Ruling of International Court of Justice in The Hague
Ambiguity Does Not Rule Out Clear Need to Stop Israeli Genocide and Demand Cease Fire Now!
On January 26, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued its ruling in the case of South Africa's charge of genocide against Israel. South Africa's case required the court to order provisional measures to end Israel's assault on Gaza which it is carrying out with impunity. In particular South Africa called for Israel to be ordered to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza” and for humanitarian aid to be allowed in.
In brief, the court says it has jurisdiction to rule in the case. The court orders Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The court says Israel must prevent and punish incitement to genocide and must allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The court obliges Israel to take more measures to protect Palestinians but does not order it to end military operations in the Gaza Strip.
So what does all this amount to?
It is clear that Israel has suffered a defeat at the hands of the court since it demanded the case be dropped on the grounds that it is not committing genocide in Gaza. The fact that the court says it has jurisdiction in the case means that for some time to come, the determination of the case of genocide will continue.
It is also clear that the ruling is a prime example of ambiguity. What is ambiguity? Ambiguity does not mean that the problem is unclear. It is very very clear that Israel is assassinating the Palestinian people with impunity. It is very very clear that it has created the conditions of famine and the deadly spread of disease. Further, it is clear that it denies that it is committing genocide or interfering with the entry of humanitarian aid since it blames Hamas for everything. Blaming the resistance to oppression, to impunity, to slavery, to persecution and all injustice is nothing new. It is the narrative of every oppressor throughout history.
It
is furthermore very clear that Israel's denial that it is
engaged
in genocide or has the intent to commit genocide means that it is up to
the entire world to stop Israel.
In fact, far from stopping, Israel continues to step up its genocidal assault against the Palestinian people with the clear intention of wiping them out from all the territory of Palestine before it is stopped -- either as a result of the withdrawal of support of the U.S. and major powers, or because the people within Israel effectively rise up against the criminal government of Netanyahu and other war criminals which comprise it, or because it can no longer sustain the losses of personnel and military equipment it is suffering at the hands of the resistance, or because the Occupation Forces en masse refuse to serve. It is putting facts on the ground as fast as possible in the hopes that they become irreversible. Beginning with flattening the Gaza Strip in its entirety and wiping out its population. It has gone so far as to bomb the refugee camps in places it ordered the people to evacuate to and to deliberately create the conditions for starvation and famine and the deadly spread of disease, besides the massive losses incurred to human beings and the human psyche.
So,
if all this is clear, wherein lies the ambiguity of the ruling if not
in the argument over alternatives? At the moment, everything is framed
within false alternatives that either Israel stops because the court
ordered it to stop, or Israel stops because the peoples of the world
count on the U.S. and "Genocide Joe" to order them to stop. In fact,
the alternative is the success of the resistance movement and the
peoples of the world who are speaking in their own names upholding the
right to be of the Palestinian people and their right of return, and
demanding that their governments withdraw their support for genocide.
Such support is provided under the guise that it is not clear that
Israel is committing genocide, that its murderous campaign against
those it alleges are terrorists is legitimate, that those who oppose
what Israel is doing are engaged in hate, are anti-semites, terrorists,
fanatics and so on.
The
absence of any mention of a ceasefire by the ICJ reinforces that fact
that it is the Palestinian people and peoples of the world, using their
voice, making their demands and working out what is needed to defend
Palestine and stop Israel that will be decisive.
For the Palestinian Resistance and the peoples of the world, the ruling of the International Court of Justice is very clear: fight to win. Keep speaking up in our own name in support of the Palestinian people's right to be and their right of return. Do not permit the agenda of the discussion to be set by the imperialist countries and their media, their pundits and apologists. Let the peoples of the world present their arguments from their vantage point which is the one which helps sort out this state of affairs in a manner which favours the Palestinian people. They will decide the outcome of this turning point in the history of humankind.
At this historical juncture, it is crucial to hit at the heart of the usurpation of power by Israel, the governments of the U.S., Canada and others, which is to keep us in the ambiguity which tricks us into discussing the agenda they put forward. It is to keep us in the ambiguity so that we do not look at the human relations which exist where it is the peoples of the world who have their own agenda and their own voice to speak in their own name.
We say:
Stop
the Genocide! Ceasefire Now!
Long Live the Palestinian
Resistance!
From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be
Free!
For an account of the ruling of the International Court of Justice click here.
For the response of certain concerned parties, click here.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 7 - January 26, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54071.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca