[News] Israel's Tzipi Livni to cancel Brussels trip - due to be questioned in an ongoing investigation for war crimes

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/did-war-crimes-summons-force-tzipi-livni-cancel-brussels-trip 



  Did war crimes summons force Tzipi Livni to cancel Brussels trip?

Ali Abunimah <https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah> 19 
January 2017

Israel’s former foreign minister Tzipi Livni 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/tzipi-livni> has canceled a visit 
to Brussels scheduled for next week.

The news comes as Belgian prosecutors confirm that Livni was due to be 
questioned in an ongoing investigation for war crimes.

Livni was expected in Brussels on 23 January for a conference at the 
European Parliament, but she pulled out citing illness.

Israeli officials, including Livni 
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/6811578/Israeli-opposition-leader-Tzipi-Livni-cancels-London-visit-over-prosecution-fears.html>, 
have a history 
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/05/israeli-minister-moshe-yaalon-visit> 
of cancelling 
<http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/fear-of-arrest-still-prevents-israeli-officials-from-visiting-britain.premium-1.433452> 
foreign visits if they fear arrest.

Thierry Wertz, a Belgian prosecutor, told the newspaper /Le Soir/ 
<http://www.lesoir.be/1419954/article/actualite/monde/2017-01-19/l-israelienne-tzipi-livni-aurait-du-etre-interpellee-lundi-bruxelles> 
that federal judicial authorities “planned to take advantage of Tzipi 
Livni’s visit to try to move the investigation forward.”

According to /Le Soir/, Wertz’s comments indicate that prosecutors 
planned to formally summon Livni for questioning.


    Evading justice

Livni is the subject of a complaint by victims filed in Brussels in 2010 
for war crimes during “Operation Cast Lead” – Israel’s assault on Gaza 
in December 2008 and January 2009 that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

Association Belgo-Palestinienne, a Palestine solidarity group, said in a 
press release 
<http://www.association-belgo-palestinienne.be/infos/breves/lancienne-ministre-israelienne-tzipi-livni-interceptee-pour-crimes-de-guerre/> 
that the complaints have been brought against several Israeli leaders in 
connection with the attack on Gaza.

It notes that Livni was a full participant in decision making at the 
time of the assault.

Livni herself told 
<https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/05/13/i-lost-everything/israels-unlawful-destruction-property-during-operation-cast-lead> 
Israeli media in January 2009: “Israel demonstrated real hooliganism 
during the course of the recent operation, which I demanded.”

The Goldstone Report, the independent UN-commissioned inquiry into the 
assault, also quotes Livni 
<http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf> 
stating: “Israel is not a country upon which you fire missiles and it 
does not respond. It is a country that when you fire on its citizens it 
responds by going wild – and this is a good thing.”

Israel claims that the assault on Gaza was a response to missiles fired 
by Palestinian armed groups, but the Israeli government’s own 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-fabricated-rocket-crisis/7927> 
chronology 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ben-white/numbers-speak-themselves> 
shows that an agreed ceasefire that had been effective for months only 
collapsed after Israel broke it 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html> 
by launching several deadly attacks on Gaza in early November 2008.

It then carried out its major assault on Gaza that had been in the works 
for six months 
<http://www.haaretz.com/news/disinformation-secrecy-and-lies-how-the-gaza-offensive-came-about-1.260347>.

Association Belgo-Palestinienne says that under Belgian law, some of 
Livni’s statements constitute war crimes in their own right. It called 
for her to be arrested on arrival.

The Goldstone Report states that where a country does not investigate 
and prosecute war crimes on its own, “international justice mechanisms 
must be activated to prevent impunity.”

Livni has evaded justice at least four times 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/uk-thwarts-war-crimes-probe-former-israeli-minister> 
while traveling in Europe in recent years.

Last July, UK police summoned her for questioning over war crimes, but 
she escaped accountability on that occasion due to the complicity of the 
British government, which granted her special diplomatic immunity.


    Discouraging dissent

The Brussels conference 
<https://www.facebook.com/EIPAEuropeIsraelPublicAffairs/photos/pb.1417400351890233.-2207520000.1484838253./1636914169938849/?type=3&theater> 
Livni was due to attend aimed to counter the Palestinian-led boycott, 
divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

It is sponsored by the Israel lobby group Europe Israel Public Affairs 
(EIPA) and the Israeli mission to the EU.

Along with other Israeli officials, it is due to feature Ioan Mircea 
Pascu, the vice-president of the European Parliament.

The event organizers appear to be actively discouraging attendance by 
anyone they fear may ask critical questions.

The Electronic Intifada’s David Cronin noted on EIPA’s Facebook page 
that he had received no response to his registration request.

The group answered 
<https://www.facebook.com/EIPAEuropeIsraelPublicAffairs/posts/1636914273272172?comment_id=1636946956602237&reply_comment_id=1636951216601811&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D> 
that “this event is for supporters of Israel and those who oppose the 
BDS movement as divisive and fundamentally anti-Semitic. As a 
contributor to The Electronic Intifada and a well known anti-Israel 
activist, we have no idea why our event would be of interest.”

EIPA suggested that Cronin attend an alternative “pro-BDS event” 
scheduled for the same time.


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