A historic opening to stop Israeli genocide
By Mehdi Shakibaei
Expert on Israeli affairs
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. While many states and peoples from around the world have voiced their support of the move, some including Washington have condemned Pretoria.
South Africa may be the most perfect country to make such a case since its people have suffered immense harm under the apartheid regime as a result of its racist policies and massacres. What has made them a global role model for resisting discrimination and massacre is the laudable fight that South Africans put up against the oppression of their ruling white class under the leadership of the late Nelson Mandela.
Now, their proven track record in overthrowing an apartheid regime is coming to the aid of Palestinians who have been oppressed for decades. In the last three months, Israel has committed war crimes and genocide against Palestinians. Although the evidence of this atrocity has been readily available to everyone, South Africa’s lawyers in this trial made sure to cite the tangible instances of Israel’s genocidal acts. After all, killing more than 23,000 people in Gaza, two-thirds of whom were women and children, is not something that can easily be swept under the rug.
The same longing for bringing Israel to justice was expected from many European and Islamic countries, but the former group is too politically tied to Israel to do anything and the latter group do not have the jurisdiction to prosecute it. Now that South Africa has courageously stepped forward, it’s only fair that these countries show the same level of enthusiasm that their peoples have shown in supporting Palestinians. It’s no secret that an Israeli prime minister, whose days in office are numbered, is spearheading this genocide, as everyone including his staunchest allies are already criticizing him and planning to replace him with his leftist or centrist alternatives after the war is over.
This goes to show that the people of any country that is currently going through a period of tyranny and discrimination can take advantage of South Africa’s lived experience of successfully toppling an apartheid regime. But more than that, the ICJ genocide trial presents itself as a historic opportunity to challenge Israel and its allies and stop their genocidal war machine in its tracks.