South Africa files case at ICJ over Israel's 'genocidal acts' in Gaza

Depopulation & WW3
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South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza after nearly three months of relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 21,500 people and caused widespread destruction in the besieged enclave.

In an application to the court on Friday, South Africa described Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group".

"The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about the ir physical destruction," the application said.

As members of the UN, both South Africa and Israel are bound by the court.

Read more.

Read Press Release

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South Africa files a case at the ICJ accusing Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza

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Is the ICJ another gatekeeper agency from which Justice will not be served?

court-August2023

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.

The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).

The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French. The Court | INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

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Israel to appear before International Court of Justice to counter South Africa's genocide accusations

https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/middleeast/israel-to-appear-before-international-court-of-justice-to-counter-south-africas-genocide-accusations/ar-AA1mmlgi

Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague to contest South Africa's genocide accusations over the war with Hamas in Gaza, an Israeli government spokesman said on Tuesday.

South Africa asked the ICJ on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against Hamas.

"The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel," spokesman Eylon Levy told an online briefing.

"We assure South Africa's leaders, history will judge you, and it will judge you without mercy," Levy said.

The ICJ, sometimes known as the World Court, is the United Nations venue for resolving disputes between states. Israel's foreign ministry has said the suit was "baseless."

The war was triggered by a cross-border attack by Hamas Islamist militants on Oct. 7, which Israel says killed 1,200 people.

Israel responded with an air and land assault that has killed more than 22,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. While its casualty figures do not differentiate between fighters and civilians, the ministry has said that 70 per cent of Gaza's dead are women and those under 18. Israel disputes Palestinian casualty figures and says it has killed 8,000 fighters.

Levy listed a series of measures Israel's military has taken to minimize harm to non-combatants.

He said Hamas bore full moral responsibility for the war it started and was "waging from inside and underneath hospitals, schools, mosques, homes and UN facilities," Levy said.

He added, without elaborating, that South Africa was complicit in Hamas' crimes against Israelis.

Hamas denies using Gaza's population as human shields.

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ICJ
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in proceedings launched by South Africa against Israel over the Gaza war on Jan. 11 and 12, it said on Wednesday.

South Africa had asked the ICJ on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against Hamas.

Israel had said it would appear before the court to contest the accusations.

The court usually takes one or two weeks to issue a decision on emergency measures after the hearings. The court's rulings are final but it has no authority to enforce them. https://www.reuters.com/world/icj-slates-hearings-gaza-genocide-case-jan-11-12-2024-01-03/

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More details about the application - wording and analysis -

South Africa’s Application is 84 pages long and devastating – to the State of Israel, to its Jewish political and military leaders and personnel committing the genocidal acts and speaking openly of their genocidal intent, to those in Israel, America, and Europe standing so firmly in support of them, and to the Jewish people in whose name Israel purports to act.

Lists out "genocidal intent" quotes from Israelis.

Indeed, one of the most salient parts of the Application is its meticulous documentation of the misery that Israel imposed on Gazans before October 7.

Read more.

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Turkey backs South Africa 'genocide' case against Israel at ICJ

Turkey has officially backed South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses the state of genocide in its ongoing war on Gaza.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement that Ankara welcomes the South African case, which says Israel has violated its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

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The Foreign Ministry wants other countries to back its claim that South Africa’s allegations are “absurd and baseless”

Israel aiming to derail ICJ genocide case – Axios

Palestinians pray by shrouded bodies of people killed following Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip. © AFP

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has ordered its embassies across the globe to pressure their host countries to reject South Africa’s genocide case against it at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Axios has reported, citing an urgent diplomatic cable.

Pretoria addressed the ICJ last week, claiming that Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza are “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part” of the Palestinian population. South Africa wants the The Hague-based court to issue an injunction ordering the IDF to suspend its military campaign in the enclave. More than 22,600 people have been killed in Gaza over the past three months, according to the local health ministry.

The cable, which was sent out by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, stresses that Israel’s “strategic goals” are for the ICJ to reject South Africa’s request for an injunction, refrain from determining that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and acknowledge that the IDF’s actions in the enclave comply with nternational law, Axios said in an article on Saturday.

