- Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the governing instrument of the world body, recognises member states’ right to self-defence.
- But this right has degenerated into an endorsement of genocide.
South Africa’s court case against Israel may be what the international community needs to stop the United States-backed genocide against Palestinians.
It had to be South Africa to take a legal stand against Israel’s apartheidal aggression against Palestine. It had to be South Africa to act on its moral obligation to stop the injustices against an oppressed people. It had to be South Africa to understand that its own history of Boer apartheid is still alive in Gaza.
Apartheid is systematic domination of one side by the other. Israel controls entry, exit and movements within the Gaza Strip. It controls water, electricity, and other basic services. It also struggles to control Palestinian psyche, including what their children learn.
Palestinians have been subjected to years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land devoured by settlements and plagued by violence. Their economy stifled; their people displaced; and their homes demolished at whim.
US-backed Israel has engaged in five wars with Palestinians since 2008, including two ground invasions. None of the wars achieved the Israeli goal of decimating Palestine. Instead, the assaults have bolstered self-determination among Palestinians and galvanised Arab hostility towards Israel.
In the latest war, which has been running for about 100 days, more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed. About 60,000 injured and 1 million people displaced, through genocidal orders.
Challenging Israel’s abuse of international law, and a deliberate attempt to destroy a people under the guise of self-defence, is South Africa’s recognition of its debt to the Palestinian people.
The Hamas attack on partying Israeli youth on October 7 last year, provided the excuse Israel needed to carry out the genocide. The United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948 defines genocide as, “… acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group…” South Africa and Israel are parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention.
When South Africa’s case against Israel came up for hearing at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, last week, about 10,000 people were missing, probably killed, with bodies still lying under the rubble of bombed hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and other infrastructure.
Physical destruction and displacements don’t come with commitment to rebuilt, and without respect for human rights. The wounded and the maimed are deprived of health support systems. Most of the victims of Israeli apartheid are civilians, mostly women and children.
Israel’s excuse has always been the US lackey state is smoking out Hamas terrorists. The search for terrorists has gone beyond self-defence, which is Israel’s response to South Africa’s case at the ICJ.
UN rapporteurs have described Gaza Strip as a ‘graveyard for children’. Thousands of Palestinians have lost multiple family members and relatives. Young people are arrested, undressed and carted away to unknown destinations.
South Africa has presented 14 weeks of evidence of a traumatised Palestinian population. It is hoped the court has evidence that would one day see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war Cabinet charged with genocide and other war crimes.
The international community should not mint another convict Milosovic Slobodan of Yugoslavia’s aggression against Bosnia. He was the first head of government to be charged with war crimes.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization, under Yasser Arafat, was in the frontline against apartheid in South Africa. After his release, Nelson Mandela paid glowing tribute to the Palestinian people for their gallant support for the ANC during South Africa’s fight against the Boer apartheid regime.
Challenging Israel’s abuse of international law, and a deliberate attempt to destroy a people under the guise of self-defence, is South Africa’s recognition of its debt to the Palestinian people.
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the governing instrument of the world body, recognises member states’ right to self-defence. But this right has degenerated into an endorsement of genocide.
South Africa and other countries have taken the first steps to tame the Israeli monstrous violence in Gaza. Brazil, Columbia, Malaysia, and Turkey support the case against the Jewish state’s impunity against Palestinians. Other members of the UN will have to take a stand on the side of justice, or go on cheering Israel’s breaches of international laws.