News Release

Namibia Attacks Germany’s Defense of Israel on Genocide

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The New York Times published Megan K. Stack’s most recent piece: “Don’t Turn Away From the Charges of Genocide Against Israel.” Jeremy Scahill wrote the piece “At The Hague, Israel Mounted a Defense Based in an Alternate Reality.”

Many countries have made statements supporting South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice including Bolivia, Brazil, Algeria, Malaysia and Jordan. A global coalition has come together urging countries to issue Declarations of Intervention at the Court supporting South Africa, and Colombia and Bangladesh have announced that they will do so.

Meanwhile, Germany announced it would file a Declaration of Intervention on behalf of Israel. This led to a major furor with Namibia attacking Germany, attracting an extraordinary amount of attention online. It issued a statement: “Namibia rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza. On Namibian soil, Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil. … President [Hage] Geingob reiterates his call made on 31 December 2023, ‘No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage waged against Palestinians in Gaza’. In that vein, President Geingob appeals to the German Government to reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence and support of the genocidal acts of Israel before the International Court of Justice.”

HENNING MELBER, Henning.Melber@nai.uu.se, @HenningMelber
Melber just wrote the piece “Namibia, Germany, and Israel: The Pitfalls of Selective Remorse and Trauma” for The Namibian. He is with the Nordic Africa Institute and is senior adviser and director emeritus of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. See his comments on Al Jazeera English and audio of a longer panel discussion.

HERBERT JAUCH, vivaworkers@gmail.com
Jauch is chairperson of the Economic and Social Justice Trust in Namibia. He is co-editor of the book Towards Democratic Development States in Southern Africa.

Also see from Patrick Bond: “Franz Beckenbauer, Rest in Shame: South African Memories of German Corruption.”