From Nuremberg to the ICC: The appropriation of legal instruments to target Jews - opinion

The manipulation of legal systems for ideological, hateful, or deadly purposes is one of history’s most haunting tragedies. 

Perhaps the most notorious example of this is the rise of the Nazi regime, which weaponized the legal apparatus of the state to disenfranchise, segregate, and attempt to annihilate the Jewish people. 

Central to this persecution were the Nuremberg Laws, passed in 1935, which stripped Jews of their citizenship, rights, and protections under German law. These laws were formally institutionalized discrimination, making it legal to discriminate against Jews in nearly every aspect of public life, from education and employment to personal freedoms. The Nazi laws facilitated a systematic campaign of marginalization and dehumanization that would culminate in the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

In the years since the end of World War II, the world has worked to ensure that such abuses never occur again. 

A central tenet of the post-war order was the creation of international legal institutions designed to hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable, promote human rights, and safeguard the dignity of all peoples. Organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) were established with the lofty goal of preventing the kind of legal oppression that fueled the Holocaust and other genocides.

However, in recent years, there has been a troubling trend in which these very international bodies, designed to defend justice and human rights, appear to be disproportionately targeting one nation, the State of Israel. 

The UN, created in part as a response to the horrors of WWII, has singled out the Jewish state in a manner that resembles the kind of legal discrimination that led to the persecution of Jews in the 1930s and 1940s. 

The UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have monstrously and disproportionately targeted the Jewish state, which has been the subject of more resolutions and condemnations than any other country – a distinction that amply demonstrates a lack of fairness and bias.

Similarly, the ICC, established to ensure justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity, has also placed its focus on Israel. 

Last month, Israel became the first democratic and free state to have arrest warrants served against its leaders. By doing so, the ICC broke its own principle of complementarity, that the ICC can only act when a nation’s own courts are unable to do so. 

In May this year, when ICC prosecutor Karim Khan made a surprise request for warrants to arrest the leaders of Israel, he suddenly canceled a visit to Israel where he was supposed to conduct interviews and investigate vital facts before making this decision.

This alone shows that justice, impartiality and fairness were not part of the ICC’s decision-making process. Its focus on Israel is a form of legal harassment, and like the UN, is being used to advance political and ideological agendas rather than pursue justice.

This legal targeting of Israel is more than just a matter of international politics, it is a deeply concerning issue that echoes the darkest chapters of history. 

Through laws such as Nuremberg, the Nazi regime, created a legal framework to legitimize the persecution of Jews. In today’s world, the international community must guard against the use of legal systems to target specific nations or groups for political reasons. Legal systems should be instruments of justice, not tools for persecution.

Remembering history

We must remember the lessons of history. 

The misuse of legal systems to target specific populations is not a new phenomenon. It is a continuation of a tragic pattern that has repeated itself throughout history. Whether targeting Jews through the Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany or the current treatment of the Jewish state by international bodies such as the UN and the ICC, the goal is the same, to strip a people of their rights, their dignity, and their ability to defend themselves.

In this context, it is vital for the international community to ensure that legal systems are used to protect the rights of all people, not to unjustly target or scapegoat specific nations or communities. The legal instruments that were created in the aftermath of WWII (including the UN and the ICC) must not be allowed to become tools of political warfare or lawfare or instruments of injustice. It is crucial that these institutions work to uphold the principles of fairness, impartiality, and respect for human rights, not just in words, but in practice.

The fight for justice and human rights is an ongoing struggle. We must remain vigilant against the misuse of legal systems, whether they are wielded by states or international bodies, to persecute any group or nation. 

International legal tools must not be appropriated against one people, because then they become perceived as illicit and illegitimate and the people suffering persecution who really need them around the world will suffer the most.

History has shown us the dangers of legal discrimination, and we cannot afford to let it happen again. Legal systems must protect, not persecute, and in doing so, they will fulfill the promises made after the darkest days of the 20th century.

The writer is the CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).