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South Africa

Israel Tells World Court It Has The ‘Most Moral Army In The World’

In a historic appearance before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court) in The Hague, the legal team representing the Republic of South Africa presented a powerful and compelling case that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. South Africa asked the court to impose nine emergency “provisional measures” to stop the slaughter. South Africa “unequivocally condemned the targeting of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and the taking of hostages on 7 October,” South African ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela said. But, he added, “no armed attack on a State’s territory no matter how serious — even an attack involving atrocity crimes — can provide any justification for, or defence to” genocide.

International Coalition Applauds South Africa; Denounces Countries Supporting Israel’s Crimes

Last week, member groups of the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) organized activities around the world, including press conferences at The Hague and outside various South African consulates and embassies, to highlight and support the South African legal team as they presented their evidence of the state of Israel’s acts of genocide against Palestinians to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 11. The ICGSP continues to expand with nearly 2,000 signatory organizations from 100 countries on the initial letter calling for mobilization in defense of South Africa’s strong case for genocide.

Craig Murray: Your Man In The Hague — Day Two

As with the South African case, according to court procedure the Israeli case was introduced on Friday by their “agent”, permanently accredited to the court, Tal Becker of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He opened with the standard formula “it is an honour to appear before you again on behalf of the state of Israel”, managing to imply purely through phrasing and tone of voice that the honour lay in representing Israel, not in appearing before the judges. Becker opened by going straight to the Holocaust, saying that nobody knew more than Israel why the Genocide Convention existed. Six million Jewish people had been killed. The Convention was not to be used to cover the normal brutality of war.

On The Urgent Need For Provisional Measures To Protect Palestinians

Madam President, Members of the Court, there is an urgent need for provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the irreparable prejudice caused by Israel’s violations of the Genocide Convention. The United Nations Secretary-General and its Chiefs describe the situation in Gaza variously as “a crisis of humanity”, a “living hell”, a “blood bath”, a situation of “utter, deepening [and unmatched] horror”, where “an entire population” is “besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival”, “on a massive scale.”

At The Hague, Aharon Barak Will Play Dr. Jekyll To Israel’s Mr. Hyde

The announcement that Israel has chosen Aharon Barak, the renowned former Supreme Court President, to join the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as it judges a landmark case charging Israel with genocide has sent the country into a tizzy. Barak will be Israel’s representative on a panel that is hastily being convened to discuss South Africa’s petition for an emergency suspension of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip — a panel that will consist of the ICJ’s 15 permanent judges plus one from Israel and one from South Africa. Barak has long been reviled by the Israeli right for having enshrined various liberal principles in the state’s quasi-constitution during his tenure as Supreme Court president from 1995-2006.

Your Man In The Hague (In A Good Way)

I attended the hearing on Thursday of South Africa’s case against Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice. I was able to sit in the public gallery and watch all the proceedings. I was, however, handicapped in reporting by the fact that we were not allowed pens or pencils (though we were allowed paper). I asked the Head of Security at the ICJ why pens were not allowed in the public gallery. He told me, with a perfectly straight face, that they could be used as a weapon. So bereft of my deadly ballpoint, this account is less detailed and more impressionistic than I would wish to give you.

Namibia Condemns Germany For Defending Israel In ICJ Genocide Case

Namibia has criticised Germany’s “shocking decision” to support Israel in the genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa, as Israel’s war on Gaza entered its 100th day. “Germany has chosen to defend in the ICJ the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian Territories,” the president of Namibia, Hage Geingob, said in a statement on X on Saturday. A two-day public hearing in the case at the World Court – the highest legal body of the United Nations – took place on Thursday and Friday during which South Africa and Israel presented their arguments.

The Case For Genocide

The exhaustive 84-page brief submitted by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide is hard to refute. Israel’s campaign of indiscriminate killing, wholesale destruction of infrastructure, including housing, hospitals and water treatment plants, along with its use of starvation as a weapon, accompanied by genocidal rhetoric from its political and military leaders who speak of destroying Gaza and ethnically cleansing the 2.3 million Palestinians, makes a strong case against Israel for genocide. Israel’s smearing of South Africa as “the legal arm” of Hamas exemplifies the bankruptcy of its defense, a smear replicated by those who claim that demonstrations held to call for a ceasefire and protect Palestinian human rights are “anti-Semitic.”

