I will refrain from describing the tragedy we can all see livestreaming before our eyes—genocidal intent, acts of genocide and the slaughter of thousands of women and children. Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself, but this does not include committing genocide along the way.
Jews, who suffered at the hands of Nazis, should know better than to essentially repeat similar atrocities. Israel’s enabler in chief has been the United States—duplicitously encouraging Israel to use “targeted” lethal actions to avoid civilian deaths, while simultaneously supplying Israel with more 2000-pound bombs designed for widespread casualties and defending its atrocities with vetoes at the UN Security Council.
America’s duplicity and hypocrisy are on full display under bright lights. Americans must face reality—it is no longer admired around the world and its isolation will only get worse. Moral Americans should be outraged and dismayed by what their government is doing in their names. Arabs and Muslims in most Arab and Muslim majority countries should be ashamed by the inaction and silence of their governments and rulers with uprising as their only effective option.
A non-Arab-Muslim majority country, South Africa, a country that lived through apartheid, is the first country to stand up and be counted. South Africa, the country of Nelson Mandela, was so shocked by the genocidal intentions livestreaming from the war in Gaza that, as required by the United Nations Genocide Convention, it notified the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the disturbing events in Gaza. When the Court failed to take action expeditiously, it filed an extremely detailed case at the ICJ (https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192- 20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf#page=72). All along South Africa and Malaysia have been the principal supporters of Palestinian rights in the courts, while Iran has been a political supporter.
But in recent days, as the massacre of Palestinian civilians has become ever more criminal and support for Palestinians has become more widespread, more countries have cautiously stepped up to the plate. As reported and placed in context by Aljazeera:
“South Africa filed the lawsuit end of December, accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza and seeking a halt to the brutal military assault that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, nearly 10,000 of them children.
The 84-page filing by South Africa says Israel violated the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. Both Israel and South Africa are signatories to the United Nations Genocide Convention, which gives the ICJ – the highest UN legal body – jurisdiction to rule on disputes over the treaty. All states that signed the convention are obliged to not commit genocide and also to prevent and punish it. The treaty defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Here’s what we know about the countries backing South Africa in its case against Israel, and the countries that oppose the case at the world court.
Which countries have welcomed South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel?
. The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC): The 57-member bloc, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Morocco, voiced their support for the case on December 30.
. Malaysia: In a statement released on January 2, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the South African application. It reiterated a call for an independent Palestinian state “based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
. Turkey: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oncu Keceli posted on X on January 3 welcoming South Africa’s move.
. Jordan: Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on January 4 that Amman would back South Africa.
. Bolivia: On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia dubbed South Africa’s move as historic, becoming the first Latin American country to back the ICJ case against Israel.”
[The countries that have opposed the filing]
The United States has voiced its opposition to the genocide case. National security spokesperson John Kirby called South Africa’s submission “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis” during a White House press briefing on January 3.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday that “there is nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than the lawsuit. Herzog also thanked Blinken for Washington’s support of Israel.
The United Kingdom, which has refused to support the case, has been accused of double standards after it submitted detailed legal documents to the ICJ about a month ago to support claims that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya community.”
This is not all. There has also been some activity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), where even earlier: South Africa, Bangladesh, Comoros, and Djibouti asked the ICC on November 30 to investigate conditions in Palestine.
The cases before the ICJ and the ICC are important steps, but while we wait for the ICJ to hold its preliminary hearing at the end of this week and act, the world, especially Arab and Muslim countries, must do much more at this critical time. At the outset they should emphatically state
their demands: the end of all hostilities in Gaza and in the rest of the occupied territories; the withdrawal of all Israeli troops (IDF and militias) from Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories; the immediate acknowledgment of the steps toward the creation of a separate
Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, to include abandonment of all Israeli settlements (which are all illegal) in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. Recognizing that the United States is the power and enabler behind Israeli atrocities, besides further isolating Israel, there should be a focus on the United States. Here are the steps (with a
brief pause between each step to assess the action taken) that all Arab and Muslim majority countries should adopt until their demands above are met:
Recall their ambassadors to Israel and the United States (and other countries who continue to support Israel)
Suspend diplomatic ties with Israel Suspend diplomatic ties with the United States (and other countries who continue to support Israel)
Impose all-embracing sanctions on Israel along with secondary sanctions on any country that breaks these sanctions
Evict all U.S. forces from their territories
It is high time to stand up to Israel, the United States and all others who are supporting Israel in their atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. The world has lost its humanity. We still bemoan our collective inaction against Nazi atrocities during WWII. Yet we learned nothing! We are turning a blind eye as Israel is becoming our 21st Century Nazi. We should have acted long before we got to this point. All along we have been guilty by turning our backs and focusing on our own daily lives—the price of eggs and watching football—while Palestinians cannot even get their hands on eggs and die at the hands of Israeli Nazis using American planes and bombs.
It is high time for Americans to engage in a national debate—why do they so blindly support Israel and throw their collective humanity and treasure into the trash—a debate without the constant knee-jerk retort of anti-Semitism? What will we tell our children and grandchildren, and how will we justify our collective inaction, inhumanity and (in the case of believers) affirm our devotion to God, Allah, Jesus and Mohammad in the years to come?
Republished from Tehran Times
Professor Hossein Askari is an Economist and Emeritus Professor of Business and International Affairs at George Washington University.
