SOUTH AFRICA'S GENOCIDE CASE RESCUED INT'L LAW

Many will remember 2024 for South Africa’s landmark g*nocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In January, the ICJ issued a provisional ruling that Israel is committing acts of ‘plausible’ g*nocide against the Palestinian people and that it must ‘take all measures in its power’ to prevent acts that could fall under the UN G*nocide Convention, set up after the Holocaust in World War II. The ICJ also said Israel should ‘prevent and punish’ any incitement to g*nocide.

In our end-of-year review, African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo reckoned South Africa's ICJ case drew a line in the sand and that imperialists will be hard-pressed to wage another war under the pretext of 'Responsibility to Protect,' given their utter complicity in the ongoing horrors in Palestine. He cited the shameful example of Germany, which sides with Israel. Yet, between 1904-08, Germany committed the 20th century's first g*nocide against the Namaqua and Herero peoples in Namibia. Today, Germany is the second-largest supplier of weaponry to Israel after the United States.

Many people say South Africa rescued humanity and international law. The question is whether states will continue to follow international law.

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