"A ruling by the court could have significant potential implications that are not only in the legal world but have practical bilateral, multilateral, economic, security ramifications,” the document, copies of which were seen by the outlet, read.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Israeli diplomats must pressure their counterparts and high-level politicians in host countries to issue “immediate and unequivocal public statement along the following lines: To publicly and clearly state that YOUR COUNTRY rejects the outragest, absurd and baseless allegations made against Israel.”

It’s also important for foreign nations “to publicly acknowledge that Israel is working to increase the humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as to minimize damage to civilians, while acting in self defense after the horrible October 7 attack by a genocidal terrorist organization [Hamas],” the cable read.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that Israeli diplomats must urgently work on obtaining such statements so that they come out before the ICJ hearings begin on January 11. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also send letters to dozens of world leaders, relaying a similar message, it added.

Countries like TĂŒrkiye, Jordan, and Malaysia have supported South Africa’s cases. However, it was rejected by Israel’s prime backer, the US. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier this week that “we are not seeing any acts that constitute genocide” in Gaza.

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HUMZA YOUSAF, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTAND, CALLS ISRAEL'S ACTIONS ETHNIC CLEANSING

Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotand, is the first leader of any political party in the UK and Europe to call Israel's actions ethnic cleansing. He has also made clear that he supports the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in investigating Israel for genocide.

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South Africa v Israel: A full breakdown of the ‘historic’ ICJ genocide case

South Africa has begun a landmark legal showdown at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after it accused Israel of "genocidal acts" in its indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip.

The case is one of at least three Israel is potentially facing at the ICJ and International Criminal Court (ICC) over its brutal campaign against the besieged Palestinian enclave.

What is the difference between the ICJ and the ICC?

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is often confused with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which tries war criminals. The ICJ, also called the World Court, is the highest United Nations legal body, established in 1945 to deal with disputes between states. The hearings will take place on January 11 and 12.

The ICC, also in The Hague, handles war crimes cases against individuals.

British-Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta who will give testimony to Israel genocide in the International Criminal Court.

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South Africa calls Israel’s leaders ‘genocidal inciters’ at ICJ case opening

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“The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state,” Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, advocate of the High Court of South Africa, told the court. He called Israel’s political and military leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “genocidal inciters,” adding that Israel’s intentions are “evident from the way in which this military attack is being conducted.”

Israel responded by accusing South Africa of operating as the “legal arm” of Hamas, with the Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson describing the case as “one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history.”

UN international court hears South Africa's genocide case against Israel

@DG-Truther-Videos

Coverage| ICJ Opens Hearing on South Africa’s Genocide Case against ‘Israel’

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) proceedings in The Hague got underway, as the 15 permanent judges plus two ad hoc judges from South Africa and the Zionist entity entered the courtroom in the Palace of Peace.

The ICJ’s President Judge Joan Donoghue swore in both ad hoc judges, and read out the allegations made by South Africa in its application against ‘Israel’ under the Genocide Convention.

A court registrar then reads out the provisional measures South Africa has requested the court to order against Israel, including ordering it to “take no steps in furtherance of its military operation” and “desist from the commission of any and all acts in under the scope of Article II of the genocide convention.”

Israel Has Crossed the Line

South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told the ICJ that Palestinian people have suffered at the hands of ‘Israel’ since 1948.

continues.

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South Africa tells International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza as landmark case begins

South Africa presented its case yesteray (11 Jan). The State of Israel presents its side today. Here is an article about what both have said, but more will probably be updated about The State of Israel's side.

What I found interesting in the article is:

Proceedings could take years

The court will not rule at that time on the genocide allegations — those proceedings could take years.

The ICJ's decisions are also final and without appeal — but the court has no way to enforce them.

Not sure if one can achieve justice in a court with no power .

HOWEVER - This landmark case is bringing attention to the entire world about The Truth of what is happening in Gaza. I think we can determine who is lying by the mounting evidence.

Aljazeera is providing live updates:

Demonstrations outside The Court

Can you see the difference in the number of people from each side?

