South Africa’s decision to sue Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has raised a lot of dust, dividing world leaders amongst different lines of argument.
In one of the latest reactions, Namibia, a southern African country, criticised Germany for declaring support for Israel, reminding the European country of its colonial past including the murder of indigenous Namibians.
When South Africa filed the case at the ICJ, Israel’s most visible ally, the US, dismissed it as “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis.”
Israel itself accused South Africa of collaborating with terrorists who wanted nothing but peril for Israelis.
Reactions
Germany in a statement on Friday drummed support for Israel saying Israel has been defending itself against Hamas following the event of 7 October.
Germany said it is opposed to political instrumentalisation and “firmly and explicitly rejects the accusation of genocide that has now been brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice. This accusation is completely unfounded.”
The German government also noted that it would join the case at the World Court as a third party.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The US believes South Africa’s genocide submission against Israel distracts the world from important efforts for peace and security.”
The Namibian Presidency in a post on X attacked Germany for its stance. “Namibia rejects Germany’s support of the genocidal intent of the racist Israeli State against innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Namibia said Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.
It recalled that the first genocide was committed on Namibian soil by Germany in the 20th century (1904-1908) killing tens of thousands of innocent Namibians in the “most inhumane and brutal conditions” which, it said, the German Government is yet to fully atone for.
Namibia’s President Hage Geingob appealed to the German Government to reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third party in defence and support of the genocidal acts of Israel before the International Court of Justice.
One of Hamas’ political officials, Basem Naim, quoted by Reuters said, “We welcome the convening of the (case)…on the accusation of ethnic cleansing and genocide. We are looking forward to seeing a decision by the court that would achieve justice for the (Palestinian) victims, end the aggression on Gaza, and hold the war criminals accountable.”
The European Union has yet to make any comment on the ICJ case while the UK refused to support the case.
South Africa is supported by the Organisation of Islamic Countries, a 57-member bloc, Bolivia, Malaysia, Namibia, Turkey, Jordan, Maldives, and Pakistan.
The ICJ Arguments in Summary
The hearing at the ICJ commenced on Thursday and continued on Friday. On Tuesday, South Africa reeled out arguments from the 80-page document, saying Israel was intentional about wiping out entire families in Gaza.
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South Africa’s lawyers argued that Israel is committing actions that fall within the definition of genocide and must be stopped by the court. It argued that there is never a justification for genocide and the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 cannot be used as a justification.
On Friday, Israel denied South Africa’s arguments from the previous day saying that it was acting in self-defense.
It accused South Africa of overlooking the events of 7 October and fraternising with Hamas. Its lawyers said Hamas was to blame for the mayhem happening in the Gaza Strip.
Israel also denied any intention to wipe out Palestinians, saying South Africa was distorting the facts of the ongoing war.
International lawyers and analysts have described South Africa’s arguments as historic.
South Africa wants the ICJ to, in the first instance, order a halt in Israeli attacks on Gaza, which have killed over 23,000 people, most of them civilians. The court is expected to rule on that in about a month.
South Africa also wants the court to rule that Israeli actions in Gaza amount to genocide against the Palestinians. The court will not rule on that until about a year or two, experts have said.
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