Why is South Africa waging the legal battle (at International Court of Justice or ICJ) alone against Israel? Is there any possibility of holding Israel accountable for its crimes? What is the position of the United States? Why has no other country joined it, including Arab and Islamic countries? Following are the answer to these questions:
It is important to note that South Africa is a country far from Israel’s borders. It is a Western industrial country, albeit in Africa. It does not have direct interest, as Jordan, Egypt, Syria, or the Palestinian Authority could have, for example. This is very important for the credibility of South Africa.
South Africa experienced the longest apartheid regime, which lasted for 46 years, beginning in 1948 and ending in 1994. It fully understands what it means for the Palestinian people in Gaza to live under an apartheid regime, an illegal siege, and ongoing war crimes. It stands in moral solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination.
The crimes of the occupation in Gaza are described as war crimes, and the statements preceded and accompanied the war on Gaza created the conditions for these crimes, and constituted the element of intent to commit the genocide. When South Africa prepared the papers, it equipped it to make a real achievement in directly prosecuting and holding the occupation leaders accountable.
The reason for resorting to the ICJ is the refusal, or failure, of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Karim Khan, to convict Israel and issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, as he did in the case against Russian President Vladimir Putin during a record period of time.
The integrity and seriousness of the judges at the ICJ are evident. They work in a completely professional manner, even if there is an American judge among them. This court had previously condemned – through an advisory opinion – Israel in the case of the apartheid wall in 2004.
The ICJ will ask Israel to stop the war on Gaza in the beginning of the trial. If Israel refuses, it will refer the matter to the UN Security Council. Then, will the United States use its veto power? It will be very embarrassing and will create unprecedented confusion for it. How can it reject a request from a major body of the United Nations? The ICJ is born from the womb of the United Nations Charter itself. Will it do the same as it thwarted the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution in this regard?
The proceedings will certainly be arduous and take time, as is expected in international trials. The ruling issued by the ICJ will also put huge pressure on the International Criminal Court to speed up investigation procedures and issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.
The State of South Africa is waging the legal battle against Israel alone. No Arab or Islamic country has joined South Africa, even among those countries are those who are part of the Convention against Genocide.
But civil society and international, regional, and national human rights organizations (Palestinian in particular) all stand strongly by South Africa. They provide all the required documents and data. It is clear that American pressure has paid off in preventing any country from supporting South Africa.
[by Dr. Mahoud Al-Hanfi in AlJazeera]
Compiled and translated by Faizul Haque