The Rule of Law III
Will Israel cease and desist from committing genocide?
The Rule of Law III
“…based on my careful review of all the documents so far submitted by the Republic of South Africa,” professor Francis Boyle recently told Democracy Now[1], “I believe South Africa will win an order against Israel to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the Palestinians. And then we will have an official determination by the International Court of Justice itself, the highest legal authority in the United Nations system, that genocide is going on. And under Article I of the Genocide Convention, all contracting parties, 153 states, will then be obliged, quote, ‘to prevent,’ unquote, the genocide by Israel against the Palestinians.”
“Second, when the World Court gives this cease-and-desist order against Israel, the Biden administration will stand condemned under Article III, paragraph (e), of the Genocide Convention, that criminalizes complicity in genocide. And, clearly, we know that the Biden administration has been aiding and abetting Israeli genocide against the Palestinians here for quite some time.”
This may prove not merely a problem for American politicians. “If Israel loses,” Craig Murray recently wrote[2] “British ministers, civil servants and military personnel could end up in the dock for genocide — not only in the Hague, but in the U.K.”
John Mearsheimer seems positively euphoric at the good work the South Africans have done.
The South African application, he tells us[3]: “maintains that Israel’s actions since the war began on 7 October 2023 “are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic … group in the Gaza Strip.” (1) That charge fits clearly under the definition of genocide in the Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.”
“The application is a superb description of what Israel is doing in Gaza. It is comprehensive, well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly documented. The application has three main components.”
“First, it describes in detail the horrors that the IDF has inflicted on the Palestinians since 7 October 2023 and explains why much more death and destruction is in store for them.”
“Second, the application provides a substantial body of evidence showing that Israeli leaders have genocidal intent toward the Palestinians. (59-69) Indeed, the comments of Israeli leaders – all scrupulously documented – are shocking. One is reminded of how the Nazis talked about dealing with Jews when reading how Israelis in “positions of the highest responsibility” talk about dealing with the Palestinians. (59) In essence, the document argues that Israel’s actions in Gaza, combined with its leaders’ statements of intent, make it clear that Israeli policy is “calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.” (39)
“Third, the document goes to considerable lengths to put the Gaza war in a broader historical context, making it clear that Israel has treated the Palestinians in Gaza like caged animals for many years. It quotes from numerous UN reports detailing Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinians. In short, the application makes clear that what the Israelis have done in Gaza since 7 October is a more extreme version of what they were doing well before 7 October.
There is no question that many of the facts described in the South African document have previously been reported in the media. What makes the application so important, however, is that it brings all those facts together in one place and provides an overarching and thoroughly supported description of the Israeli genocide. In other words, it provides the big picture while not neglecting the details.”
Why this case is radically different from most and why it may end badly for the collective West (how civilised Putin seems in comparison and how he must be laughing at the blatant hypocrisy!) is because, unusually, the Israelis have made their dark wishes, vicious feelings and diabolical intentions known to the whole world. They can no longer pretend misunderstanding, ignorance or error. Not only their brutal and murderous actions but their evil words speak volumes.
Law for Palestine published a list of over 500 instances of Israeli incitements to genocide.[4]
On October 9th 2023 Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense, said: “We will end things inside Gaza […]. I have removed all restraints, [you’re allowed to] attack everything, kill those who fight us, whether there is one terrorist or there are hundreds of terrorists, [ordering to attack] through the air, land, with tanks, with bulldozers, by all means, there are no compromises. Gaza will not return to what it was.” More notoriously he claimed: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed…We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.” To clarify matters he asserted: “We will eliminate everything. If it doesn’t take one day, it will take a week, it will take weeks, or even months, we will reach all places.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated: “…we’re facing monsters…This is a battle not only of Israel against these barbarians, it’s a battle of civilization against barbarism”. Also: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible”. “Gaza is the city of evil,” he claimed “we will turn all the places in which Hamas deploys and hides into ruins. I am telling the people of Gaza – get out of there now. We will act everywhere and with full power” and “We are the people of the light, they are the people of darkness...we shall realize the prophecy of Isaiah.”
President Isaac Herzog also asserted: “There are no innocent civilians in Gaza” and: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could’ve risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime.”
Given this PR disaster Israel is now hastening to limit the catastrophic damage done to its image. Time, however, is running out and the damage might not only prove irreparable but fatal to the Israeli state itself.
According to Barak Ravid[5]:
“The Israeli Foreign Ministry is instructing its embassies to press diplomats and politicians in their host countries to issue statements against South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice that accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, according to a copy of an urgent cable obtained by Axios.”
“The Israeli Foreign Ministry cable states that Israel’s strategic goal is for the court to reject the request for an injunction, refrain from determining that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and recognize that the Israeli military is operating in the Strip according to international law.
‘A ruling by the court could have significant potential implications that are not only in the legal world but have practical bilateral, multilateral, economic, security ramifications,’ reads the cable, a copy of which was obtained by Axios from three different Israeli officials.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
‘We ask for an immediate and unequivocal public statement along the following lines: To publicly and clearly state that YOUR COUNTRY rejects the outragest, absurd and baseless allegations made against Israel,’ the cable also says.”
“The cable argues that under the 1948 convention, genocide is defined as creating conditions that don’t allow the survival of the population together with the intent to annihilate it.
Therefore, stressing Israel’s efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the population in Gaza and to decrease the number of civilians who are killed ‘is critical,’ the cable reads.
In the cable, the Israeli embassies were instructed to ask diplomats and politicians at the highest level ‘to publicly acknowledge that Israel is working [together with international actors] to increase the humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as to minimize damage to civilians, while acting in self-defense after the horrible October 7th attack by a genocidal terrorist organization.’”
Whether the Israelis actually succeed in pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes, especially in an age of Social Media and the Internet, remains to be seen. Given the weight of evidence against them, and the screaming obscenity of their innumerable crimes against humanity, it’s extremely unlikely they’ll manage do so.
As Ilan Pappé has pointed out: we may well be witnessing the beginning of the end of Israel and it would be wise and prudent on our part to prepare for its aftermath. A successor state, a state of Palestine, will assuredly emerge from the ashes and what needs to be done is to help provide aid for its governance.
[1] https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/2/south_africa_israel_genocide_icj
[2] https://consortiumnews.com/2024/01/04/craig-murray-a-shift-against-impunity-for-genocide/
[4] https://law4palestine.org/law-for-palestine-releases-database-with-500-instances-of-israeli-incitement-to-genocide-continuously-updated/?fbclid=IwAR38MBl2qJ2p30GMB3brYAQ-AwWDPocO8ZQRergiibn4M__hQ-miNgzRTrs
[5] https://www.axios.com/2024/01/05/south-africa-gaza-genocide-icj-israel-plan
Thank you Michael, for the excellent synopsis of this historic development.