That would make sense if international politics were any more than thinly veiled terrorism itself. The whole UN thing is an exercise in manufacturing legitimacy, and the fact people actually think that there is a world in which it holds the most powerful actors to account proves that it's worked.

They are a mafia with a protection racket, very little more.

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

That would make sense if

I'll take your comment as merely cynical rather than an attempt to deny the case against Biden and Netenyahu. Theres nothing any better out there than the Un at the moment. And genocide is genocide. The fact that its being discussed in the UN --which you say has merely manufactured legitimacy-- doesnt make Israels murders any less of a crime against humanity. And for Biden, a blatant criminal enterprise violating many US laws, that he should absolutely see prison time for. He's going to be in the history books as a war criminal and theres not much anyone can do about that now.

[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Of course they're crimes against humanity, I'm not trying to undermine anything, I just don't understand where people think any prosecution like this would meaningfully come from. Like there needs to be a realistic understanding of what can happen, and this is power politics.

The US is a permanent member of the UN security council, they can veto anything the UN wants to do, and it's set up that way to ensure it can't go against any of the big 5's interests. That alone should destroy the UN's legitimacy, but corporate media and the political class prop it up and make people think that it's this place where the big issues are discussed reasonably and rationally. It isn't.

No court can prosecute anyone unless it has the power to enforce its rulings, and the UN just doesn't have that.

Look up the Hague Invasion Act. The US has stated, as a matter of law, that it will invade the Hague if they ever try to prosecute any US service member. Do you really need me to break down what that means for the concept of international law? If you're going to call anything cynical, that is cynical. If the UN is the best that exists, then that just means that our current system has no justice.

The ability to solve this problem will come from people organising resistance, not from states, not from courts of law, not from some big in-control powerful body stepping in to help us. We help us.