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| The majority of those killed by Israel in Palestine are women and children. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206282283/gaza-aid-israel-hamas-biden-visit |
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| Photo credit Al Jazeera South Africa Invokes Genocide Convention at International Court of Justice at The Hague |
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| Video after Israel bombed refugee camp https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/11/1/israel-accused-of-war-crimes-as-gaza-camp-is-bombed-again |
On Dec. 29, 2023, the Republic of South Africa initiated proceedings in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the State of Israel alleging breaches of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”), which entered into force in 1951. The application, brought under Article IX of the Genocide Convention, states that Israel “intend[s] to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group, that being the part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.” South Africa alleges that the state of Israel has failed to prevent genocide, failed to prosecute public incitement to genocide, and has directly engaged in genocidal acts in Gaza.
The application requests expedited proceedings in front of the ICJ as well as indication of provisional measures under Article 74(4) of the ICJ’s Rules of Court. The latter request would include the ICJ’s president calling on Israel to halt all actions in Gaza that constitute or give rise to violations of the Genocide Convention while the matter is pending in front of the ICJ. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/south-africa-institutes-icj-proceedings-against-israel-for-genocide-convention-violations
1 comment:
Thank you for publishing the full document of the South African government's application as submitted at the Hague.
The White House - through spokesperson John Kirby - dismisses South Africa's submission as "meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact altogether." You don't have to read all 84 pages with 574 citations - I didn't - but any reasonable sampling of the document reveals otherwise. It also betrays Kirby's brusque dismissal as another example of US disdain for "lesser" nation-states, not least of all those in the Southern Hemisphere.
Meanwhile, Israeli disdain for the United Nations and international observers from around the world is only surpassed by the flaccid duplicity of its government's rhetoric and propaganda in the age of internet information, rewarding right-wing and fascist elements with unrestrained macho intentions that are genocidal in substance while avoiding the word, then spoon-feeding general populations and media outlets their spurious references to the Holocaust, the Second World War, and a second War of Independence, all while the cameras in Gaza and the West Bank are rolling.
That this formula is losing traction at home and abroad might otherwise be good news, yet to the contrary, it may also be one reason why the Israeli government is looking to intensify the war or expand it regionally.
A frightening, discouraging prospect, all the more so since the Biden Administration seems to tag along, even as controversy continues to fuel tension and discord across the United States.
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