#South Africa vs Israel

[kittyprincessofcats]

ICJ Ruling

Okay, let's get into this.

First of all, I get the frustration at the court not ordering a ceasefire. I was disappointed and frustrated at first too, since a ceasefire was the biggest and most important preliminary measure South Africa was requesting - and of course we just all want this horror to finally end for the people in Gaza. So I get the frustration and disappointment, I really do.

However, I do think this ruling is still a major win for South Africa, Palestine, and international law as a whole and here's why:

The court acknowledged that it has jurisdiction over this case and completely dismissed Israel's request to throw out the case as a whole. It will now determine at the merits stage (that will probably take years) whether Israel is actually commiting genocide.

The court acknowledged that Palestinians are a "distinct national or ethnic group and therefore deserving of protection under the genocide convention". Pull this out next time someone tells you "there's no such thing as Palestinians, they're all just Arabs".

The court acknowledged very unambiguously that "at least some" of Israel's actions being genocidal in nature is "plausible". South Africa has a case, officially. Israel is accused of genocide, in a way the ICJ deems "plausible", officially. This is huge. (And seriously, how freaking satisfying was it to hear all of those genocidal statements by Israeli politicians read out loud and used as justification for this rulling?)

The court might not have ordered a "ceasefire" in those words, but they did order Israel to "immediately end all genocidal acts" (which includes killing and injuring Palestinians) and submit proof that they actually did. How are they going to comply with this ruling without at least severly reducing or changing what they're doing in Gaza?

In fact, this wording might actually be more appropriate for a genocide (vs a war), as author and journalist Ali Abunimah notes on Twitter:

He's completely right. Israel lost today, by overwhelming majority (I mean, 15 to 2? I heard people predict the rulings would be very close, like 9 judges vs 8, but instead we got 15 to 2 (and even 16 to 1 on the humanitarian aid). Holy shit.) The court disimissed almost everything Israel's side of lawyers said, while acknowledging that South Africa's accusations are "plausible".

And this is important especially because of Mr Abunimah's second tweet there^. Because the question is, where do we go from here?

This ruling means that Israel is officially /possibly/ commiting genocide and that should have huge international consequences. The rest of the world now HAS to take these accusations seriously and stop arming and supporting Israel - and if they won't do it on their own, we, the people, have to make them. This is THE moment to rise up all around the world, especially in the countries most supportive of Israel (the US, the UK, Germany): Protest, call your representatives and demand a ceasefire and an end of arms deliveries to Israel.

We now have a legal case to back our demands: If Israel is, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" commiting genocide, then all of our governments are, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" guiltly of aiding in genocide. And we need to hold that over their heads and demand better. We need to do that right now and in huge numbers. Most politicians only care about themselves and saving their skin. We have to make them realize that they could be accused of aiding in genocide.

(As a German, I'm thinking of Germany here in particular: After South Africa's hearing, our government dismissed their case as having "no basis" - how are they going to keep saying that now that the ICJ officially thinks otherwise? Over the last months, people here have been arrested at protests for calling what's happening in Gaza a genocide. How are the police supposed to legally keep doing that now that the ICJ has officially deemed this accusation "plausible"? I used to be scared to use the word "genocide" at protests or write it on my protest signs - not anymore, have fun trying to arrest me for that when the ICJ literally has my back on this one 🖕🏻.)

So yeah - don't be defeatist about this, don't let Israel's narrative that they "won" (they didn't) take over. This might not be everything we wanted, but it's still a good result. Don't let what the court didn't say ("ceasefire"), distract you from the very important things that they did say. Let this be your motivation to get loud and active, especially if you live in any country that supports Israel. Put pressure on your governments to not be complicit in genocide, you now officially have the highest international court on your side.

[atomic-cat]

[astroskeptic]

Fuck the United States of America

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 24th of January 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates on Friday as I'm working.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[mshexley]

I have not seen a single piece of actual evidence used by Israel during this. All I've seen is them saying a thing happened and then showing some quote as if that's proof of them not committing genocide.

Like their entire argument is "yes BUUUTTT--"

[myauditionfordrphil]

I am still watching the ICJ hearing live, and here are some of the provisional measures enforced by the court that I caught onto. According to the measures Israel has to:

Take all measures within it's power to stop the genocide being committed in the Gaza strip.

Ensure rightful preservation of evidence of the alleged genocide.

Prevent causing bodily or mental harm to Palestinians.

Prevent delibrate measures to prevent births.

Prevent deliberate destruction of property and the people.

Prevent and punish incitement to genocide in the strip.

Ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described above

Ensure with immediate effect that it's military doesn't commit any of the acts that are described.

Immediately and unconditionally release all the hostages abducted during the attacks.

Take measures to protect Palestinian civilians.

Provide basic necessities like food, water, electricity that were cut off during the seige to the people of Gaza.

Allow humanitarian aid to the civilians and hostages.

Must submit a report to the court on Israel's enactment upon the ordered measures.

Even though the case isn't fully closed yet, this is a huge step taken by the court by acknowledging and condemning the genocide committed by Israel. This is all that I've caught onto, I wrote this in a hurry so if there's anything more or if there's anything that I got wrong please inform me I'll immediately add or correct it.

