Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

“Target Israel and we will target you”: U.S. Senators Play Schoolyard Bully Against the ICC
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
08 May 2024
🖨️ Print Article
Karim Khan
Karim Khan KC, ICC Prosecutor (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

The ICC recently revealed that U.S. Republican Senators sent a threatening letter to the ICC in response to Israel's concern that an arrest warrant may be issued against it. This pressure campaign on the ICC is but one piece of the United States' attempt to shield Israel from accountability for its crimes.

Despite the fact that the United States is not a member nation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that organization has been under its sway from its inception. The ICC has only prosecuted Africans and a few Serbians who were accused of war crimes during the NATO-engineered breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The ICC has never issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s many documented war crimes.

After Israeli officials publicly expressed concern that the ICC might issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking Israeli officials, U.S. pressure began in earnest. Recently a letter to the ICC signed by twelve republican senators was made public. In the letter they expressed contempt for international law and openly stated their intention to punish the ICC if it acted against Israeli officials.

“Target Israel and we will target you” and “You have been warned,” are words that should create outrage around the world. Not only is the U.S. not an ICC member state, but during the George W. Bush administration congress passed what is known as the Hague Invasion Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens or even citizens of allied nations from being prosecuted and declares a right to invade the Hague and free any such person should they fall under the control of the ICC.

The letter says that ICC officials and their families will be sanctioned and barred from entering the U.S. if arrest warrants are issued for any Israeli officials. It is unlikely that the ICC will change course and suddenly prosecute Israelis but the letter is quite instructive. It exposes how the U.S. conducts itself around the world, as a bully which uses its power to control and to dominate.

Letter to ICCLetter to ICC signature page

Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter, Bluesky, and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com.

ICC
Israel
Genocide
Republicans

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

x
Craig Mokhiber
No, Israel does not have ‘a right to exist.’ Quite the contrary, actually.
04 August 2026
"Unlike the Zionist claim that 'Israel has a right to exist,' my assertion is rooted in international law.
x
Gary Wilson
They came to Spain for work. Washington called it an invasion.
04 August 2026
"Israel and Washington use Ceuta and Melilla to attack Spain for naming the genocide in Gaza.
Ramzy Baroud
The Spark in Tell: How a Village Resistance Disrupted Israel’s West Bank Strategy
29 July 2026
Palestinians have the right to defend themselves under international law and they exercised it in the town of Tell on the West Bank. 
Carlos Aznárez
Zionist Expansionism in Latin America
22 July 2026
Free trade deals, water contracts, and military training programs are quietly binding one Latin American government after another to Tel Aviv.
Noah Hurowitz
Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say
22 July 2026
The human rights groups’ suit came as the Trump administration vowed to destroy the International Criminal Court entirely.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The White Supremacist Imperative on Violence: A Black Radical Perspective on the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination
15 July 2026
The U.S.-EU-NATO axis remains intact, and its commitment to militarism represents an existential threat to the world.
Black Alliance For Peace
The Anti Fascist Football Coalition Joins the Call for the Remaining Teams in the World Cup to Withdraw and Urges People of Conscience to Fight Back Against U.S. Fascism
15 July 2026
FIFA allowed a nation that commits genocide and runs detention gulags to host the World Cup, and the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition says stayi
Sondos Asem
Senior UAE and regional officials referred to ICC over role in Sudan atrocities
15 July 2026
Coalition of NGOs accuses foreign officials, primarily from the UAE, of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide i
Hanna Eid
Sovereignty and Strategic Depth
08 July 2026
The U.S.
Jeremy Scahill , Jawa Ahmad
Exclusive: Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
24 June 2026
Gaza proposals obtained by Drop Site show Trump’s board attempting to force a Palestinian surrender that Israel could not achieve in war.

More Stories


  •  BAR Book Forum: Psyche A. Williams-Forson’s Book, “Eating While Black”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Psyche A. Williams-Forson’s Book, “Eating While Black”
    05 Jul 2023
    This week’s featured author is Psyche A. Williams-Forson. Williams-Forson is Professor and Chair of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her book is Eating While Black: Food…
  • Beyond Affirmative Action, Toward Black Unity
    Austin Cole
    Beyond Affirmative Action, Toward Black Unity
    05 Jul 2023
    The recent Supreme Court decision which banned the use of race as a criterion for college admissions is indeed racist. The decision also obscures the need for Black unity and for a new Black…
  • What To the Exploited Working Class and Poor in a Capitalist Dictatorship Is the Fourth of July?
    Jacqueline Luqman
    What To the Exploited Working Class and Poor in a Capitalist Dictatorship Is the Fourth of July?
    05 Jul 2023
    The 4th of July celebration is a relic of American exceptionalist ideology. There is very little independence in a capitalist dictatorship.
  • In Brutal Summer Heat, Prisoners Say Their Cells Are Like “Stifling Hot Coffins”
    Victoria Law
    In Brutal Summer Heat, Prisoners Say Their Cells Are Like “Stifling Hot Coffins”
    05 Jul 2023
    Days of extreme heat without access to enough water and cooled air become deadlier for an aging prison population.
  • Police Brutality, Racism and Poverty Underlines Youth Rebellion in France
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Police Brutality, Racism and Poverty Underlines Youth Rebellion in France
    05 Jul 2023
    Protests erupted in France after police killed a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan ancestry. Just as in the U.S. racism in France is the cause of police violence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us