Genocide of Palestinians is State Policy: South Africa at ICJ
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The Hague (Netherlands): The South African lawyers while initiating the argument at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Thursday January 11, 2024 said Israel is not only committing but also celebrating the genocide and killings of the Palestinians in Gaza.
“The Israeli soldiers are not only committing but are celebrating the massacre and genocide of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”, Tembeka Nicholas Ngcukaitobi, a South African lawyer and legal scholar, said presenting South Africa’s Gaza genocide case at the ICJ.
The International Court of Justice, comprising of 15 judges from different countries of the world, Thursday conducted a public hearing which was broadcasted live in response to a petition filed by South Africa demanding the UN Curt to hold Israel accountable for the genocide of Palestinians it is committing in Gaza.
While deposing before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the first day of the public hearing, Tembeka Nicholas Ngcukaitobi, a South African lawyer and legal scholar, played a part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu’s speech who addressing the soldiers quoted from the Bible and asked them to “remember what Amalek has done to you”.
“On December 7 2023, Israeli soldiers proved that they understood their Prime Minister’s message to ‘remember what the Amalek has done to you’, as genocidal. They were recorded by journalists dancing and singing ‘We know our motto: there are no uninvolved ... ‘; that they obey one commandment, ‘to wipe off the seed of Amalek’”, Ngcukaitobi said at the ICJ.
Netanyahu’s invocation of “Amalek” is being used by soldiers to justify the killing of civilians, including children, the South African lawyer said as a video of the Israeli soldiers is played for the ICJ Judges.
“These are the soldiers repeating the inciting words of their prime minister”, he added.
Ngcukaitobi said Israeli soldiers in Gaza were filmed dancing, chanting, and singing in November ‘May their village burn, May Gaza be erased’ and this has become a trend.
“There is now a trend among the soldiers to film themselves committing atrocities against civilians in Gaza, in a form of “snuff” video. One recorded himself detonating over 50 houses in Shujaiya; other soldiers were recorded singing ‘We will destroy all of Khan Younes and this house’, ‘we will blow it up for you and for everything you do for us’”, he said as another video clip is played.
“These are the soldiers putting into effect their command”, Ngcukaitobi said.
Ngcukaitobi said not only the soldiers but the Israeli army commanders are also of the same mind and operating with the intention to wipe out Gaza.
“The commanders of the army are also of the same mind. Israeli army commander Yair Ben David has stated that the army had done in ‘Beit Hanoun and did there as Shimon and Levi did in Nablus” and that '[t]he entire Gaza should resemble Beit Hanoun’”, Ngcukaitobi said.
“Israeli soldier Yishai Shalev published a video against the backdrop of the ruins of what was the site of Al Azhar University with the caption ‘once upon a time there was a university in Gaza and in practice — a school for murderers and human animals’”, he said.
Ngcukaitobi reiterated that the genocide of the Palestinians is a state policy and the soldiers are therefore committing the massacre of the Gazans with the same intent.
“Soldiers obviously believe that this language and their actions are acceptable because the destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza is articulated state policy”, he said.
Ngcukaitobi said Netanyahu’s ‘genocidal rhetoric’ has also impacted the minds of general public, the civil society and also the Israeli media.
“The prime minister’s genocidal speech has gained ground among some elements of civil society. A famous singer has repeated Mr Netanyahu’s Amalek reference, stating that ‘Gaza must be wiped out and be destroyed with every Amalek seed ... we simply must destroy all of Gaza and exterminate everyone who is there’”, Ngcukaitobi said.
“Another has called to ‘erase Gaza, not leave a single person there’. Journalists and commentators have announced that ‘the woman is an enemy, the baby is an enemy ... the pregnant woman is an enemy’, that it is necessary to ‘turn the strip into a slaughterhouse’, to ‘demolish every house our soldiers come across’. Exterminate everyone”, Ngcukaitobi said.
Ngcukaitobi also said in front of the ICJ that Israel is aware of its destruction of Palestinian life and infrastructure.
“Despite this knowledge, it has maintained — and indeed intensified — its military activity in Gaza”, he said.
“Despite this knowledge, Israel continues to target infrastructure essential for survival: water and sanitation infrastructure, solar panels, bakeries, mills, crops. It bombs hospitals, decimating the healthcare system. It targets aid workers and the infrastructure of the UN. It is because of the policy of Israel that Gaza became a place of ‘death and despair’”, he said.
The ICJ hearing on Thursday was adjourned after the first round of the hearing participated by the lawyers representing South Africa.
Tomorrow, Friday January 12, 2024, is reserved for Israel to defend itself at the UN Court and respond to the allegations against it.
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