Hawzah News Agency- In an interview with Anadolu, Kutty, who is vocal about the Palestinian conflict and the crisis in the Gaza Strip, said Trump's proposal would be deemed a "joke" if it were not coming from the President of the United States.

"Because the plan is not only illegal under international law, but it's a blatant attempt to basically erase Palestinian identity and sovereignty," Kutty said.

He pointed to the Geneva Conventions, UN resolutions and International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions that classify Israel as an occupying power in Gaza and the West Bank, including East al-Quds.

"Israel cannot just hand over territory that is occupied," he said. "Israel, if they want, they can hand over other territory it owns and even that may be contested."

Describing Trump as a "real estate developer," Kutty said, "It's not a business deal. It's a war crime."

He said the US president's desire to rename the Gaza Strip to "MAGA Strip" mirrors "the colonial projects we've heard about in the past."

"Colonial powers, Britain and France and other countries divided up the Middle East. European powers divided Africa. This is what we're seeing," he said, adding that it is "totally illegal. There's no legal basis to it at all."

"Gaza is not their (Israel's) property to give away," he affirmed.

ICC sanctions and US hypocrisy

Asked about Trump's recent executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza, Kutty said: "This is the height of hypocrisy and height of direct attack on justice, just undermining the rule of law."

"As somebody who's been studying and writing and teaching in the area of international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, you become disillusioned," he said, stressing that "there's no respect, or even pretend respect for international law."

He recalled the US position when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine war, highlighting that well-known US senators like Lindsey Graham had welcomed the ICC's decision at the time and urged respect for international law.

Kutty then referred to Graham's recent social media posts about the ICC following the arrest warrant for Netanyahu and said: "This is just unbelievable. This is unacceptable."

"How blatant the hypocrisy and double standards are. The ICC investigation into Israeli war crimes is not a political decision," he said.

On Thursday, Graham welcomed Trump's "bold executive action to sanction" the ICC and called the world criminal court "a rogue organization with a corrupt prosecutor who has violated the spirit of the law regarding prosecutions against Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister."

Kutty emphasized the lengthy procedure behind the ICC's decisions and noted that "international law should not have a political lens."

"The same standards that were applied to Russia, the same standards that were applied to Sudan, the same standards that were applied in Afghanistan, in Myanmar, Burma, all of these countries have been investigated. The ICC has taken steps," he said: "Why only in this particular case it's political?"

He criticized Trump’s executive order for "undermining" international law. "Trump's move also undermines international justice. Essentially, this is imposing economic and political sanctions against an independent tribunal."

"Now, this is also emboldening war criminals. Because now war criminals are sitting there saying, 'We can get away with this too if we have strong supporters' like Russia or China, and, maybe in some cases, even India is becoming powerful. These countries are becoming very powerful. So yesterday, it's the United States doing this. Tomorrow, it's going to be another country doing this for their friend," he said.

Canada's stance on Gaza

Kutty called on Americans, Canadians and global citizens to reflect on whether this is "the kind of world we want to live in, where there is no rule of law, where there's no justice, where, basically, the powerful can do whatever they want."

He said humanitarian law was developed after World War II "to make sure that what happened in the previous eras did not happen again and never again."

"But you know, it seems like for some people, that never again only applies to the chosen people," he said, adding that Israel "controlling and manipulating" the US is "dismantling the very structures that are necessary to maintain law and order internationally and locally."

On Canada's position regarding the Palestine conflict, particularly the Gaza crisis and Trump's proposal, Kutty criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, saying it "has been complicit in the war crimes, in the crimes against humanity, by endorsing the US position."

"It's too little, too late," he said of Trudeau’s stance on Gaza, calling it "very shocking to see how blind they've become."

He welcomed the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) for being vocal about Palestine and Gaza but said: "They've been doing a much better job, far better job than the governing party, the Liberals. And of course, we don't even need to speak about the Conservatives, who are completely Zionist controlled, and they will do whatever Israel asks of it to do."

Emphasizing the "powerful Zionist lobby" in Canada and its influence over Canadian politics, Kutty urged the Canadian government to "take some action" and "formally sanction" Israel.

"Canada should be calling for independent investigations into what Israel has been doing there (in Gaza)," he said.

Recalling Trump's past remarks about making Canada the 51st US state, Kutty said: "This kind of conversation is happening because of the fact that countries like Canada were silent when international law was being violated. International law is being disrespected by many countries, but more so by Israel, blatant violations of sovereignty, blatant violation of international law."

Canada is now facing "the chickens coming home to roost" with the Trump administration, he said.

"What's happened in Gaza has opened the doors for many different types of violations to be normalized with international law," he added.

Source: Anadolu