By Tahereh Fardin Tabrizi
It is a critical moment not just for Palestinian history which it really is but in world history. In Addition it is a victory for South Africa as they have walked this path themselves.
Many will ask why is this case so important and what can it accomplish.
In a bigger picture, this is really a test of the rules of law systems and mechanisms that are intended not just to protect human laws but really to physically preserve humanity so we are talking about the very right to exist as a part of humanity. In essence these mechanisms designed that are of utmost importance to every state, are being tested and so the question to the ICJ becomes are these laws null, void and racist or can they be salvaged. On the Palestinian level, it’s the same magnitude which has never happened.
SO let’s look at what exactly the timetable is right now and what true level of enforcement the ICJ or even UN at this stage has?
It is important to keep in mind that just last week, prime minister Netenyahu said that nothing is going to stop him, not ICJ, not the Hague, nobody is going to stop him and that he is going to pursue and he is doing this one because he is genocidal and in large part because he knows that the minute the attacks on Gaza are over that his term in office is also over because of the internal dissent inside Israel at the moment.
The reason that this is important is because we have not heard what Israel has said but because we know they will ignore this ruling and if they do, it becomes imperative upon the member states to take this decision to the UN Security Council to have the ruling enforced at security council level. This really becomes the question of whether the United States is going to Veto or abstain or what exactly its going to do.
I can tell you in terms of what happened in 2004, where it was a different case and it was an advisory opinion but Israel took the exact same position that it wasn’t going to stop the construction of the wall and in fact it accelerated it. Part of that decision indicated that there are other states , 3rd states that are obliged to make sure that Israel upholds international law and that was the part that the world failed . And out of that this is where we saw the BDS/ Boycott divestment sanctions movement being recreated and reconstructed on the 1 year anniversary of the ICJ ruling. The reason that it came together was that we expected that the world was going to come forward to do something and make sure that the advisory committee decision was upheld and enforced but instead they did nothing.
So once again, we are likely going to see that Israel is going to ignore this ruling. It is then imperative to take it to the UN Security council but all the while it is very important that we continue to boycott Israel and divest from Israel and to push for sanctions. The global BDS movement should be growing at this point to make sure that the age of Israeli impunity finally comes to an end.`
This is a devastating blow to Israel’s international standing and it is a moral victory. Genocide is the crime of all crimes and I would say that at this stage the accusation is not meritless so that’s the first thing. The second issue is that destigmatising the word genocide was incredibly important at this ruling. It is now legitimate to use that term to describe Israel’s Apartheid. The genocide has been ongoing and predates the 7th of Oct 2023. This has been a sustained campaign over many many years . We are just witnessing the final phase which is the extermination phase so it is really important that the words genocide is now embedded in the public consciousness – people understand what it is and they understand the phases and in that way it can support movements like the BDS. In that way it would be an unintended consequence but a positive one where people are able to contribute and they don’t feel impotent. So I think there are many positive effects as it relates to the ruling beyond what we are discussing this morning.
CEASEFIRE:
Despite the court listing multiple acts of destruction and highlighting the devastation that was present in Gaza and despite the enormous damage that has been caused and the disregard for evidence from the Israelis the court still didn’t call for a ceasefire.
The court it seemed had a technical legality. It is not the same here as having Ukraine and Russia each with their sovereign country and their armies and being signatories to the convention. If the court had ordered a ceasefire any continued attack even directly on Hamas would have been regarded as the violation of the convention but the court noted that Israel has been killing civilians. The court also read the genocidal statements made by the Israeli leaders and if we read the order that talks about stopping people committing genocide and not being complicit in genocide, it would include stopping those statements that are inciting people to commit genocide.
What is the possibility of this ruling being vetod and if this order is challenged?
My view is that South Africa got everything it asked for but in different wording from the ICJ. Maybe the only thing that SA did not get was the requirement that an investigational team be allowed to deal with Gaza but in terms of everything that constitutes a genocide in terms of articles 2, 3 etc confirmed that the actions that Israel has been taking till now can be regarded as genocide. Therefore, you cannot read the remedial action in a way that is divorced from the final findings. The remedial actions say stop doing certain things and start doing certain things. This means that Israel is no longer allowed to carpet bomb people in Gaza and it is no longer allowed to block aid to Gaza or to keep displacing people and if it does not abide, it will be in violation.
Others being pro Israel view say South Africa has only succeeded to use the court as a political tool to advance an agenda of law fair and unfortunately international law and ICJ in particular and rights of Palestinian people will suffer as a result of discrediting of ICJ and abuse of international law.
They add that The court has not made any findings and that’s critical to be clear on and it did not conduct Israel to alter it’s behaviour. The provisional measures were considered by Ugandan judge to be entirely irrelevant and redundant.
My understanding is that these measures were preliminary proceedings and there were findings within these measures which was that there is jurisdiction to deal with the matters, that there is a dispute and thirdly the acts that South Africa complains of being genocidal can be plausibly regarded as genocidal. That is a preliminary finding and is not a finding on the merits meaning that it doesn’t say Israel is committing genocide but it is saying that Prima facie meaning on the face of it Israel is committing genocide or that Israel is probably committing genocide. That is just a simple interpretation of that judgement. Off course that was then the basis of the remedies so if you separate the remedies from the findings then you are lost.
ITO THE HOSTAGES, DO YOU THINK SA CAN PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE OF ENSURING THEY ARE RELEASED?
The court did not order for release of hostages as It was not in its right to do so and off course that’s a humanitarian approach as it is one of the issues at the heart of this matter
UNRWRA (United Nations relief and works agency) CUTTING TIES:
Maybe with the fact that UNRWA is THE organization that has staff and a network on the ground in Gaza that puts it in the best if not unique (though still extremely difficult) position to provide critical emergency aid to Palestinians at this time. UNRWA has a total of 13000 staff. Of these, according to latest figures, 152 staff have been killed since October 7. Now allegedly, 11 UNRWA staff members were involved on October 7. My calculator tells me that is 0.08 pct of total staff allegedly involved.
‘Coincidentally’ last Friday, as the ICJ presented its assessment of ‘plausibly genocidal actions’ being committed by Israel in Gaza this information was shared by the Israeli authorities.
Since Friday, all 11 staff have been fired, the Israeli foreign minister has called on the UNRWA SG to step down and donor country after donor country has suspended its aid to UNRWA. Tis past Sundaywas also Holocaust Remembrance Day and exactly on that very day the funding to the most significant organization providing critical aid is suspended while a captive population is facing intentional starvation.
Now what are ‘we’ all being made a part of here? And what is the agenda ‘we’ are serving? Just listen to the clearly laid out intentions by former Israeli Foreign Ministry staffer Noga Arbell in the Knesset, earlier this month.
Please meanwhile keep in mind that the Genocide Convention, article 3 e and article 4 clearly spell out that complicity to genocide is punishable under the convention. This applies to implicated rulers, public officials and private individuals alike.
Lastly, according to my view, Israel is not going to stop and we are seeing the death tolls rising day by day. Israel has killed 700 people in Gaza since the ICJ ruling.
