Chicago- January 19, 2024
The genocide against innocent Palestinians is the first time that the sufferers are documenting the crimes against them for the whole world to see. It is the first time that one of world’s powerful armies is targeting innocent and defenseless civilians under the ruse of killing Hamas.
Last week, representatives from around the world met at The Hague to hear a singular court case presented by South Africa keeping the legacy of Nelson Mandela alive. On the world stage of the United Nations, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in its ongoing war in Gaza. Both countries were called in to make their cases before the judges of the International Court of Justice.
“The world is watching Israel, it’s watching Gaza, and it’s watching the International Court of Justice,” Adil Haque said. Haque is a professor of international law at Rutgers University. He studies the rules and regulations surrounding war and armed conflict. “This is the first time in my lifetime that there’s been so much public attention to the role of international law in potentially resolving disputes as a method of last resort.”
This week, the war in Gaza hit the 100-day mark. Months after the first headlines, the bodies continue to pile up—more than 24,000 according to the latest estimate. Now, it’s up to the U.N. to decide if that level of mass death amounts to a genocide.
Haque calls this court case a “method of last resort” because the U.N. has already tried to get Israel to call off its campaign. The Security Council voted twice to order a humanitarian cease-fire, but the United States vetoed the measure each time.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Israel a day before the court proceedings began that South Africa’s allegations are “meritless” and that the case “distracts the world” from efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said genocide is “not a word that ought to be thrown around lightly, and we certainly don’t believe that it applies here.”
We don’t agree with what the South Africans are doing,” U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron said of the case.
Israel fiercely rejects the allegations of genocide and says it is defending its Zz people. It says the offensive is aimed at eradicating the leaders of Hamas, the militant group that runs the territory and provoked the conflict by launching surprise attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.
Blinken said a genocide case against Israel was “particularly galling” given that Hamas and other groups “continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.”
The U.S., the U.K., the EU and others classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
