An interesting but generally unimportant event occurs every year on July 17th: International Justice Day.
It is not clear who, if anyone, proclaimed “International Justice Day”. Apparently the holiday is supported mainly by Amnesty International and Labor Unions. Mayors of the more liberal towns such as Peoria, Illinois and San Francisco, California may also proclaim “International Justice Day”.
July 17th commemorates the day in 1998 when the Rome Treaty establishing the International Criminal Court was ratified by 60 nations. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is different than the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was established by the League of Nations charter and renewed by the United Nations charter. The ICC came into action in 2002, and has actually done very little, and has little legitimate jurisdiction–but hey–everybody loves a holiday.
Regarding Israel, the ICC has taken no actions. The ICJ in 2004 created a notoriously one-sided political advisory statement for the UN Security council, at the behest of the Palestinian Authority. This has been proclaimed as “international law” ever since, by those with the anti-Israel agenda.
This left wing holiday is celebrated in different ways in different locations, according to the favorite causes of the local left wing population. For example, in San Francisco, it celebrates the gay lifestyle.
For anti-Israel activists, it is an anti-Israel holiday where adherents can claim whatever they want about “international law” or justice, as long as it is derogatory towards Israel and the US.
Unions celebrate the holiday heavily, proclaiming workers’ rights. Anti Iraq War groups apply it to their favorite cause and anti-nuclear groups also make use of the holiday. It’s also popular among Latin American activists.
Amnesty International generally applies the holiday to “torture” and “refugees”. To try to give the holiday a little more oomph, Amnesty International offers an International Justice Day organizing guide and a film to show: Justice without Borders.
International Justice Day is related to International Solidarity Day (with the Palestinian people, meaning Arabs, not Jews). International Solidarity Day falls on the 29th of November in honor of the passing of UN General Assembly Resolution 181, proposing an apartheid partition of the Palestinian Mandate lands. The celebrating groups tend to support Arab apartheid.
Left wing groups and the UN are very fond of proclaiming “days” for their causes. It makes protests, “vigils” and website articles easier to arrange.
While there is plenty of material for humor and sarcasm in the observance of “International Justice Day”, the issues involved can be very serious, and good could and does come from these efforts, if done honestly and justly. The problem lies mainly in the common practice of applying “justice” and “international law” as a tool to further a favorite political agenda, in disregard of the facts or justice. The same could be said of the UN and other international political organizations. The potential is there to do well, but we see very little good being done. Instead we see corruption, manipulation, lying and often worse. The world is not ready for justice.
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