The name Srebrenica conjures up all the worst horrors of the Bosnian war; in 1995, 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred by Serbs. In the same way, the name Jenin looks set to go down in history as the place that encapsulates all the horror of the present phase of the long war for Palestinian freedom. Hundreds of Palestinians have died in the battle for Jenin in the past few days. Officials from both sides agree at least on that, although the Israeli propaganda machine, belatedly realizing the PR damage from slaughter on such scale, now claims that only one hundred died.
“Only one hundred”. Whether 100 or 1000, what happened at Jenin counts in anyone’s book as mass slaughter — a massacre. Likewise in Srebrenica, it was not just the figures that made the event so horrific, although it was the biggest bloodbath in Europe since Word War Two. The circumstances account for much of the shock. The massacre occurred despite the presence of the Dutch peacekeeping troops who were supposed to protect the town. There lies a similarity with Jenin. The slaughter there took place despite the mission of US Secretary of State Colin Powell who was supposed to be enforcing President Bush’s will and making sure the Israelis pull out of Palestinian areas. As the Dutch failed, so did he.
By sheer coincidence, last week’s battle of Jenin occurred just as a report into the Srebrenica massacre, commissioned by the Dutch government, was issued in the Hague. The irony will be lost on no one. The report itself is profoundly disappointing. The Dutch troops and Dutch politicians who approved their presence get off lightly, with the blame for the fall of the town and subsequent genocide spread so thinly as to be meaningless. The UN also is responsible for what happened, the report says; it talks about the “mission impossible” expected of the Dutch forces in protecting the town — as if that excuses everything.
The UN has a case to answer, but this Dutch report should have concentrated on specific Dutch failings rather than pointing the finger elsewhere. If they were not up to the task, the Dutch should not have taken on peacekeeping responsibilities. It is no wonder that accusations of whitewash have greeted the report —not just from the victims’ families but from the normally staid Dutch press. It does not inspire confidence that one day there will be an honest report into the battle of Jenin.
But a third event this past week does provide hope for justice in future. The decision by ten more countries to ratify the UN treaty on an International Criminal Court to try crimes against humanity means that enough have now done so. The court now goes ahead, even though many countries — the US, China, Russia, Israel and most Arab states among them — have not ratified it. Nonratification will not provide exemption. Human rights criminals can be brought to its bar even if their home state or the place where the crimes took place is unable or unwilling to prosecute them.
The significance of this for today’s Palestinian victims of Israeli terror is immense. It means that Israeli war criminals will be forced one day to answer for their actions. That may take a long time. The wheels of justice may turn slow, but at last there are now wheels that can turn.
