South Africa vs Israel Genocide Convention
International Court Of Justice (Updated 1/29/24)
Our team began tracking the historic Genocide Convention case of South Africa vs Israel in early January and shared this story with our subscribers.
This case was filed by South Africa on 12/29/23. Opening remarks were made by South Africa on 1/11/24 and by Israel on 1/12/24.
Those more familiar with the International Court of Justice, located at The Hague in the Netherlands, have suggested that it typically takes the court 30-60 days to issue a ruling. In this case, the 17 judges issued a ruling already on Friday, 1/26/24 or just two weeks after opening remarks. Past and future court proceedings can be accessed free of charge on UN Web TV for those interested.
On the provisional measure that Israel must move to prevent genocide in the Gaza strip, the vote was 16-1 in favor of South Africa.
A provisional measure of protection is the term that the International Court of Justice (ICJ, World Court) uses to describe a procedure "roughly equivalent"to an interim order (which can be either a temporary restraining order or a temporary directive order) in national legal systems. The order has also been termed in the press as preliminary measures. The carrying out of the procedure is termed indicating the provisional measure of protection. Requests for the indication of provisional measures of protection take priority over all other cases before the ICJ due to their urgency.
The vote was 15-2, in favor of South Africa, on several of the other provisional measures cited.
The 2 dissenting votes on record were Israel's ad-Hoc Judge Aharon Barak and Uganda's Judge Julia Sebutinde. Per the ICJ website’s description of ad-hoc judges, it reads as follows:
Under Article 31, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Statute of the Court, a State party to a case before the International Court of Justice which does not have a judge of its nationality on the Bench may choose a person to sit as judge ad hoc in that specific case under the conditions laid down in Articles 35 to 37 of the Rules of Court.
Here are a few news stories that were published after the ruling on 1/26/24.
ICJ orders Israel to take steps to prevent killings in Gaza (1/26/24)
The court said, among others, that Israel must take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. The judges have not ruled on the merits of the genocide allegations, which may take years to decide.
Top UN court orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza but not to ceasefire (1/26/24)
The International Court of Justice is considered the “world court” so rulings are final. However, the enforcement of such rulings are not always 100% clear. A Genocide Convention case can take years and years to litigate so it is wise to consider all of this the “foreword” in a thick, hardcover novel or the hors d’oeuvres served up before the 7 course meal. This quote, extracted from an Alarabiya news article dated 1/26/24, summarizes the most recent ICJ ruling in a little more detail.
While the ICJ did not order a ceasefire, it said it would not throw out the genocide case, ruling that the Palestinians appeared to be a protected group under the 1948 Genocide Convention. It did NOT decide the merits of the genocide allegations.
The story to take note of here is not necessarily the initial ruling, but everything else that has transpired over the past two weeks.
Since opening remarks were heard from both South Africa and Israel in early January, it has been reported that South Africa plans to bring similar claims of genocide against the US and UK for complicity with Israel’s war crimes.
South African lawyers preparing lawsuit against US, UK for complicity in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza (1/15/24)
These claims were further substantiated by SABC news in South Africa.
South African Attorney Wikus Van Rensburg told SABC News (South Africa) on January 13, 2024, that proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are just a "precursor." He explained that if these proceedings are successful, he will pursue civil action against the U.S. and Britain "for their complicit conduct in this Israeli process and the bombardment within Gaza, as well as the West Bank."
This letter of intent from 1/2/24 clearly details that South Africa plans to bring a separate Genocide Convention case to the ICJ against the US and the UK.
To refresh, South Africa has brought forth claims of genocide against Israel dating back 75 years to 1948, when Israel officially became the State of Israel. It is unclear as to how far back the claims will stretch against the UK and US. Plainly stated, this is no small claim being made by South Africa. We are talking about VERY broad brush strokes that cover years and years. And stating the obvious, it would appear that Israel can not be held to account for things that happened prior to 1948 as they were not yet a recognized State. However, the US and the UK could be held to account for genocide claims dating back prior to 1948.
