***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *****
International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine Applauds South African Legal Team; Denounces United States, United Kingdom and Germany for Supporting Israel’s Crimes
The ICGSP calls for three days of action this month: Stop the war on Yemen, support South Africa’s case before the ICJ and oppose Germany siding with genocidaires.
CONTACTS:
● Netfa Freeman, Black Alliance for Peace, netfa@blackallianceforpeace.com, +1 301 938-4628
● Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, Progressive International, varsha.gandikota@gmail.com, +91 98735 38708
● Azhar Sakoor, Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League in South Africa, azhar@psayl.co.za, +27 81 046 7428
Last week, member groups of the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) organized activities around the world, including press conferences at The Hague and outside various South African consulates and embassies, to highlight and support the South African legal team as they presented their evidence of the state of Israel’s acts of genocide against Palestinians to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 11.
Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, who was at The Hague representing Progressive International, one of the ICSGP’s founding organizations, stated:
“Every single person who witnessed the hearing was left in no doubt that we were reading the most frightening document of our time and hearing evidence of the most gruesome, illegal, and genocidal assault.
In bringing this case to The Hague, South Africa has issued a resounding call to the Global South to break with the Zionist project and its inextricable links to the history of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism.
This is not only Israel on trial. It is the ICJ on trial. It is a test of the humanity of the world and whether the institutions we’ve built to protect it — today, this court in The Hague — withstand the test of Western impunity.”
The ICGSP continues to expand with nearly 2,000 signatory organizations from 100 countries on the initial letter calling for mobilization in defense of South Africa’s strong case for genocide. Member organizations are working to press their governments to submit Declarations of Intervention to the ICJ in support of emergency provisional measures on Israel to stop the murder, maiming, starvation and displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and Occupied Territories in the West Bank.
At present, countries that have publicly supported South Africa’s case include Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen and the Organization of Islamic Countries, which represents 57 nations.
Only three nations have publicly denied that Israel is committing genocide, the US, UK and Germany, despite the fact that the world is watching events happen in real time on social media and on outlets that have reporters on the ground. The state of Israel has tried to hide their crimes by targeting and murdering over 100 members of the media in Gaza, which is another violation of international law.
The US, UK and Germany have taken direct actions to stop support for the Palestinian liberation struggle. On January 11, the same day that South Africa presented its evidence at The Hague, the US and UK conducted 73 bombing raids on Yemen killing five people and injuring six.
Biden stated that the bombing is in retaliation for Yemen’s blockade of ships traveling through the Red Sea on their way to Israel. Yemenis view their actions as an obligation as signatories to the Genocide Convention to impose measures to stop Israel’s genocide. The illegal escalation of military aggression in Yemen by the US and UK adds fuel to the fire of a broader regional conflict.
In November, 2023, Germany started banning most demonstrations in support of Palestine. Despite that, thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in defiance of the ban and in solidarity with Palestine. Hage Geingob, the President of Namibia, which was a victim of German genocide between 1904 and 1908, responded to Germany’s decision in a statement, writing, “Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.”
Netfa Freeman, who is the Black Alliance for Peace African Team coordinator, said, “The position of Germany represents the moral confusion and hypocrisy of the current leadership in that state. But even more ominously, for a state that still has not completely atoned for its genocidal campaign against the people of Namibia, the German position in support of genocide in Palestine reaffirms the white supremacist core of German thought that fed the Nazi war machine. For the Nazis and the current leadership of Germany, African and Palestinian lives still don’t matter! “
Attorney Azhar Sakoor, Executive with the Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League in South Africa, a member organization of the ICSGP, states:
“We support the call for three days of action this month – calling to stop the war on Yemen, support South Africa’s case before the ICJ and oppose Germany siding with genocidaires.
In South Africa, the parallels between the history of South African Apartheid and the current occupation of Palestine by Israel can be clearly seen.
As South Africans, we felt incredibly proud to see our government hold Israel accountable at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), despite Israel being supported by world ‘superpowers’. South Africa called out current genocide in Gaza, acknowledged Israeli attacks in the West Bank, and also recognized the the Nakba. The significance of this cannot be underplayed.
From the case presented by South Africa at the ICJ, it is clear that not only has Israel ignored international law, they are also committing genocide.
It is no surprise to see countries like the USA, UK and Germany are openly supporting Israeli genocide, given their history as colonizers and occupiers. They continue to attempt to occupy the world, not by taking land, but by forcing their ideologies onto indigenous people across the world.
With the USA and UK attacking Yemen (one of the few countries actively trying to fight for Palestinian rights), we see the hypocrisy of the West, caring more for shipping lanes than for human life. We call for an end to the barbaric attacks of the USA and UK on Yemen and an end to the Israeli Genocide in Palestine.”
At the request of major Palestinian organizations and coalitions, the ICSGP has issued a call for three days of action, starting with an international day of action opposing the war against Yemen this Friday, January 19. The following week, on January 24, as we await the decision by the ICJ, there will be a day of action focused on supporting South Africa’s case and taking action to stop the genocide. On January 31, actions are being planned to protest Germany for its role in enabling the state of Israel to commit acts of genocide with impunity.
Previous ICSGP press statements are available from January 8 and January 3, 2024.
Link to online version: https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/3daysofactionstopgenocide
