that Israeli officials have been tipped off about possible legal difficulties in Britain. The blow to Israelis lies in the sense of rejection by their European “peers” and the increasing claustrophobia they already feel as “a small nation surrounded by enemies”. For so many Israelis, Europe (and nowhere more than the UK, except perhaps Italy) provides an escape, a place where they can go and feel “normal” for a couple of weeks. Don’t underestimate the impact of making Israelis feel unwelcome in Europe.
Ironic, in that Israel was sold to the world, and to Jews, as the place that European Jews would be able to go to feel “normal”.
“Will Obama be arrested when he arrives in London (presiding over more unnecessary civilian deaths than Livni), or the prime minister of England, or nearly ANY head of state?”
Why not? If the rule of law meant anything–and it doesn’t–the whole lot would be arrested.
But, they all do it defense–that’s not your real objection to arresting Livni, now is it?
Playground rules. As Naomi Klein wrote about BDS, it’s not that other countries don’t deserve it too; it’s that with Israel, we might be able to pull it off and it might even work. “But that’s not fair!” you say. True, but the playground’s a tough place.
Livni’s not a head of state, she’s not even in the government.
“If there is any idiotic action that will precipitate an escalation of conflict it would be England or Spain or Sweden arresting Tzipi Livni.”
That is OK Richard, she can come here and than we could “transport” her to England, Spain, or Sweden if necessary. I know some at Harvard occasionally that need a “lift” to other countries. I wrote an article a while back in regard to the issue –
THE BOYS (AND GIRLS) FROM ISRAEL AND HARVARD
“If there is any idiotic action that will precipitate an escalation of conflict it would be England or Spain or Sweden arresting Tzipi Livni”
C’mon … it’s not like she’ll be disappeared into a black site in Poland or Romania or some other enlightened EU member state (yeah, that’s for you Richard Parker) like a lowly, combatant/terrorist/sand-nigger.
Right?
Tzipi says Israel has gone a long way towards peace by freezing the settlements:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260181020420&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull
What more could you ask for?
She should get the peace prize like Obama?
Meanwhile, the settlement expansion (land grab) continues in its 42nd year, come hell or high water and any pretend peace negotiations in between. Livni should have got the peace award right along with Obama.
chicken hawks and chicken shits….
This is funny. The foreign ministry is threatening withhold that plum of allowing the British to be part of the Middle East peace negotiations. Can this be serious? it is in today’s Ha’aretz.
“The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on the British government to end the “absurd situation” in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, warning that ties between the two countries could suffer as a result.
“Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious,” said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Tzipi Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The ministry warned that in indulging the arrest warrant, the British government was hampering its own efforts at playing a role in Middle East peace negotiations.
“We appreciate the British government’s desire to play a central role in the Middle East peace process, and thus we expected it to translate the importance it gives its relations with Israel into actions,” said the ministry.
The term “peace process” is hasbaric. What is a “process”? A process is bureaucracy, red tape, subterfuge. Does Britain really desire to play a role in the “process” or is it Obama’s quagmire, with Hillary Clinton working behind the scene to sabotage the “process” and appease powerful Zionist fundraisers who will fuel her presidential aspirations? A river of gold . . .
That is why instead of calling it the “peace process,” I call it the “PIECE process.” The purpose of the process is to distract from the fact of more stolen land, as if something is moving. The only moving that is going on is Palestinians out of the homes that are rightfully theirs, and the Zionist thieves moving into them in Occupied Territory (or destroying the homes and building new ones, etc.). So, it is the “piece process,” not the peace process, by which more pieces of the land are stolen.
Well, the Brits are caving in.
I might be overly optimistic but I think the UK will be much more likely to stand up against Israel’s dictations than the US will. I believe the warrant was only rescinded because it became clear that Livni was not going to make the trip. Therefore, it will be reissued as soon as she schedules a new trip.
Yes potsherd, than they will wonder later why no one affords any recognition of the Conventions. So they can chalk up every atrocity committed presently to their disdain for what they have said is part of the corpus of the “law of the land.” When their own men, women, and children are treated like worse than animals they can just stand mute, because they have contributed by ignoring and undoing a correct procedure against parties who are repeatedly guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The same applies to the USA, and to every silent country which should add weight to stop these atrocities from happening to the Palestinians.
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