Interpol approves membership for State of Palestine over Israeli objections

[webfact]

Interpol approves membership for State of Palestine over Israeli objections

By Jeffrey Heller

 

Delegates attend the 86th INTERPOL General Assembly at Beijing National Convention Center in Beijing, China September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Interpol voted on Wednesday to admit the State of Palestine as a member over Israeli objections at the international police organisation's general assembly in Beijing.

 

The decision came despite Israeli efforts to delay a vote and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the Palestinians' joining the global police agency contravened signed agreements with Israel.

 

Israel had argued that Palestine is not a state and that it is ineligible to join. Under interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals, a Palestinian Authority was granted limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

 

Shortly before the vote in the Chinese capital, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel's efforts to delay the ballot until next year had failed.

 

"This victory was made possible because of the principled position of the majority of Interpol members," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a statement.

 

Interpol said membership applications by the State of Palestine and the Solomon Islands were approved at its annual general assembly by more than the required two-thirds majority of votes. The organisation now has 192 members.

 

A Palestinian bid to join last year, at an Interpol conference in Indonesia, was foiled by what Israel said was its diplomatic campaign against it.

 

In 2012, the U.N. General Assembly upgraded the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity", like the Vatican.

 

The step fell short of full U.N. membership, but it had important legal implications in enabling the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court and other world bodies.

 

Netanyahu's statement said Palestinian membership of Interpol was one of the issues discussed during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, who is visiting the region.

 

Netanyahu also raised the Palestinian refusal to condemn an attack on Tuesday in which a Palestinian labourer shot dead three Israeli guards in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

 

"The actions of the Palestinian leadership in the past few days directly harm the prospects of achieving peace and the Palestinian diplomatic offensive will not go unanswered," the statement said.

 

Some Israeli media commentators have voiced concern that as an Interpol member, Palestine could ask the organisation to issue a "Red Notice", an alert to police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest an individual, pending extradition.

 

But the procedure does not appear to pose serious legal problems for Israelis such as government officials and military officers whom pro-Palestinian groups have sought to have arrested by local authorities as suspected war criminals during overseas visits.

 

A red notice is not an international arrest warrant, and on its website Interpol notes that it cannot compel any member country to detain an individual named in one.

 

(Editing by Maayan Lubell and Mark Heinrich)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-28

[car720]

Someone just knocked another brick out of the wall.

Some Berliners may well relate to this.

[yardrunner]

Good

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Interpol approves membership for State of Palestine over Israeli objections

Does this mean that the Palestine authority can request Interpol to issue red cards for Israeli's who would be suspect in crimes against Palestinian people?

[retarius]

Good move by Interpol.

[thaiguzzi]

Excellent news.

The world would be a better place (for the last 40 odd years) if Palestine actually existed as a country.

[dundee48]

8 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Does this mean that the Palestine authority can request Interpol to issue red cards for Israeli's who would be suspect in crimes against Palestinian people?

Does this mean that Israel can request Interpol to issue red cards for palestinian terrorists who would be suspects in crimes against Israeli people?

Edited September 28, 2017 by dundee48

[simple1]

1 hour ago, dundee48 said:

Does this mean that Israel can request Interpol to issue red cards for palestinian terrorists who would be suspects in crimes against Israeli people?

In a statement, Interpol said red notices are not international arrest warrants, but rather act as an alert to member countries, and are issued based on a valid national arrest warrant. Each member country decides how to respond to such a notice and Interpol can’t compel its members to arrest a wanted person who is the subject of a red notice.

 

In the meantime USA and apparently other countries, has already stated it will not recognise Interpol Red Notices issued by Palestinian authorities.

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-others-wont-honor-palestinian-interpol-notices-top-lawmaker-says/

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, simple1 said:

Interpol said red notices are not international arrest warrants

The import of a Red Notice is that it comes from a sovereign nation.

While Interpol can’t compel its members to arrest a wanted person who is the subject of a red notice, it recognizes the legal authority of the member-nation to request a Red Notice.

 

[dundee48]

6 hours ago, simple1 said:

In a statement, Interpol said red notices are not international arrest warrants, but rather act as an alert to member countries, and are issued based on a valid national arrest warrant. Each member country decides how to respond to such a notice and Interpol can’t compel its members to arrest a wanted person who is the subject of a red notice.

 

In the meantime USA and apparently other countries, has already stated it will not recognise Interpol Red Notices issued by Palestinian authorities.

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-others-wont-honor-palestinian-interpol-notices-top-lawmaker-says/

Good.

[Morch]

On 9/28/2017 at 6:32 PM, yardrunner said:

Good

 

On 9/28/2017 at 7:04 PM, retarius said:

Good move by Interpol.

 

Got to love them well thought out posts. Good how? As in it would contribute to international law enforcement? As in, supposedly, sticking one for Israel? As if it would imply a significant change with regard to the Palestinian's situation?

 

On 9/28/2017 at 7:35 PM, thaiguzzi said:

Excellent news.

