South Africa Calls On World Governments To Stop Funding Israel’s Military
Jose Nino
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South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor declared on January 31, 2024 that all governments worldwide have a moral responsibility to stop
funding and facilitating Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza after the World Court declared that Israel’s actions could be deemed as genocidal.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently ordered Israel to pursue all measures within its power to keep its troops from carrying out genocide and implement steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza in a case put forward by South Africa.
The Word Court did not go as far as to demand that Israel implement a ceasefire and has not yet issued a ruling on the key point of South Africa’s case, whether a genocide has occurred in Gaza. This ruling could take years to be settled.
South Africa has long supported the Palestinian cause, likening the struggle of the Palestinians to that of black South Africans during the apartheid era. The Israeli government has rejected claims of genocide and has taken exception to the comparison to the apartheid era.
Pandor revealed that she was recently in a meeting with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to talk about a joint referral South Africa made in November with other countries about the situation in the Palestinian territories.
“I asked him why he was able to issue an arrest warrant for Mr Putin and is unable to do so for the prime minister of Israel. He … did not answer that question. But I read into some of what he said that the investigations are still under way,” Pandor said to reporters.
Back in March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin that accused him of presiding over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
Both Israel and Russia don’t recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, and have rejected its allegations. Pandor declared that the ICJ ruling “makes it clear that it is plausible that genocide is taking place against the Palestinian people in Gaza. This necessarily imposes an obligation on all states to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions.”
South Africa should be commended for its calls to halt the deployment of military and economic aid to Israel. No sane country should be co-signing this mass ethnic cleansing campaign.
It would behoove the entire world to exercise realism and restraint with respect to the Israel conflict.
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