Hitler, Netanyahu, and The death of irony — Che Ran
Insane? Of course. But let's not kid ourselves. Humanity has been doing insane since forever. Back in 1937, a Swedish MP nominated Adolf bloody Hitler for the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, that Hitler. The one who thought genocide was a great infrastructure project.
So no, we shouldn't be surprised. History is full of these cosmic punchlines.
This week, as the International Criminal Court gathered in The Hague — the same city where Slobodan Milošević sat in a cell for orchestrating mass slaughter, where Charles Taylor was sentenced for crimes that left Sierra Leone awash in blood and diamonds — Reed Rubinstein, a US legal adviser, swaggered up to the mic with all the grace of a drunk uncle at a wedding, declaring that the ICC's investigations against Israel and the US were 'illegitimate and baseless.'
Baseless?
Tell that to the families of the 16,000 Palestinians killed since October, almost half of them children. Tell that to the more than 100 journalists slaughtered while reporting from craters that used to be apartment blocks, hospitals, UN schools. Tell that to Médecins Sans Frontières staff, who keep pulling corpses from rubble while dodging bombs dropped by a military that tweets hashtags like #HumanitarianPause.
Rubinstein thundered on, promising America would use 'all appropriate and effective diplomatic, political and legal instruments to block ICC overreach.' Translation: We're the sheriff, jury, judge, and hangman. International law is for everyone else.
And yes, this is the same ICC — the world's only permanent court for atrocity crimes, birthed after we said never again at Nuremberg, after Cambodia's killing fields, after Rwanda's churches overflowed with hacked corpses. A court established so no war criminal could hide behind a flag ever again.
But here we are, in 2025, back in the circus. A man accused of war crimes nominates people for peace prizes. America threatens judges for daring to uphold the Rome Statute they themselves helped draft but never ratified.
It's almost funny, if you're the kind of person who finds dark humour in mass graves and history's endless loops.
US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, DC, July 7, 2025. — Reuters pic
Because when Hitler got his nomination, it was quickly withdrawn. Maybe there was still some decency left then. Today? Netanyahu could nominate himself, and half the world would applaud while sipping single-origin coffee, posting #PrayForGaza from their iPhones built by children in other occupied territories.
The Romans crucified people by the roadside to remind the world who was boss. We sanction judges. Same empire, different branding.
So no, don't be surprised. We live in a world where Hitler was nominated for peace, Netanyahu bombs refugee camps, and America lectures the ICC about justice.
Irony didn't just die. It was executed. Probably with a Hellfire missile fired from a Reaper drone hovering politely outside a hospital's neonatal ward.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Hamas agrees to partial hostage release in ‘difficult' truce talks
Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protest outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. (EPA Images pic) JERUSALEM : Hamas on Wednesday said it would release 10 hostages as part of Gaza ceasefire talks after Israel struck an upbeat note about the prospects for a deal to stop the fighting in the embattled Palestinian territory. The Islamist group's statement came after four days of indirect talks brokered by Qatar and as the US signalled its belief that agreement for a 60-day truce would be struck before the end of the week. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said part of the deal would be the return of 10 living hostages held by militants since Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war. Of 251 hostages seized during the assault on Israeli border communities near Gaza, 49 are still held in the territory, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. In its statement, Hamas said key hurdles remained in the talks, notably the free flow of aid into Gaza, Israeli military withdrawal from the territory and 'real guarantees' for a lasting peace. But it added: 'The movement displayed the required flexibility and agreed to release 10 prisoners (hostages). 'Despite the difficulty of negotiations over these issues until now due to the intransigence of the occupation, we continue to work seriously and with a positive spirit with the mediators to overcome the hurdles and end the suffering of our people and ensure their aspirations to freedom, safety and a dignified life.' Israel earlier appeared to fall in behind US President Donald Trump and his optimism for an end to the conflict, as the talks in Doha stretched into a fourth day with reported complaints on its stance on aid. Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised address that military action had prepared the ground for a deal that would bring home the Israeli hostages. Netanyahu, who after talks with Trump in Washington on Tuesday night was still uncompromising in his determination to crush Hamas, said he believed an agreement was on the horizon. 'I think we're getting closer to a deal,' he told FOX Business Network's Mornings with Maria programme. 'There's a good chance that we'll have it.' Foreign minister Gideon Saar also said he thought a temporary deal was 'achievable' and could even herald talks for a more lasting peace, while President Isaac Herzog talked of 'a historic opportunity' for change. 'We are in an era of tectonic shifts, where the global balance of power and the regional strategic landscape are being reshaped,' Herzog said. 'We must not miss this moment.' 