Searching for “War Crime” with Massacre on their Records and Blood on Their Hands

We publish an unofficial translation on the article done by Yeni Demokrasi:

These days, the atmosphere is abuzz with articles and speeches about Israel’s war crimes and trials of hypocritical fascist-chauvinist, murderous parties and politicians who want to profit from the massacres carried out by Israel, and their protected. We see that this demand, which is welcomed by a wide range of people, is voiced by fascist, reactionary, and already criminal states and parties. It is necessary to make a comment about “war crimes” because they attract attention.

Almost every segment of society, from AKP to CHP, from MHP to all other parties and spokespersons of the feudal-comprador system, list Israel’s war crimes with disgusting hypocrisy and talk about “being held accountable”. This issue is widely discussed not only in Turkey but also internationally. Those who say it with all their dirt, hypocrisy and murderous qualities are wrong, but what is said is true. The occupying Israeli state is literally carrying out a massacre against the oppressed Palestinians.

As important as telling the truth, it is equally important who is telling the truth. It is important because words gain form and meaning according to the idea and character of the speaker. Today, in the face of the massacres in Gaza, those who shout with humiliating boastfulness about the massacre carried out by Israel, including women, children and civilians, saying “terrorist Israel is committing a war crime”, are committing worse massacres and war crimes in every part of Kurdistan; Some people also participate in this by advocating massacres.

WHAT IS A WAR CRIME, HOW TO UNDERSTAND IT?

We cannot dismiss the war crime issue with simple definitions. We have to correctly define the concept of war crime, which is used by the imperialist capitalist system to hide the truth from the masses and manipulate them.

In 1998, imperialist powers created an international treaty called the Rome Statute, which determined the scope of war crimes. The massacres committed by the Serbian rulers in the war that broke out after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s were the basis for this agreement. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 for crimes within the scope of war crimes. The definitions of crimes included in the scope of war crimes by the Rome Statute and the ICC are as follows: Killing, ill-treatment or forced labor of civilians and prisoners of war, killing of hostages, plundering the property of public and private persons, unnecessary burning and destruction of cities, biological cruelty prohibited by international agreements. and the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction.

While every violation of these is considered a war crime in an interstate war, it may not be considered a war crime when it occurs within the state. Because states have an internationally recognized privilege to use violence against the public and the oppressed. On this very basis, there is a partnership or a monkey-wrench used in international agreements such as the “fight against terrorism”.

All imperialists and their servants, the reactionary rulers, who are or are not parties to this agreement and the court, are directly or indirectly responsible for all the crimes defined. There is no limit to the massacres that take place against people, especially in multinational countries, against national movements and movements that wage a social liberation struggle. The issue of war crimes is a device of governing and establishing hegemony used between imperialists, but mainly between imperialists and the powers of countries with which they have hegemony problems. This concept literally involves the manipulation of international reactions to wars. Its practical applications depend on political power relations. For example, states such as the USA, Israel and Turkey were not parties to the Rome Statute, but made reservations. Because US imperialism has the role of a gendarme throughout the world and has the blood of all the people of the world on its hands. Israel and Turkey, on the other hand, are systematically at war with the Palestinian nation and the Kurdish people, and their states’ war crimes against the people are both inevitable and considered legitimate as a state right. Therefore, it is normal for these states to have no boundaries in terms of war crimes. This is what happened.

We evaluate the definition of war crime by the dominant powers within their material realities, class characteristics and political aims. As with every issue, they have an approach that constructs concepts to reinforce their own sovereignty. In this context, war crime definitions are just a show and indicator of fraud. The imperialist capitalist system and all reactionary systems are in a fierce struggle to perpetuate the system of exploitation and brutality and to dominate the world. While it oppresses workers and laborers at home, it also wages unjust wars abroad to dominate the world. To put it in the simplest formulation, imperialism also means war. It maintains an aggressive policy in every field, market fights are escalating with wars waged at the local-regional level, and the ground is gradually forming for a comprehensive war of sharing. The entire history of exploitative systems has been filled with wars and massacres against workers and laborers and oppressed nations. These unfair and illegitimate exploitation systems have committed massacres and genocides by using oppression and war devices in the most brutal ways for the continuation of their own survival, an attitude that still continues. Millions of people are being eliminated through mass murder without any regard for their targets. Moreover, hundreds of millions of people take to migration routes to save themselves from brutal, unjust wars; They are condemned to misery and miserable environments by being exposed to rape, torture, hunger and all kinds of violence. During wars, living and sheltering areas, education and health institutions, and all areas open to the masses are bombed on a daily basis, even though it is considered a crime internationally even by imperialist-reactionary institutions.

All of these are tried to be taken for granted and legitimized through manipulation and black propaganda, by using and exploiting nationalism and beliefs.

All these crimes we have listed express the war crimes committed by reactionary systems against the class and the oppressed. We say war because; Every conflict, struggle and war experienced in the historical process is the immediate expression of a part of the class struggle. The wars waged by all reactionary-fascist systems that oppress and exploit are unjust wars because they are attacks against all the oppressed peoples of the world. Therefore, in this sense, every crime committed is, in the final analysis, crimes against humanity.

We know that they do not hesitate to legitimize the death-dealing weapons they produce for war with the argument of “chemical and banned” weapons, and that they do not hesitate and will not hesitate to use any chemical, biological or nuclear weapon when they need it. If they need to erase everything about humans from memory and brutally eliminate them, they will do so. Children, women and the elderly can be massacred indiscriminately and mercilessly, and hospitals, infrastructures, water and nutrition resources can be destroyed. Nutritional facilities, forests and shelter areas are rendered unusable and destroyed, and people are condemned to death in this environment. A general summary of what is happening in many parts of the world today can be made like this. However, when they experience contradictions and have to seek the consent of the masses, they do not hesitate to use them as a weapon against the other party for their reactionary interests.

It should not be forgotten that today, the rulers who cling to the concept of “war crime” in the face of Israel’s aggression aimed at destroying all life in Gaza have been involved in similar crimes many times, and these crimes are recorded in their records. They have more concerns in the region than the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in particular and the people of the region in general, the children and women who died in this attack, and the Palestinian cause that is being tried to be destroyed. For example, the Republic of Turkey, which clamored for war crimes and trials in international courts, is not even a party to the Rome Statute, which it pointed out for Israel due to the Kurdish massacres. Rather than the massacre in Palestine, it is looking for a more effective role in the region through which political position it can be achieved. This applies to all reactionary forces.

In summary, the culprits of all unjust wars created in the world are imperialist, fascist and reactionary systems. Those who commit massacres and commit crimes against humanity in these wars and aggression without any rules are the same elements. Therefore, preventing wars and crimes against humanity, which they define as war crimes, and holding them accountable will only be possible by eliminating the systems that are hostile to humanity. As long as imperialist and fascist systems continue, neither the wars nor their crimes against the people will end.

The forces to which the world proletariat, oppressed peoples and oppressed nations should direct are clear. As long as humanity remains on its knees, it will not be able to escape massacres. That’s why we have to be a part of the struggle to expand the class struggle and open the doors to the world of freedom. So, as the masters of our future and destiny, we have to expand the struggle for freedom. This struggle will pave the way for the destruction of counter-revolutionaries who commit crimes against all humanity.