South Africa Speeches:

Each about 1/2 hour long:

South African lawyer's incredible speech accusing Israel of genocide at ICJ

Irish lawyer's stunning speech at The Hague accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza

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DELETE THE UNITED NATIONS | REMARQUE88

THE U.N. WANTS YOU DEAD - WHY WOULD THEY HELP PALESTINIANS? - Source: Remarque 88.

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Watch LIVE: ICJ hears Israel's defence against South Africa's genocide claim in Gaza

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The comments below speak volumes.

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In its Friday counter-submission, Israel’s representatives, led by British lawyer and academic Malcolm Shaw KC, argued that South Africa’s application “distorted” and “de-contextualised” Tel Aviv’s military actions in Gaza, and that in accusing Israel of genocide, Pretoria was “diluting” the meaning of the crime.

Tal Becker, an advocate for the Israeli team, told the court that the Genocide Convention was drawn up in the aftermath of the mass killing of Jews in the Holocaust and that the phrase “never again” is one of “the highest moral obligations” for Israel.

But Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner on Palestine at human rights organisation War on Want, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s arguments are “weak”.

The ICJ had, in 2003, ruled that an occupying power cannot claim the right to self-defence, in a case involving Israel’s construction of a separation wall in the occupied West Bank. Israel does not consider itself to be an occupying power since its disengagement from Gaza in 2006. The UN and a variety of human rights organisations have rejected this claim, however, while international legal scholars have been divided about whether Gaza was “occupied” according to international law. Continues

Israel will lose genocide case at The Hague, human rights lawyer predicts | LBC

Professor Francis A. Boyle, Human Rights Professor and Lawyer who was the first to win a provisional measures of protection ever issued by the International Court of Justice spoke to Andrew Marr on Thursday, praising South African lawyers performance in rebutting Israeli defences.

"I have read all the legal pleading and watch the hearings. South Africa has an air-tight case... I believe South Africa will win an order of provisional measures of protection."

Democracy Now's Report of the Hearing:

"Gaslighting & Cherry-Picking": How Israel Is Defending Itself at World Court on Charges of Genocide

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Arrogant Netanyahu declares no one can halt Israel’s war to crush Hamas, including international court

“No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks Saturday evening, referring to Iran and its allied militias.

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The International Court of Justice website released a 4- page statement about the hearing:

The Court will now begin its deliberation.
The Court’s decision will be delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced
in due course.

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Today at the Hague – South Africa Lists the Genocidal Acts Committed By Israeli Forces in Gaza.

By Patricia Harrity on January 11, 2024

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Today, January 11th, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) convened to deliberate on the unfolding crisis in Gaza. At the behest of South Africa, proceedings have commenced under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Genocide, the accusation that Israel is perpetrating genocide within the Gaza Strip.

The South African delegation presented their case to the ICJ, in the first of two days of emergency hearings with an immediate aim to win a ruling later this month, or even as early as next week, ordering Israel to cease and desist in its assault of Gaza.

The South African Minister of Justice emphasised that no purported provocation can justify the egregious events transpiring in Gaza, and has underscored the gravity of the situation.

The South African legal team asserted their belief that Israel is engaging in a deliberate campaign of genocide in Gaza, and today they had an opportunity to lay out its case, and the opening statements from the team included a presentation of the list of acts that violate the Genocide Convention. Source

The Transcript

What follows below is a transcript where a legal representative of the post-apartheid nation, South Africa lists the Israeli acts which is argued violate the Genocide Convention.

The First Genocidal Act – The Mass Killings The first genocidal act committed by Israel is the mass killings of Palestinians in Gaza in violation of article 2A in the Genocidal Convention. As the UN Secretary General explained five weeks ago, the level of Israels killing is so extensive that no where is safe in Gaza.

As I stand before you today, 23,210 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during the sustained attacks over the last three months. At least 70% of whom are believed to be women and children. Some 7000 Palestinians are still missing, presumed dead under the rubble.

Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to relentless bombing wherever they go, they are killed in their homes, in places where they seek shelter, in hospitals, in schools, in mosques, in churches and as they try to find food and water for their families.