'Mostly listening' Netanyahu is insistent he wants to permanently neutralise the threat to Israel from Hamas. But he is under increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the war, particularly as the death toll of soldiers killed by homemade bombs and ambushes in Gaza increases. The military announced on Wednesday another soldier had been killed in combat in Gaza. Hamas has vowed 'Gaza will not surrender'. One Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations in Doha said the Israeli delegation was 'mostly listening rather than negotiating, which reflects Netanyahu's ongoing policy of obstruction and sabotaging any potential agreement'. The militant group had previously rebuffed pressure to release all the hostages, demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel wants to ensure militants in Gaza never again threaten its security. Qatari mediators had warned on Tuesday it would take time to seal a deal. 'Like an earthquake' On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Wednesday 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes, at least six of them children. 'The explosion was massive, like an earthquake,' said Zuhair Judeh, 40, who witnessed one of the strikes, which prompted frantic scenes as people scrabbled in the rubble for survivors. 'The bodies and remains of the martyrs were scattered,' he added, calling it 'a horrific massacre'. In response to an AFP request for comment on a strike on the Al-Shati camp near Gaza City, the Israeli military said it 'struck a number of Hamas terrorists'. Due to restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties accessing the area, AFP is unable to independently verify the death tolls and details shared by the parties involved. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,680 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
Free Malaysia Today
3 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza says Israeli army
Of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. (EPA Images pic) JERUSALEM : The Israeli military said today that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza more than 20 months after they were abducted by Hamas rebels. 'In a special operation… the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano and staff sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday,' the military said in a statement. Samerano's father had announced earlier today that his son's body, which was taken into Gaza after he was murdered in a kibbutz by the territory on Oct 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army. He paid tribute to 'the brave soldiers of the IDF (Israeli military) and the Shin Bet' security service in a message posted on Instagram. Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was also killed in a kibbutz and abducted, while 19-year-old tank commander Levinson 'engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat,' a statement from the military said. The attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 55,908 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN considers these figures reliable.
Free Malaysia Today
3 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Israeli report accuses Hamas of sexual violence, urges legal action
Several hostages freed from Hamas captivity reported witnessing and experiencing assault including acts of forced penetration by their captors. (AP pic) JERUSALEM : Israeli researchers released a report on Tuesday detailing sexual assault allegations against Palestinian Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli communities on Oct 7, 2023, and offering a 'legal blueprint' for potential prosecutions. The Bar-Ilan University report cites at least 17 witnesses testifying to at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault, including gang rape and mutilation of sexual organs. It cites numerous instances of bodies found partially or fully naked, some handcuffed to poles or trees, and bodies with gunshots to the genitalia and other genital mutilation. Accounts of sexual assault committed by Hamas militants on Oct 7 have been documented widely. Several hostages released from Hamas captivity said they witnessed and experienced acts of assault, including forced penetration, by their captors. Hamas has consistently denied allegations of sexual assault. Hamas official Bassem Naim said the report was 'not worth commenting' on. Reuters could not independently verify the evidence referenced in the report. The document, authored by three experts in law and gender, lays out a legal framework for prosecution of those responsible, even when 'direct attribution to individuals is impossible.' The report draws from forensic and visual evidence, witness testimony and audio recordings. In March, UN experts said in a report that Israel had used sexual violence as a war strategy in Gaza, allegations Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as biased and antisemitic. The authors of the Bar-Ilan University document presented the report to Israel's first lady Michal Herzog on Tuesday. They said they aimed to prompt domestic and international legal action by identifying legal doctrines that can be used to 'unlock actual court cases' by showing how they fit into international mechanisms. 'Our aim is to be able to convince the (United Nations) secretary-general to include Hamas in the blacklist of those entities of those countries … that condone the use of sexual violence as a tool of war,' Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, founding member of the university's Dinah Project, told Reuters. There was no immediate comment from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Bar-Ilan University report. A UN Commission of Inquiry into sexual assault on Oct 7 found that Israeli women were subjected 'to gender-based violence such as physical, sexual and psychological violence, including threats of such acts, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty.' The UN said Israeli officials refused to cooperate with its investigation and 'that the information gathered by the mission team was in a large part sourced from Israeli national institutions.' Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said in April last year that victims of the Oct 7 attacks would never get justice from the UN commission and its members, adding that the commission had a track record of antisemitic, anti-Israel statements.