[eccedeus]

The Honourable Dikgang Moseneke who is serving as the South African judge in the ICJ case joined the Pan-Africanist Congress at fourteen years old, was imprisoned at 15, and obtained a BA and B luris while in prison

[mariluphoto]

[savemysoulmyartsucks]

So Israel’s biggest defense is ‘Nuh na’ and ‘Mind your own business, South Africa’

[justnews420]

The Israeli army is going back after losing the war without achieving anything ..🇵🇸💔#israel #Palestine #Gaza #hamas

[kittyprincessofcats]

I'm honestly still trying to wrap my mind around the ICJ explicitly ordering that, among other things, more humanitarian aid has to be let into Gaza immediately, and most Western countries cutting funding to UNRWA a literal day later...

Heck, even German media, which deliberately ignored the whole "yes, this could be a genocide" part of the ICJ's decision and focused only on "no ceasefire, but more humanitarian aid" should be calling out that you can't just cut off humanitarian aid after being ordered to let in more humanitarian aid... like WTF, this is cartoonish levels of evil

It also:

violates the ICJ's decision and therefore international law

is a war crime (collective punishment)

directly violates the Genocide Convention article 2(c) "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part"

[queenofnaturalones]

ICJ Ruling - Call Your Representatives

The International Court of Justice has ruled against Israel and in favor of South Africa, declaring that there are sufficient grounds for a genocide case against Israel and ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. They must halt killings of the Palestinian people, allow humanitarian aid, preserve evidence of genocide, and report to the court next month outlining how they have followed these measures.

This is a great time to call and e-mail your representatives, to urge them to call for a ceasefire, to pressure Israel to abide by the ICJ's ruling, and to cease funding and abetting a genocide, one that is now recognized as such by international law.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/26/icj-fails-to-order-ceasefire-but-says-israel-must-prevent-genocide-in-gaza

https://ceasefire-now.com/

https://5calls.org/issue/israel-palestine-gaza-war-hamas-ceasefire/

[astroskeptic]

Signs that someone is affiliated with Khamas: -They say Hamas! -They like watermelon! -They condemn Israel when they commit crimes! -They don't like genocide! -They think killing children is bad! -They believe that Palestinians are human beings and deserve basic rights!

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 11th of January 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates on Sunday as I'm working, I'm gutted I can't watch the livestream tomorrow. It's at 10AM as far as I can remember. You can find it on YouTube, be sure to watch Apartheid Israel's predictable response and watch out for gore given they'll definitely play shock value.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[veganism]

BREAKING: ICJ RULINGS AGAINST ISRAEL AND IN FAVOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA 15-2

BREAKING: ICJ RULINGS AGAINST ISRAEL AND IN FAVOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA 1. 15-2 The state of Israel shall take all measures to prevent the commission of genocide to Gaza 2. 15-2 The state of Israel shall ensure that the military not commit any acts of genocide 3. 16-1 Israel shall take all measures to punish all public solicitations to genocide 4. 16-1 Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to address adverse conditions to life in the Gaza Strip 5. 15-2 Israel shall take effective measures to preserve evidence of actions impacting the Genocide convention 6. 15-2 Israel shall submit to the court a report all measures taken to follow the orders of this court within one month

[like-wuatafauq]

Reminder that tomorrow January 26 2024, is the ICJ ruling for South Africa vs The Settler Colony of Isnotreal

at 12:00GMT

Few things to keep in mind that concern me:

•"The ICJ’s rules require the petitioning nation to show that a dispute exists with the country it is accusing, and that they have tried to address it before approaching the court. If the ICJ announces Friday that it does not have jurisdiction in the case, the specific requests made by South Africa become immaterial." -Sarah Shamim on AlJazeera

This to me is very concerning because I think in the case of a Genocide we should not be like "damn sorry we can't say/do anything in the matter because nobody formal disputed them before the case" there is enough evidence to show a genocide and the fact a lot of ppl around the world protested against and voted against should be used as more than an excuse for addressing the fucking issue of the genocide.

• This is a provisional case so not only does it need to have jurisdiction on the matter but also final ruling can take years (if the they do have jurisdiction then this allows for there to be done something like aid and put legal obligation to end the slaughter. This is what the provisional case is good for, my concern is just the fact the final ruling can take years.)

• The timing for trials etc, for every day that is spent on not being able to send help everyone is getting sick and hungry, Isnotreal stopped the aid of children's insulin, women don't have sanitation products for periods, men are making bread from animal fodder, IT IS FUCKING WINTER, when it rains tents flood.

Even if the ICJ's verdict is that Isnotreal is legally bound to stop the attacks on gaza, they are not allowed to enforce it but the ICC can get involved by being sent to trial for that. Again, more time waiting.

Good things to remember, I know it's a lot I just put out there that are very concerning things but:

•The ICC is allowed to physically get involved in the case that they continue their attacks

•We will never forget what they have done. We have the power to continue to speak up and do what we have been doing until there is proper justice

•like I said before even if the final ruling takes years there could be something done now to stop what's happening in Gaza.

• The lies Isnotreal stated on their case can not be held up as truths since there has been so much evidence.

An example: they stated that they were not destroying buildings and civilian homes that it was "Hamas putting booby traps"(yes thats exactly how they put it and they didnt provide pictures/evidence for this). Yet recently we saw the news of 21 of their soldiers being killed because they were setting bombs in buildings.

•Lastly the global strike still has a couple days left, do what you can. If you can protest, call representatives etc. Start getting involved in boycotts and uphold them past the global strike date. Start using the #feed north of gaza, on as many platforms as possible.