South Africa Receives Growing Worldwide Support

Palestinians thank South Africa for taking their case to the International Court of Justice, in Mandela Square, Ramallah, January 10, 2024.

Worldwide, more than 1,000 organizations have come out in support of South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), signing onto a letter issued by the Progressive International. Media reports say the list of organizations and political movements from Australia, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States and Canada is growing by the hour. 

Activists in Europe converged at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, to rally in support of South Africa during the ICJ hearings on January 11 and 12. They were joined virtually by those taking up the call for a Global Cyber Intifada, to get the hashtag #EndIsraeliGenocide trending across all social media platforms.

In Canada, activists have been holding phone blitzes, calling the offices of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae and their local Members of Parliament, urging that Canada back South Africa's case at the ICJ.

Thirty Kuwaiti associations, leagues, unions and parties have come together to call on their government to back South Africa's case at the ICJ. Their statement issued on January 6 says war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity as defined by international law and agreements are being committed in Gaza. It expresses shock and dismay "at Arab and Muslim countries' silence in the face of these atrocities, which in return is contributing to the blockade and hindering aid to the people of Gaza" and urges Kuwait to use its relationships and capabilities internationally to end the aggression and hold the occupation accountable, including by backing South Africa's case against Israel at the ICJ.

One campaign alone initiated in the UK in support of South Africa's genocide case against Israel has gathered more than 320,000 users worldwide,

Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium Petra De Sutter urged Belgium on January 8 to follow the lead of South Africa, stressing that Belgium should take action against Israel at the ICJ, as did former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn who called on the British government to do the same.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor provided the South African legal team and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with an initial memorandum detailing the most prominent mass graves that were established since Israel launched its current war on Gaza on October 8, 2023. Euro-Med also provided South Africa's legal team with other memoranda about mass killings, targeting of the health sector, and various outcomes of the genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, Euro-Med further submitted a memorandum documenting the Israeli army's crimes during the period of December 29, 2023 when South Africa filed its claim with the ICJ to January 9. During that time the Israeli army killed 2,124 Palestinians and injured 3,463.

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 4 - January 12, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54045.HTM

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