On or around 1/11/24, Russian President, Vladimir Putin was calling for emergency meetings of the UN Security Council, while President Xi Jinping from the People’s Republic of China was calling for a wide-scale peace conference on Gaza already on 1/15/24.
Russia calls urgent UN Security meeting over Yemen strikes (1/12/24)
Do you sense an urgency here?
On 1/15/24, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, was immediately calling for an international peace conference to discuss Palestinian statehood.
There is that word “sovereignty” again. Remember - Palestine is already on the list of countries actively seeking membership in BRICS for 2024. BRICS seems to recognize Palestine as a legitimate country. Is Palestine somehow a recognized country by some, but not a recognized “state” under the treaties involving genocide? It looks like close to 70% of the UN member states do recognize Palestine as a “state.” Why not 100%?
The world atlas recognizes a total of 195 countries in the world, but this falls 2 short of the 193 countries that belong to or are considered members of the United Nations.
The two countries that the world atlas adds in are: Palestine and the Holy See (or what might also be referred to as Vatican City). Palestine and the Holy See are considered “non-member observer states” by the UN. Interesting detail, huh?
The United Nations, Office of Genocide Protection and the Responsibility Project website seems to report a total of 194 (153 + 41) “states” or countries:
As of April 2022, the Genocide Convention had been ratified or acceded to by 153 States (as of April 2022, with Zambia). Other 41 United Nations Member States have yet to do so. From those, 18 are from Africa, 17 from Asia and 6 from America.
So what else has transpired since the initial hearings from 1/11/24 and 1/12/24? It was reported that the European Union (EU) was calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and that a ceasefire resolution had passed as of 1/18/24.
And on or around 1/19/24, it was reported by Aljazeera and other sources that Switzerland had filed a criminal case against Israel’s President, Isaac “Bougie” Herzog for war crimes.
‘Criminal complaints’ filed against Israeli President Herzog in Switzerland (1/19/24)
On 1/20/24, it was reported by multiple sources that Indonesia is now bringing forth a separate case to the ICJ against Israel for the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Indonesia files lawsuit against Israel at ICJ (1/20/24)
Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported that Indonesia has filed a new lawsuit against the Israeli occupation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Illegal occupation claims will likely usher in legal discussions on the validity of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 that our team covered back in October.
On 1/23/24, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Israel will keep fighting and that they are against Palestine being established as a recognized state.
On 1/26/24, Saudi Arabia was praising the recent ruling from the International Court of Justice.
Saudi Arabia welcomes World Court ruling on Israel over war in Gaza (1/26/24)
And on 1/27/24, this story broke about the US and other countries suspending their funding of the UNRWA after Israel made the claim that UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack from October 7.
Australia, Canada and Italy suspend UNRWA funding after Israeli allegations (1/27/24)
Australia, Canada and Italy have suspended their funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel accused several employees of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday she was “deeply concerned” by the allegations against the agency, UNRWA.
On 1/27/24, it was also being reported that the UN Security Council would be meeting this coming Wednesday, 1/31/24.
UN Security Council to meet after ICJ Gaza ruling (1/27/24)
The Wednesday meeting was called for by Algeria, whose ministry of foreign affairs said it would give “binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice on the provisional measures imposed on the Israeli occupation.”
The US and UK remain two of the countries on record as “supporting” Israel in the South Africa vs Israel Genocide Convention case. The number of countries supporting South Africa continues to grow (approaching 70) with both Russia and China remaining neutral.
Are you starting to see why the prominence of dual citizenship (sworn allegiance to both Israel and the US) amongst an alarming high percentage of the US political elite might be a grave concern? These comments made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 1/25/24 are not going to age well.
Blinken says US ties with South Africa won’t suffer over genocide case against Israel (1/25/24)
Stay frosty out there friends! Despite freezing temperatures impacting many across The Fruited Plain, things are heating up on the world stage. Logical thinking allows one to see where this might be headed. Remain watchful and on high alert. One thing we can be sure of……there is WAY more to come on this story...assuming WWIII does not break out prior to the next public ruling.