Arab League and counting, SA ICJ Petition against Israeli genocide receives more support
Arab League Chief Aboul Gheit also expressed his gratitude to South Africa for approaching the UN court taking a principled stance. Read More
Cairo: In a major setback for the Zionists and their allies, Arab League, a representative body of about two dozen countries - majority of them in the neighbourhood of Israel, has declared support for the South Africa Petition filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the Israeli genocide and massacre of Palestinians.
The Arab League, which has Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and a number of other countries as members, declared its support for the South Africa petition a day before the ICJ scheduled a public hearing on the violation of Genocide Convention by Israel.
"The Arab League "wholeheartedly endorses South Africa's legal action against Israel before the International Court of Justice for committing genocide and violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide", Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, told reporters Wednesday.
"We anticipate a just verdict that will halt this aggressive war and bring an end to the loss of Palestinian lives", he added.
Aboul Gheit also expressed his gratitude to South Africa for approaching the UN court taking a principled stance.
"I express gratitude to South Africa and its government for adopting this principled stance, prioritising morals and human values over any other considerations. I reaffirm the General Secretariat's support for South Africa's efforts in every possible manner", he said.
Meanwhile, Gamal Roshdy, the Spokesman of the Secretary-General affirmed that the Secretary-General has instructed General Secretariat officials to closely monitor the legal proceedings of the lawsuit filed at The Hague, while standing ready to provide necessary support to advance the cause and bolster the Palestinian stance.
Roshdy added that the case signifies a crucial step not only towards achieving a ceasefire but also in holding Israel accountable, thereby ending the exceptional status that has shielded it from international law and oversight.
South Africa Petition at ICJ
South Africa filed its petition at the International Court of Justice on December 29, 2023 accusing Israel of violating the “Genocide Convention”.
In its petition at the ICJ, South Africa has accused Israel of violating its obligation to prevent and punish genocide under the 1948 Convention, by carrying out acts and omissions “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.”
These acts, the application argues, should be located in the “broader context of Israel’s conduct towards Palestinians during its 75-year-long apartheid, its 56-year-long belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory and its 16-year-long blockade of Gaza”.
The ICJ accepted the South Africa petition and confirmed it will hold a public hearing on it Thursday January 11 and Friday 12, 2024.
According to the schedule released by the UN Court, South Africa will speak today i.e. Thursday January 11, 2024 whereas Israel will be given chance to defend itself on Friday January 12, 2024.
List of countries supporting South Africa at ICJ
Brazil and Colombia also declared their support for the South African petition against the Israeli massacre and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank at the UN court at The Hague.
“South Africa’s lawsuit is a brave step in the right direction", Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Thursday.
Extending its support for South Africa case against the Israeli genocide at the International Court of Justice, in a statement released Thursday, Brazil said:
“In light of the flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, the president expressed his support for the initiative of South Africa to ask the International Court of Justice to determine that Israel immediately cease all acts and measures that could constitute genocide or related crimes in the terms of the Convention for the Prevention and Repression of Genocide Crime.”
Earlier, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a 57-member International forum of the Muslim countries, had declared its support for South Africa.
“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed the suit filed by the Republic of South Africa at the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people committed by Israel, the occupying power”, the OIC said in a statement released on December 30, 2023.
Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Bolivia, Jordan, Namibia, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey, Indonesia and other have also declared their support for the petition filed at the ICJ seeking to make Israel accountable for its crimes.
In a related development, hundreds of Palestinians Thursday gathered at the Nelson Mandela Square in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, singing the South African national anthem, to thank South Africa for its efforts to bring Israel to justice for its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Hundreds gathered today at the Nelson Mandela Square in Ramallah in the West Bank, singing the South African national anthem, to thank South Africa for its efforts to bring Israel to justice for its crimes against the Palestinian people. pic.twitter.com/v8yVjRzbi4
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 10, 2024
Elsewhere in the world, more than 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals have signed a petition urging a ban on Israel from Eurovision over its war crimes in Gaza.
Meanwhile, over 350,000 people have signed an online petition filed to endorse the South Africa petition at the ICJ, and this number is growing every passing second.
Unperturbed by the shifting world opinion against it, the Israeli Occupation Forces have continued their brutal military offensive targeting civilians in Gaza Strip, and also in the Occupied areas, killing 23,357 Palestinians – more than 70 per cent of them women and children, as on January 10, 2024. More than 8,000 others are either missing or trapped under the debris.
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