Ryan Grim of The Intercept in “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” writes: “South Africa’s charges against Israel were formally brought to The Hague today, with the post-apartheid nation facing off against Israel for two days of emergency hearings. South Africa’s immediate aim is to win a ruling later this month — perhaps as early as next week — ordering Israel to cease and desist its assault of Gaza.”
Also from The Intercept, Jeremy Scahill writes in “In Genocide Case Against Israel at the Hague, the U.S. Is the Unnamed Co-conspirator” that: “’South Africa has recognized the ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people.’ With those words, Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, opened his government’s historic suit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague charging the state of Israel with multiple violations of the Genocide Convention.”
At 4 p.m. today, there is a rally in support of South Africa at UN headquarters in New York City. There are protests in defense of Palestine in cities around the world planned for Saturday.
See full video here of South Africa’s oral presentation and thread of video clips here.
South Africa’s written Application to the Court is here. Israel presents its defense tomorrow.
The following are available for a limited number of interviews:
MICHAEL LYNK, mslynk@uwo.ca, @MichaelLynk5
Lynk served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, from 2016 to 2022. He is a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now. See his interview on the case on Wednesday’s Electronic Intifada.
CRAIG MOKHIBER, craigmokhiber@gmail.com, @CraigMokhiber
Mokhiber recently co-wrote the piece “A Crack in a 75-year-old Wall of Impunity: South Africa Challenges Israeli Genocide in Court.” See his thread on the hearing.
He is an international human rights lawyer and former Director of the New York Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, who stepped down from his post in 2023 and penned a now-viral letter on unfolding genocide and the UN’s failures. See recent interview with him.