The world would be a better place (for the last 40 odd years) if Palestine actually existed as a country.

 

Do tell - how or why would the world be a better place? Not that I oppose Palestinian self determination, quite the opposite. Just not seeing it through rose tinted glasses. There is nothing to recommend that a Palestinian state, when it finally emerges, will be much different than the rest of ME Arab countries. The troubles met trying to bridge their long standing internal divide do not bode well. And why "the last 40 odd years"? Prior to the Israeli occupation, the Palestinians lived under Egyptian/Jordanian rule.

[Morch]

On 9/28/2017 at 7:01 PM, Srikcir said:

Does this mean that the Palestine authority can request Interpol to issue red cards for Israeli's who would be suspect in crimes against Palestinian people?

Technically, the PA could. One should hope they wouldn't be complete idiots, though, as such a move would merely make Israel's point. At some point the Palestinians will need to make a choice between actually trying to become a sovereign state, as opposed to being a people defined by their struggle vs. Israel. Going for the above is more of the same, and might not be the best way to advance the former.

 

As posted above, it is likely that most such requests would be ignored, anyway. They would be more of propaganda ploy and would accordingly reflect on the Palestinian membership.

 

On 9/29/2017 at 3:51 AM, dundee48 said:

Does this mean that Israel can request Interpol to issue red cards for palestinian terrorists who would be suspects in crimes against Israeli people?

 

With regard to the knee-jerk reply above: Israel is already a member, so of course it can make such requests, regardless of Palestinian membership. But yes, if the PA was to start such a campaign, it would be almost certainly be countered by similar means. I guess that if a tit-for-tat thing evolves, the end result would be both sides' requests being dumped to the bins.

 

[Morch]

On 9/29/2017 at 8:24 AM, Srikcir said:

The import of a Red Notice is that it comes from a sovereign nation.

While Interpol can’t compel its members to arrest a wanted person who is the subject of a red notice, it recognizes the legal authority of the member-nation to request a Red Notice.

 

 

As far as diplomatic point scoring goes, it's a Palestinian "win".

Is it a reasonable decision? Well, considering the PA is not effectively sovereign over much, and not even able to rule a large portion of the population nominally under it's control, perhaps not. That there are various level of international recognition is one thing, but that they seem to be based on shaky foundations is another.

 

 

 

[dundee48]

10 hours ago, Morch said:

Technically, the PA could. One should hope they wouldn't be complete idiots, though, as such a move would merely make Israel's point. At some point the Palestinians will need to make a choice between actually trying to become a sovereign state, as opposed to being a people defined by their struggle vs. Israel. Going for the above is more of the same, and might not be the best way to advance the former.

 

As posted above, it is likely that most such requests would be ignored, anyway. They would be more of propaganda ploy and would accordingly reflect on the Palestinian membership.

 

 

With regard to the knee-jerk reply above: Israel is already a member, so of course it can make such requests, regardless of Palestinian membership. But yes, if the PA was to start such a campaign, it would be almost certainly be countered by similar means. I guess that if a tit-for-tat thing evolves, the end result would be both sides' requests being dumped to the bins.

 

So the knee jerk response was correct then.

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, Morch said:

not even able to rule a large portion of the population nominally under it's control

Isn't this changing now?

After Hamas Folds, Palestinian Government to Convene in Gaza for First Time in Years
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/1.814075

 

[Morch]

6 hours ago, dundee48 said:

So the knee jerk response was correct then.

 

It's more irrelevant than correct. Israel, as a member, can make such requests regardless of the Palestinian membership. Many of the Palestinian leaders and politicians which could be targeted by such requests reside either in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. I'd imagine that there wouldn't be much need for international cooperation if it came down to arrests and such. Usually, people targeted by such red notices are not unaware of the situation, and take precautions when traveling - even if countries are not obligated to act on notices.

[Morch]

5 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Isn't this changing now?

After Hamas Folds, Palestinian Government to Convene in Gaza for First Time in Years
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/1.814075

 

 

One should hope.

 

But seeing as the both Palestinian factions did this song and dance on other occasions, there's no particular reason to assume this time around would end up differently. And regardless, the Interpol membership application thing was initiated long before that. If the above was of any consideration, than the proper course would have been for the supposed Palestinian state to demonstrate it's capability to exercise it's (admittedly, limited) sovereignty prior to being accepted, and not the other way around. The same, in essence, can be said as a general statement about most aspects of the Palestinian quest for independence.

 

In terms of international anti-crime cooperation, rather than political point scoring, there's little to merit the move.

[dundee48]

15 hours ago, Morch said:

 

It's more irrelevant than correct. Israel, as a member, can make such requests regardless of the Palestinian membership. Many of the Palestinian leaders and politicians which could be targeted by such requests reside either in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. I'd imagine that there wouldn't be much need for international cooperation if it came down to arrests and such. Usually, people targeted by such red notices are not unaware of the situation, and take precautions when traveling - even if countries are not obligated to act on notices.

Irrelevant to you maybe but still correct.