‘No, Israel Does NOT Have Legal Right To Self-Defense’ - Former UN Official Craig Mokhiber

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Craig Mokhiber, former UN Official, joins Katie to discuss his recent article which details why Israel does NOT have the right to self defense and why Palestinians DO. Here is some of Craig's argument: "How many times have people who have followed what's happening in the Middle East heard this phrase?

'We believe Israel has a right to defend itself.' And that is usually a phrase which is delivered by Western politicians and spokespersons or government adjacent corporate media companies after Israel commits some massive war crime. So there'll be a massive slaughter, and then these people will be asked about it, and the first thing they'll say is, 'Well, Israel has a right to defend itself.'

I thought it was really important to unpack that, what I called the self defense because Israel does not have a right to defend itself in that way. As a matter of international law, as you said, this is a double lie. First, Israel does not have an article 51 right to self defense in the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, or in the Golan Heights.

And then secondly, The acts that they are trying to justify by saying that Israel has a right to self defense are not justifiable under international law. So even if self defense applied, those acts would still be crimes. So it's a double lie, in that sense. And this is clearly based upon international law.

I point out in the article is that while Israel does not have that right to self defense to make war on the occupied, territories, Palestinian people under international law do have a right.

Palestinians have a right, to use armed force under international law."

Craig Mokhiber is an American former United Nations (UN) human rights official and a specialist in international human rights law, policy, and methodology. On October 28, 2023, Mokhiber stepped down as the director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In his final letter to High Commissioner Volker Türk, he harshly criticized the organization's response to the war in Gaza, calling Israel's military intervention a "textbook genocide" and accusing the UN of failing to act.

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