Conor Gearty, a prominent Irish human rights professor and lawyer from the London School of Economics, has expressed strong views regarding the recent judgment of the International Court of Justice against Israel. This verdict is a significant milestone, he claims, and it behooves the rest of the world to isolate Israel in response. Gearty highlighted this as a pivotal moment, stressing that the commentary from the Court, which found Israel to be in violation of international law, is intended to challenge nations professing a commitment to the rule of law.
The scholar opined that mere diplomatic protests are inadequate; the Court’s decision necessitates action, potentially in the form of economic and academic sanctions. He made these remarks at the West Cork History Festival held at the Inish Beg estate in Baltimore over the weekend.
Gearty asserted that for true adherence to international justice and criminal law, the leaders of Israel and Hamas must face trial. He voiced concern over the current global scenario with countries possessing an almost unfettered right to launch attacks in the name of self-defence, stretching the bounds of UN regulations to their limit.
This trend finds its roots in the United States’ assault on Libya in 1986, he said, where the strikes on Tripoli led to numerous Libyan deaths including that of Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter, a turning point for many scholars. However, strikingly, a recent attack on a school in Gaza by Israeli forces resulting in nearly a hundred casualties went largely unnoticed on the global stage.
Gearty challenged the unsettling normalisation of such disturbing events, asking about the role of law in preventing this complacency. He criticised contemporary academic practices, stating that emotional considerations are often prioritised over the dissemination of truth, arguing caution in not hurting those who might be negatively impacted by these truths. He concluded that these practices could amount to bullying in the wrong hands.