Continued at link...

Summing Up – Genocidal Intent

In sum madam president.

All of these act, individually and collectively form and calculated pattern of conduct by Israel indicating genocidal intent.

This intent is evident from Israel’s conduct in specially targeting Palestinians living in Gaza, using weaponry that causes large scale homicidal destruction, as well as targeted sniping of civilians, designating safe zones for Palestinians to seek refuge and then bombing these, depriving Palestinians in Gaza of basic need, food, water, healthcare, fuel, sanitation and communications, destroying social infrastructure, hones, schools, mosques churches, hospitals. Seriously injuring and leaving large numbers of children orphaned.

Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts.

In the Gambian Myanmar case this court did not hesitate to impose provisional measures in relation to allegations that Myanmar was committing genocidal acts against the Rohingya within the Rakhine state, the facts before the court today are sadly even more stark and like the Gambian Myanmar case deserve and demand this court’s intervention.

Every day there is mounting irreparable loss of life, property and humanity for the Palestinian people. Our newsfeeds show graphic images of suffering that has become unbearable to watch. Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.

Without an indication of provisional measures, the atrocities will continue with the Israeli Defence Force indicating that it intends pursuing this course of action for a year.

In the words of the UN Undersecretary General on 5 January, 2024, quote –

“You think getting aid into Gaza is easy, think again. Three layers of inspections before trucks can even enter. Confusion and long queues, a growing list of rejected items. A crossing point meant for pedestrians, not trucks. Another crossing point where trucks have been blocked by desperate hungry communities, a destroyed commercial sector, constant bombardments, poor communications, damaged roads, convoys shot at, delays at checkpoints, a traumatised and exhausted population crammed into a smaller and smaller sliver of land. Shelters which have long exceeded their full capacity. Aid workers themselves, displaced, killed. This is an impossible situation for the people of Gaza and for those trying to help them. The fighting must stop.”

The video of the legal representative presenting the list of acts violating the Genocide Convention can be seen on the X post below.

At the International Court of Justice, South Africa lists Israeli acts that violate the Genoc*de Convention pic.twitter.com/WHUhMAhOEW

— COMBATE |:puerto_rico: (@upholdreality) January 11, 2024

Israel will have the opportunity to respond tomorrow.

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Israel mulls hiring Alan Dershowitz to represent country in ICJ genocide case

Reports from the US say Israeli PM Netanyahu wants the controversial lawyer to defend Israel at the International Court of Justice

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly wants lawyer Alan Dershowitz to represent his country at an upcoming hearing at the Hague where it stands accused of committing genocide during its conduct of the war on Gaza.

The submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa says that Israel is in breach of its obligations under the Genocide Convention and calls for a halt to Israel's military operations in the besieged enclave.

South Africa said such an order is "necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people".

As a defendant, Israel is entitled to pick one judge for the 15-member court - and Netanyahu wants that person to be Dershowitz, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported on Tuesday.

Ravid contacted Dershowitz for confirmation, but the attorney said he “can’t comment about it at this time"

Over the years Dershowitz, a highly divisive figure, has helped defend some of America’s most high-profile criminal cases, including the late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, infamous Hollywood executive and rapist Harvey Weinstein, and the former US President Donald Trump.

The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, called Dershowitz, Netanyahu’s "attack dog" in the international arena.

Dershowitz, a long-time friend and advisor of Netanyahu has for decades defended Israeli settlements, and downplayed Israeli crimes in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to American audiences.

A serious legal case

Israel has rejected South Africa's case at the ICJ calling it "baseless" and then going on to blame Hamas for the suffering and deaths of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

However, there are signs that the Israeli government is taking the case seriously, not least because a ruling against it would cause deep international stigma at a time when it is trying to combat negative perceptions of the state.

The rest of the article found here:

This article goes on to mention 6 million Jews, please see recently posted video from The Prisoner:

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Israel mulls hiring Alan Dershowitz to represent country in ICJ genocide case

Alan Dershowitz, From the Death Penalty to Roman Polanski

Over a five-decade career, Mr. Dershowitz has represented some of America’s most prominent criminal defendants, including O.J. Simpson, Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson and Claus von Bulow.

