Al Jazeera International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declared Israel guilty… well, not really.
On Dec. 29, 2023, South Africa announced that they would be taking Israel to the ICJ for committing a genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, according to Amnesty International.
With court proceedings starting on Jan. 11 and ending Jan. 12, South Africa presented their evidence of Israel committing genocide, and Israel presented their rebuttal.
On Jan. 26, the ICJ, ordered Israel “to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts that could amount to genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” according to Al Jazeera.
The ICJ also declared, by an overwhelming majority, that Israel must suspend it’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, ensure humanitarian aid to enter the Strip, prevent “the destruction of evidence relating to these genocide charges” (Quds News Network Telegram), and deliver a report that they are abiding by these rulings within one month.
The ICJ also ruled that all parties included are bound by international law and they are calling for hostages to be released.
What does this mean?
While the rulings do not explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire as many pro-Palestinians had hoped, it is still technically a win because Israel was taken to the highest international court for the first time in history. A “country” that believes they have full impunity to do whatever they want was finally taken to court.
Let that sink in. They already lost.
If the ICJ had called for a ceasefire it would mean that this is a war being fought on equal standing. It’s not. Gaza does not have an established military with tanks, fighter jets, and warships, nor is it conducting war crimes. Israel on the other hand…
By ruling that Israel must suspend its attacks on Gaza and ensuring humanitarian aid to enter, hostage exchanges will be up for negotiations, according to Hamas, with the added condition that the siege must be lifted.
Furthermore, with this ruling that Israel is in fact committing genocide, other countries, such as the United States, may also be taken to court for aiding and abbeting Israel in their genocide.
However, this is not a complete win and should not be fully celebrated. It took over 100 days of constant bombardment, terror, and indiscriminate killing to take a step back and tell Israel what they’re doing is a crime against humanity.
In the end, the ruling also states that under the Genocide convention Israel must, “prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.” (Amnesty International)
For months, the Israeli Occupation Forces have stated they only wish to target “terrorists” and are not deliberately targeting civilians. The United States has supported such statements with White House Spokesperson John Kirby saying, “They’re [Israel] not deliberately trying to kill civilians…
I’ve said it before [and] I’ll say it a hundred times again: The right number of civilian casualties is zero.”
Given this information, Israel can just lie again and not be reprimanded. The United Nations and the organizations under them have proven time and time again how useless they are. These decisions, rulings, and resolutions are merely just words.
Words without action are meaningless.
Unfortunately, I wish I could say I was surprised, but the world has been failing Palestinians since 1947 when the UN proposed the first partition plan.
After the Holocaust, everyone said “never again.” Every student in the United States is taught about how horrific the Holocaust was and how if something similar should happen in the future, it should be put to a stop immediately.
Clearly “never again” did not apply to non-white people. Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian lives are cheap in the eyes of the White and Western world.
Despite this ICJ ruling, we, as the free people of the world, must still work hard, protest, and apply pressure to those with power to stop this madness that’s unfolding in not just Gaza, but the West Bank.
We owe it to the Palestinians and all of humanity. We are not free until all of us are free.
Nelson Mandela said it best, “we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Free Palestine.