Israel’s War On Palestine And The Global Upsurge Against It

Hundreds of millions of people across the world have been deeply moved by the atrocity of the Israeli war on Palestine. Millions have attended marches and protests, many of them participating in such demonstrations for the first time in their lives. Social media, in almost all the world’s languages, is saturated with memes and posts about this or that terrible action. Some people focus on the Israeli attack on Palestinian children, others on the illegal targeting of Gaza’s health infrastructure, and yet others point to the annihilation of at least four hundred families (more than ten people in each family killed).

Israel Dismisses Genocidal Intent As ‘Random Assertions’

In its defense against allegations by South Africa that it is committing genocide in Gaza, a British barrister arguing at the World Court on Friday for Israel downplayed numerous statements by senior Israeli officials of genocidal intent against Palestinians as mere “random assertions” that prove nothing. Instead, the barrister turned the tables, accusing South Africa itself of complicity in genocide. Kings Counselor Malcolm Shaw, for Israel, told the Court on the second day of a two-day hearing: “As far as acts are concerned in this case, there is little beyond random assertions to demonstrate that Israel has or has had the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part the Palestinian people as such.” Without proving intent, Shaw argued, a genocide case is impossible.

South Africa Presents The Case Against Israel’s Genocide In Gaza

The opening salvo of South Africa’s legal bid to hold Israel accountable for genocide in Gaza rang out this morning in a crowded courtroom in The Hague. The State of Israel has failed to prevent and is continuing to commit acts of genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza, lawyers for the Republic of South Africa told the International Court of Justice, gathered in the ornate chambers of The Hague’s Peace Palace. Standing at a podium in front of the Court’s fifteen judges, supplemented by judges ad hoc Aharon Barak (Israel) and Dikgang Ernest Moseneke (South Africa), and in front of a battery of lawyers and scores of diplomatic observers, South African attorney Adila Hassim spelled out the acts Israel has committed against the Palestinian people of Gaza – acts defined as genocidal under Article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

What Israel Faces At The Hague

But in political terms the 84-page document that South Africa submitted to the Court represents the most powerful indictment of Israeli genocide that has been available to the public thus far. It not only documents the genocidal consequences of the Israeli massive bombing and siege of Gaza, but presents a complete file of official Israeli professions of determination to carry out genocide against the Palestinians population of the Gaza strip.

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 96: Israel To Face Genocide Charges At ICJ

Israeli officials are gearing up for the hearing in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) tomorrow after South Africa filed a lawsuit in December accusing Tel Aviv of committing genocidal actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The ICJ hearings will broadcast live on Thursday and Friday. Unrestrained U.S. backing of Israeli military actions and bombardment in Gaza has immunized Tel Aviv from any scrutiny under UN resolutions. The ICJ ruling could end up as another international law that Israel does not respect. However, there is a high expectation for the Hague-based court to hold Israel accountable this time and implement a permanent ceasefire.

Latin American Nations Back South Africa’s Case Against ‘Israel’

The government of Venezuela spoke up this Tuesday to confirm its support for South African authorities who, in a case filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, Palestine. In a statement, the foreign minister of Venezuela, Yván Gil cited the Israeli entity’s repeated violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. “Venezuela, as a country committed to peace diplomacy, recognizes South Africa’s firm and historic step in defense of the Palestinian people and international law,” wrote Gil. Likewise, he stated that Venezuela advocates that South Africa’s case be supported by the entire international community.

Support Grows For South Africa’s Case Against Israel

Bolivia has joined the ranks of countries who support South Africa’s historic case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The Hague is set to initiate public hearings on the matter on January 11. In a statement on January 7, the Bolivian government recognized “that South Africa took a historic step in the defense of the Palestinian people, a leadership and effort that should be accompanied by the international community that clamors for the respect for life”. Bolivia was among the countries, including South Africa and Bangladesh, who had submitted an appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on November 17 to investigate the crimes being committed in Palestine, including genocide.
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