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Former ICC prosecutor says Palestinians can join court

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, says that Palestinian membership in the court is possible, but could also open up Palestinian authorities to prosecution.
Outgoing International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (R) of Argentina leaves after the swearing-in ceremony to install Fatou Bensouda of Gambia as his successor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands June 15, 2012.      REUTERS/Bas Czerwinski/Pool   (NETHERLANDS - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS) - RTR33ND1
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Seventeen human rights organizations, among them Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, on May 8 called for the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to apply on behalf of Palestine to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Coincidentally, the Hebrew University was at the same time hosting Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who until two years ago had served as the court’s chief prosecutor. Moreno-Ocampo was invited to Israel to speak at the Fried-Gal Transitional Justice Initiative, a program that seeks to introduce the process of transitional justice to future law students and leaders of Israel. That same week, on May 9, Israeli author Amos Oz stirred up a storm when he suggested that instead of calling Jews who harass the Arab minority “hilltop youth,” and their acts of vandalism “price tag,” the perpetrators should be called “Hebrew neo-Nazis.”

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