South Africa's genocide case against Israel sets up a high-stakes legal battle at the UN's top court

BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 410 points –
South Africa's genocide case against Israel sets up a high-stakes legal battle at the UN's top court
apnews.com

Link to the summary of findings submitted by South Africa: https://apnews.com/article/un-court-south-africa-israel-gaza-genocide-71be2ce7f09bfee05a7cae26689ee262

South Africa’s 84-page filing says Israel’s actions “are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part” of the Palestinians in Gaza.

It asks the ICJ, also known as the world court, for a series of legally binding rulings. It wants the court to declare that Israel “has breached and continues to breach its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” and to order Israel to cease hostilities in Gaza that could amount to breaches of the convention, to offer reparations, and to provide for reconstruction of what it’s destroyed in Gaza.

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I would really advise everyone to read (or at least skim) South Africa's application to the ICJ for the genocide charges. It goes incredibly hard with specifics on quotes, actions, and just generally everything that clearly showcases the purposeful and active results of Netanyahu's government. They make it quite clear that nothing of what's happening or has happened was an accident and is being done without thinking or consideration.

And they bring all the references needed to back up their statements.

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I've been watching the media and our politicians both-sides the issue in ways that seem contrived to ensure that the occupation and genocide will continue without interference by anyone in a position to do anything about it, especially my own elected representatives and officials.

Reading South Africa's Application instituting proceedings in the World Court document myself reminded me how thirsty I've been to hear from anyone serious about the matter. It's very human-readable, cogent even- well worth the read.

Biden has literally spent 50 years telling Israels government he'll always support them no matter what, but they need to be careful before normal citizens call them out for their actions.

Israel has never listened to Biden, but this is one promise I don't think he'll ever break.

Dude openly calls himself a zionist, he's with them 100%.

For some reason the download fails for me every time 🤔

Edit: but sure enough it worked in Chrome 👿

The U.S. should also be named in these charges.

Biden for prison 2024. Then the Democrats can finally run a decent candidate

The democrats will just pick another stinker. How do you think we got Biden in the first place?

The two party system needs to be fixed before we will see any actually good candidates.

What other stinkers do they have to continue the Clinton lineage?

Pete Buttegieg. Metaphorically. He may not literally be part of that heritage, but he's 100% part of their Blue Dog Democrat way of thinking.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa has launched a case at the United Nations’ top court alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.

Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office, on Tuesday accused South Africa of “giving political and legal cover” to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that triggered Israel’s campaign.

Among them are Israel’s role in promoting the original genocide convention after the Holocaust and its belief that “we have a strong case.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes deliberations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the war until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza are freed.

South Africa’s filing includes a request for the court to urgently issue legally binding interim orders for Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.”

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted a string of leaders involved in the African nation’s 1994 genocide when some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.


The original article contains 1,067 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 83%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Just a fun excerpt from page From page 64 of the document.

Israeli Army reservist “motivational speech”: On 11 October 2023, 95-year old Israeli army reservist Ezra Yachin — a veteran of the Deir Yassin massacre during the 1948 Nakba — reportedly called up for reserve duty to “boost morale” amongst Israeli troops ahead of the ground invasion, was broadcast on social media inciting other soldiers to genocide as follows, while being driven around in an Israeli army vehicle, dressed in Israeli army fatigues:

“Be triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live. . . Every Jew with a weapon should go out and kill them. If you have an Arab neighbour, don't wait, go to his home and shoot him . . . We want to invade, not like before, we want to enter and destroy what’s in front of us, and destroy houses, then destroy the one after it. With all of our forces, complete destruction, enter and destroy. As you can see, we will witness things we’ve never dreamed of. Let them drop bombs on them and erase them.”

'Convention on the prevention and punishment of genocide, will take years to resolve.'

How is that convention 'preventing' anything happening at all.

It wants the court to declare that Israel “has breached and continues to breach its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” and to order Israel to cease hostilities in Gaza that could amount to breaches of the convention, to offer reparations, and to provide for reconstruction of what it’s destroyed in Gaza.

What can they do to enforce this? Because if this is toothless, the symbolism of it is fine, but I'd prefer something that would actually make a difference.

The UN is entirely powerless against the US's allies because the US has absolute veto power in all UN resolutions and will never let anyone defy Israel.

But why South Africa?

Remember these are people who know what it's like to go through apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

South Africa today is largely governed by the people who fought and won against apartheid, so it's understandable that they feel a level of solidarity with the people of Palestine.

(in this context I'm choosing to gloss over the real and present issues with the ANC, because they are not relevant to Israel's genocide)

They seem to be world leaders on Human Rights seeing nobody else dares to do this.

Half circle in 80 years, eh?

There has never been anything on the scale of Israel's apartheid. There have been things like it that are absolutely abhorrent, like South African Apartheid and it's inspiration, Jim Crow. But there has never been such a widespread, indiscriminate, long term genocidal apartheid.

To be clear, you're saying south Africas Apartheid which codified a racial hierarchy into law and nazi Germanys Apartheid if you want to call it that which put people in camps and slaughtering them industrially is less bad than Israel's military occupation of Gaza? Jesus, of all the takes one could have, that's definitely one of them..

Really amazing how all nuance is lost when you discuss Israel online.

I 100% agree with this message. No matter what you think of Israel, this is the real issue.

Isn't that a good thing though? You almost sound like you despise people learning from their mistakes

Thr Jewish people were subject to genocidal practices 80 years ago.

A half circle is a 180.

Being that it is Jewish people now doing it to others. And other parts of the world trying to stop them (SA).

With that in mind, your comment implies the Israel government is committing genocide first before genocide can be committed on them again, and that this is good and that I'm against it which is bad.

I think you've not understood before commenting.

Yes, indeed, I thought the original comment referred to SA being apartheid state since 1948 which is also about 80 years ago