Reading · Bearing Witness

The campaign of intimidation and smears directed at ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan KC, which led to his recent removal from the post, reminds me of the smear campaign against Julian Assange after his WikiLeaks website published hundreds of thousands of confidential US diplomatic cables and the “Collateral Murder” video from Iraq.

The cases are, of course, different, but they share a striking pattern: those with extreme power shifted public attention away from allegations of global significance and onto the individual who brought them into the open.

Smears are designed to distract from the real issue. And in Karim Khan’s case, it is that he had the temerity to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, who are both accused of crimes against humanity for starving the people of Gaza through a prolonged blockade of food, water and power.

Below is an extract of an interview Khan did recently:

Karim Khan: I've been warned. Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, quite powerful individuals, wrote a public letter. They wrote to me and they said, "You have been warned." … And President Trump has sanctioned me and my family because of Palestine… I don't have any credit card in the world. All those types of things. Travel bans. My children's visas reversed to the United States … But as the senator said, they would come after me and my family. They've done that. But again, this is painful. It's difficult. It's meant to coerce. It's meant to make us change course.
We can't, and I think that's a testament to the men and women of the office that it's not about us, it's about victims and their right to justice. They're not worthless. They're not numbers. They're not abstract concepts. They're people that have lost their babies, their wives, their husbands, their grandparents.

The interviewer asks if he ever feared for his family or his life. He reveals a powerful mindset,

“What's liberating is accepting mortality. The cause of death is life. So once you accept that, actually these things don't become very important.”

As he exits his role as ICC Chief prosecutor, never forget the words of David Hearst of DoubleDown News, who said recently that:

“Karim Khan’s name will be linked forever to the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, which remain the most effective, serious, and meaningful response the international community has made to the genocide in Gaza. Those warrants exposed Israeli war crimes as never before, … and it makes the highest office bearers in the land accountable for them. Khan dared to stand up against the mighty and the powerful to pursue justice for the victims. And that will be his true legacy.”

Read more (Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave):

David Hearst Interviews with Karim Khan: https://youtu.be/hZPfpJsM7YI?is=bXoF5ZVAAoGCXyus

https://youtu.be/exXBoBYfkW8?is=P7Klg0XHi_Gms_WQ

https://youtu.be/exXBoBYfkW8?is=4BRrD36A0MAwyjPs

MEE Interview

https://youtu.be/hIHuNTZNsq8?is=Myab8E3bTVrwcgRU

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Analysis Interview

https://youtu.be/1SOZrAOW4Bc?is=mIwt6bEmY9n0Z0ux

TRT Interview

https://youtu.be/ZXA-32Tk6j8?is=V2BUCaIKmEytkSco

Oxford University Speech

https://youtu.be/YyfetlW6hX0?is=K-KlPKcmoxUON1gB