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Tag: Belgium

  • European countries concerned about new US sanctions on ICC judges

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    This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    European Union flags are seen waving outside the EU Commission Building in Brussels, Belgium. [Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency]

    Several European countries voiced concern Friday about new US sanctions imposed on two judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reaffirming their support for the Court’s independence and ability to carry out its judicial mandate without political pressure, Anadolu reports.

    The Finnish Foreign Ministry said on US social media platform X that it “deeply regrets” the US decision to sanction the judges, stressing that the court must be able to function freely.

    In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry said Paris had taken note of the new sanctions targeting, as it urged Washington to withdraw all measures taken against the Court.

    “France condemns all forms of threats and coercive measures against the ICC, its staff and civil society organizations supporting the court,” it said, warning that the sanctions amount to an attack on the institution and the 125 states party to the Rome Statute.

    Belgium expressed concern about the decision, with Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot saying the sanctions “further undermine judicial independence and efforts to fight impunity.”

    READ: ICC rejects Israel’s appeal as arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant remain in force

    “Belgium strongly regrets the new additional sanctions of the US against two judges of the @IntlCrimCourt,” Prevot wrote on X, adding that Brussels would continue to support the Court in carrying out its mandate independently and impartially.

    Denmark echoed similar concerns, with the Foreign Affairs Ministry saying Copenhagen “deeply regrets” the US decision and reaffirmed its unwavering support for the ICC as an independent and impartial judicial institution.

    Other European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands and Norway, have also voiced concern about the sanctions and reiterated their support for the Court’s independence.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions Thursday against ICC judges Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, accusing them of being “directly engaged” in “the illegitimate targeting of Israel.”

    In response, the ICC said it “strongly rejects” the sanctions and labelled the move a “flagrant attack” against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.

    The latest measures follow previous US sanctions imposed on ICC officials involved in authorizing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — warrants accusing both officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

    Israel has killed more than 70,600 victims, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,100 people in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite a truce being signed in October.

    READ: US sanctions 2 International Criminal Court judges over rejecting Israel’s appeal of war crimes arrest warrants

    This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
    UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
    Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
    Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
    Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
    Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

  • 140,000 march in Brussels against austerity

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    Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Source: Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA)

    Around 140,000 people joined trade union protests in Brussels, opposing austerity measures planned by Bart De Wever’s administration.

    Approximately 140,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on October 14, 2025, answering the call of Belgium’s trade unions to oppose the austerity plans of Bart De Wever’s government. Demonstrators arrived from across the country, making this one of the largest labor mobilizations in years.

    “People came from all over Belgium, from all walks of life: workers, employees from both the public and private sectors, from all the professions that keep society running,” said Peter Mertens, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA). “A total of 140,000 people who are fed up with this government’s social destruction.”

    Prime Minister De Wever’s administration has pressed ahead with plans to cut workplace protections and freeze income while increasing military spending, including the purchase of new F-35 fighter jets. “With its summer agreement, the government is further reducing social security, social rights, and purchasing power, and therefore the future prospects of the population,” said the trade union FGTB-ABVV. “On the other hand, it has found money to buy more drones and warplanes.”

    Read more: Belgians to government: “We won’t sacrifice pensions for warplanes”

    Trade unions and the PTB-PVDA have warned that certain groups of workers will be hit hardest by the reforms – particularly women, who risk being penalized for taking maternity leave if they cannot produce the required documentation. “The government intends to deliberately steal from thousands of women who took maternity leave before 2003,” FGTB-ABVV activists wrote in Syndicats Magazine. “These women will bear the ‘burden of proof’ for this leave. Otherwise, what? Their maternity leave will simply not be counted in their pension calculations. This is a discriminatory choice, and a deliberate one. It shows a total lack of respect.”

    Feminists against Arizona coalition. Source: Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA)

    But all workers are expected to suffer under the new wave of austerity: younger employees will face weaker protections on night work, while those retired or nearing retirement could see their pensions slashed. “Figures from the Federal Pension Service show that 30% of people – 70% of whom are women – will lose an average of 318 euros per month. That’s a third of their pension,” said Thierry Bodson, head of the FGTB-ABVV, in a recent interview. “For many, that automatically means falling below the poverty line.”

    “Investing in weapons and cutting back on pensions is a political choice,” Mertens explained ahead of the protest. “By 2070, pension spending would rise by 2% of GDP, which the Reformist Movement (Mouvement réformateur) claims is impossible [to fund]. Yet increasing defense budgets by 2% over ten years is entirely possible for them.”

    Read more: World Bank acknowledges poverty increase in Nigeria, but doubles down on the reforms causing it

    The government has attempted to dismiss the unions’ and the left’s analyses but largely failed to do so, only managing to offer vague assurances that pensions would not be cut and protections would be preserved. “All these distortions, half-truths, and blatant lies prove one thing: the government is under pressure,” Mertens said.

    “What we feel today is incredible energy, collective pride, and great determination,” he added on the day of the demonstration. “More and more people are realizing: together, we can make the government back down. Together, we can win.”

    Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

  • 93 Countries Back ICC Probe Into Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

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    Original article by JON QUEALLY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Palestinian child, injured in the Israeli attack on Abu Aisha family house is taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on June 14, 2024.
     (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    A joint statement calls on “all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, [and] crimes against humanity.”

    Ninety-three nations on Friday, all them state parties to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, reiterated their support for the ICC as it assesses an application for arrest warrants of high level Israeli government officials accused of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza.

    The 93 countries—including Canada, Bangladesh, Belgium, Ireland, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Chile, Germany, France, Mongolia, Mexico, New Zealand, and scores of other—cited separate ICC statements defending its mandate for independence and upheld in their joint statement “that the Court, its officials and staff shall carry out their professional duties as international civil servants without intimidation.”

    Though neither nation is named in the joint statement, both the United States and Israel have publicly condemned ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan for his May 20 arrest warrant applications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in the Gaza Strip.

    Khan also submitted arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh for their alleged roles in the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Following Khan’s announcement in May, U.S. President Joe Biden said, “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

    In April it was reported that the U.S. government was working behind the scenes to block the ICC from issuing any arrest warrants targeting Israel officials. Neither Israel nor the U.S. is party to the Rome Statute, though the United Nations has recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), where the alleged war crimes by the occupying power, Israel, took place.

    After Khan made his application for warrants, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’ve been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it.” On June 4, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with 42 Democrats, passed a measure that would sanction ICC officials if the arrest warrants for any Israeli officials were approved or carried out.

    Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, was among those who applauded Friday’s public statement.

    Rajagapol thanked the signatory nations “for defending the ICC and standing up against the bullies, including the relics from the U.S. Senate whose idea of engaging with the world is to use threats,” a possible reference to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) who denounced Khan’s applications as “outrageous,” applauded the House approval of sanctions, and vowed further punishment for the ICC.

    Such punitive measures and high-profile threats directed at the ICC appeared to be the exact kind of intimidation Friday’s joint pledge of support is responding to.

    “The ICC, as the world’s first and only permanent international criminal court, is an essential component of the international peace and security architecture,” the statement reads. “We therefore call on all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, grave crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.”

    With their show of unified support for the ICC and its mandate, the countries said they aim to “contribute to ending impunity for such crimes and preventing their recurrence while defending the progress we have made together to guarantee lasting respect for international humanitarian law, human rights, the of law and the enforcement of international criminal justice.”

    Original article by JON QUEALLY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

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  • Skwawkbox: Israel bombs Belgium’s offices in Gaza

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    Israel bombs Belgium’s offices in Gaza – UK media ignore

  • Protesters March on NYC Transit Hubs Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire

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    Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Demonstrators demanding a Gaza cease-fire protest outside Penn Station in New York City on December 18, 2023. (Photo: caren/X)

    “We must stand up and not be silent to this injustice,” said one rabbi taking part in the demonstration.

    A coordinated wave of demonstrations against what activists called Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza targeted New York City transit hubs Monday afternoon, with protesters demanding an immediate cease-fire as heavy Israeli bombardment of the besieged strip pushed the death toll from 73 days of attacks to nearly 20,000.

    Protesters marched from Grand Central Station to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and then on to Penn Station, where at least hundreds of activists gave police the slip and occupied Moynihan Hall. Many participants prayed for peace before leaving the station.

    “We must stand up and not be silent to this injustice,” Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss toldamNewYork Metro outside Grand Central Station. “We hurt and cry with the people who are dying and suffering under the stranglehold of the Zionist occupation. We want the world to know that we hurt because we are Jews, we will not be silent because we are Jews.”

    Independent photojournalist Katie Smith followed the entire demonstration—which was coordinated by the group Within Our Lifetime—documenting incidents including police “violently engaging with protesters” and a confrontation between the actor Alec Baldwin and activists.

    According to Smith, activists later marched to a building in Greenwich Village where a fundraiser for the Israel Defense Forces was reportedly being held.

    Monday’s actions followed recent protests in New York, including a Manhattan march led by artists remembering the life and work of Refaat Alareer—a Gaza poet and professor killed last week in an Israeli airstrike—and calling on Israel to free political prisoners including the members of Freedom Theater recently arrested in Jenin in the illegally occupied West Bank.

    In recent days, large protests for Gaza have also taken place in U.S. cities including Houston, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., as well as in cities in countries including the U.K., Canada, France, Belgium, Norway, and Germany.

    In California, workers at Google and allies held a Thursday die-in at the tech giant’s San Francisco office “to demand the company stop powering Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza” through the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus cloud computing contract.

    More protests are planned for this week, including a nationwide action by Mennonites on Tuesday and a rally by over 80 groups on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. that same day.

    Sponsored by the Action Center on Race and Economy, Adalah Justice Project, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Tuesday’s D.C. event is being held to “demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and oppose the Biden administration’s proposed military aid package sending billions of taxpayer dollars to Israel, U.S. southern border militarization, and immigration enforcement.”

    Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Zionist president Joe Biden. 27 July 2021 image by Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz. Original public domain image from Flickr
    Zionist president Joe Biden. 27 July 2021 image by Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz. Original public domain image from Flickr