“I never ask a client whether he did it or not,” Mr. Dershowitz once told Charlie Rose. “I don’t want the client to feel that he has to start his relationship with me by lying.”

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While this report isn't about the ICJ case specifically, it does bring it up at the end of the report. I think this is the best thread to put it on because it is an official report from Human Rights Watch:

World Report 2024 - Israel and Palestine Events of 2023

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Please see link for the full report.

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Gaza will be the grave of the Western-led world order

By supporting Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, the West has shredded what remains of its credibility and brought the ‘rules-based’ world order it purports to lead to the point of no return.

By Saul J Takahashi

No matter how it concludes, South Africa’s lawsuit in the International Court of Justice arguing Israel has violated the Genocide Convention will go down in history. It will either be remembered as the first step towards finally holding a rogue state accountable for repeated, longstanding violations of international law; or as the last, dying breath of a dysfunctional, Western-led international system.

For the hypocrisy of Western governments (and the Western political elite as a whole) has finally brought the so-called “rules-based world order” they purport to lead to the point of no return. Full-throttled Western support for Israel’s genocidal rampage in Gaza has truly exposed the double standards of the West with regard to human rights and international law. There is no turning back, and the West has only its own arrogance to blame.

The litany of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Gaza are clear as the light of day for anybody who has access to a smartphone. Social media feeds are overflowing with videoclips of hospitals and schools being bombed, fathers pulling out the lifeless bodies of their children from under destroyed buildings, mothers crying over the corpses of their babies. And yet, the reaction of Western governments – besides seemingly limitless military and political support – has been to label any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism and attempt to ban outright any expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Regardless of this oppression, tens of thousands of people are coming out on the streets day after day expressing their disgust at Israeli atrocities and Western complicity. Desperate to regain some semblance of credibility, Western governments (including the US) have recently started to be marginally critical of Israeli attacks. However, it is too little, too late. Western credibility has been shredded irrevocably.

Of course, Western hypocrisy is nothing new. According to Western governments, the world should be up in arms about Russian aggression but should be perfectly happy with Israeli brutality and flouting of international norms. Ukrainians who throw Molotov cocktails at Russian occupation forces are heroes and freedom fighters, while Palestinians (and others) who dare to speak out against Israeli apartheid are terrorists. White-skinned refugees from Ukraine are more than welcome, while black and brown-skinned refugees from conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa (most of which the West are behind) can sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean. The Western attitude has truly been: rules for thee, not for me.

The Western position towards China exhibits the same insincerity. China is virtually encircled by American and allied military bases, armed to the hilt. Yet it is China that is guilty of
 what? Unable to point to any concrete infraction, Western governments and media can only accuse China of “increased assertiveness”, ie, not knowing its assigned subjugate place in the Western hegemonic order.

International justice has become a sick joke. Were the International Criminal Court (ICC) functioning effectively, Israeli leaders would be on trial even as we speak, and there would have been no need for South Africa to approach the ICJ. As it stands, though, the ICC only indicted Africans until 2022, when it announced an investigation into the Russian invasion of Ukraine less than a week after its start. The ICC issued indictments, including for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, in less than a year. Conversely, it took over six years for the ICC to open an investigation into the situation in Palestine, and even now, years later, meaningful action has yet to be taken. While Israel continued its orgy of violence against the people of Gaza, Karim Khan, the British Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, visited Israel and stressed the need for Hamas’s crimes to be prosecuted, while going soft on Israeli crimes. Little wonder many civil society organisations are calling for him to be fired.

Of course, Western hypocrisy is nothing new. From the get-go, international legal norms were intended to apply only to so-called “civilised” – read white – peoples. Savages did not count, and the powerful Western states could – and did – do to them what they pleased. Natives certainly did not “own” land or natural resources, and colonial powers were free to steal and exploit those as they wished. Zionism was also founded on such racist attitudes – attitudes that remain at the core of Israeli policies to this day.

Continued at link...

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