On the #ICC extending jurisdiction to #Palestine. Just a few thoughts. #THREAD

I agree the #ICC jurisdictional announcement is a movement victory and testament to the tireless & visionary work of #Palestinian human rights defenders.

But the legal issue itself is not that complicated & the fact that it is being celebrated is more about the political hurdle #Palestinians surmounted *for now*. The #ICC rejected the Palestinian application for jurisdiction in 2009 because its status as a state was not settled.

By the time #Palestine resubmitted its application in 2015, the UN General Assembly had already recognized it as a state and Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute. #ICC jurisdiction at this point should have been a no-brainer.

Instead, the Office of the Prosecutor AND a pre-trial chamber deliberated for years whether #Palestine had the capacity to be a party to the Rome Statute (which it was) and could request the jurisdiction of the #ICC.

Its still yet 2 be seen whether the #ICC will open an investigation and, if it does, whether the new Prosecutor - to be replaced in June-will pursue it. More, its yet to be seen whether the #Palestinian leadership pursues this track and foregoes possible incentives to abandon it

Now insert all the complicated issues related to investigation itself....the victory here is that #Palestinians have overcome 1 corner of Israeli impunity, but a much broader campaign is necessary to sustain/expand this victory & we need to diminish expectations of legal victory