On 26 January the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel had a case to answer for genocide over its operation in Gaza. The case had been brought by South Africa, which accused Israel of acts that breached the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. While the ruling falls short of demanding a ceasefire, it demands that Israel take action to ‘prevent acts of genocide’ and ‘allow humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip’. Such steps, as South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor explained, ‘require a ceasefire’. The Court’s interim decision is a political defeat for Israel, which had argued that the Court had no right to hear the case. It also leaves the Zionist state’s imperialist backers – who had maintained that the genocide charges were completely unfounded – politically embarrassed. The Court’s decisions were carried by a 15-2 majority.
Israel, predictably, immediately said it would ignore the Court’s decision; Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that Israel would ‘continue this war until absolute victory’. The ICJ is the highest court of the United Nations and theoretically has jurisdiction over all the states that are members. While its decisions have little practical impact, as Human Rights Watch put it, ‘The court’s clear and binding order raises the stakes for Israel’s allies to back up their stated commitment to a global rules-based order by helping ensure compliance with this watershed ruling.’
Ahead of the Court hearing on 11-12 January, the western imperialist powers lined up to offer Israel their support. British Prime Minister Sunak said he believed South Africa’s case was ‘completely unjustified and wrong’ and that ‘the UK government stands by Israel’s clear right to defend itself within the framework of international law’. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement stating that, ‘allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded’, while the German government said it ‘firmly and explicitly rejects the accusation of genocide that has now been made against Israel’.
It took the government of Namibia – which fully supports the South African case – to remind Germany that it had ‘committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions’ and that Germany had yet to fully atone for that genocide.
South Africa’s legal team had presented a powerful and comprehensive list of Israeli atrocities carried out in Gaza since 7 October. It includes racist and genocidal statements from Israeli government ministers which refer to Palestinians as ‘animals’ and call for a ‘Gaza Nakba’. Among them is the infamous statement by the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on 9 October, claiming his forces are ‘imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly’.
The ICJ will do little by itself to stem the Zionist butchery in Gaza. However, it helps make the Zionist state a pariah amongst nations, and once again exposes the role of British imperialist support for Israel, however hideous the war crimes its protegé commits.
Bob Shepherd
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 298 February/March 2024
