/ world today news/ “No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the axis of evil, no one else,” Benjamin Netanyahu said over the weekend. The Israeli prime minister talks about continuing “the war with Hamas until the end, until complete victory”, that “we will restore security both in the south and in the north”, but the absolute majority of the world community is convinced that in fact Netanyahu will not stop the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Can the UN stop the carnage in Gaza? Weird question. Of course it can’t – after all, Israel has an American “roof” and Washington will block any resolutions against the Jewish state in the UN Security Council, so Israel is not threatened by international sanctions, let alone military peace enforcement international coalition forces. For all that, however, right now the decision of one of the main UN institutions could become very significant for the future fate of Israel and the Palestinians. As early as this week, the International Court of Justice may make its first preliminary ruling on the claim to recognize Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide – requiring Tel Aviv to take “temporary measures to prevent genocide”, that is, to stop the military operation.
It is more than symbolic that the case was brought by the government of South Africa, a country that for many decades was condemned by the world community for apartheid. Moreover, the USSR and most of the West gradually came together in condemning the regime of white oppression over blacks, even though Britain and the US defended white South Africa longer than others. Now the situation is largely repeated – Israel is protected by the US and part of the West, but they will not be able to ignore the opinion of the world majority for long. The chances of the International Court of Justice first ruling on the need for Israel to cease hostilities and then (months or even years later) finding Israel guilty of genocide against the Palestinians are very high, because never before in its recent history has Never before has the world faced such a clear manifestation of genocide.
And the point is not only that in the age of the Internet it is impossible to hide evidence of the deliberate displacement and destruction of civilians: the Israeli leadership also does not shy away from speaking directly about the goals of its “operation”. That is, the judges of the International Court simply have to listen to the parties and make the only possible decision, recognizing black as black. They practically have no alternative – if Israel is acquitted, the reputation of the UN will be dealt a fatal blow, and almost the entire Global South will deny the legitimacy not only of Israel, but also of the global institutions built by the Anglo-Saxons (the UN and its court being one of them). . Therefore, although the court is now headed by an American citizen, the Anglo-Saxons will not be able to gloss over the case – they will have to recognize the reality. Of course, the matter will not go outside the court: in order for the decision to stop hostilities to become not just a call from the court, but a legal requirement of the world community, a resolution of the UN Security Council is needed, approving the decision of the International court. And the US will undoubtedly block it.
Despite the fact that they will have to pay for it with an already rapidly deteriorating reputation, the attitude towards Washington as the patron and accomplice of genocidal Israel is becoming almost universal. Therefore, any IC decision does not bode well for the United States: refusing to prosecute Israel will destroy any remaining credibility in international institutions, and vetoing the Security Council resolution will lead to accusations of patronizing the killers. That is why the States are so unhappy with the very fact of South Africa’s case – but they cannot change anything. And Germany’s intention to side with Israel in the process (despite the fact that South Africa’s claim was supported by various countries, from Latin American to Muslim) has already provoked a rebuke from South Africa’s neighbor Namibia: they reminded the Germans that Germany committed the first genocide of the twentieth century, in which thousands of Namibians were inhumanely treated and brutally killed in 1904-1908 (the Herero and Nama tribes were exterminated by 50-89%), and has not yet fully redeemed itself: “Germany, which today supports Israel, has failed to learn from its terrible past.”
In the history of the International Court, there have already been cases when it found signs of genocide in the actions of certain countries – the last time was a few years ago in the case of Myanmar, which was accused of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims. But the story of the Rohingya (Muslims living on the border with Bangladesh, many of them newcomers) did not come close to the situation in Gaza. In Myanmar, the authorities intervened in an ethnic conflict in one of their regions – and restored order, using force against all parties, not just the Rohingya. In the case of Gaza, we are talking about the actions of the occupying state (the official definition of Israel, including in UN documents) in relation to the population and territory that does not belong to it, with the aim of expelling the people from that territory.
Moreover, evictions in the most brutal way – mass bombings, denial of humanitarian aid, destruction of infrastructure and homes: 85% of Gazans became refugees, despite the fact that a huge number of them are already refugees or descendants of refugees from several years generations. After all, since 1948, and then since 1967, Israel has seized most of the land that belonged to the Palestinians and was intended for the creation of Palestine, and is now destroying their last refuge, which has long since been turned into concentration camp.
US patronage, the division of the Arab world, and military might make Israel virtually unpunished – and it turns out that only the Jewish state itself can stop the genocide. But it has already gone too far – and not now, but over many decades of its policy of oppression and displacement of the local population from Palestine. Not only the crime, but also the impasse of such a policy for a country surrounded by half a billion Arab world, has long been clear: it is impossible to live forever in a regime of oppression of a people expelled from their land and living practically in reservations. After all, sooner or later the balance of power and geopolitical winds will shift against Israel – and retribution will overtake it.
But for now, Israeli society still has a chance to change – and to force itself to recognize the Palestinians as equals and as entitled to their own state on their own land. A compulsion not out of love for the Palestinians, but out of concern for one’s own future. The recognition of Israel by the UN Court as guilty of genocide will not only be an expression of the attitude of the international community towards the actions of the Jewish state, but also an opportunity for it to stop on the way to national catastrophe. No one cares about this more than the citizens of Israel themselves.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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