South Africa’s legal effort to declare Israel’s actions ‘genocidal in character’ poses dilemma for Canada
South Africa’s legal effort to declare Israel’s actions ‘genocidal in character’ poses dilemma for Canada
The Canadian government has often intervened at the same court in support of human-rights cases against other governments
Archive: [ https://archive.is/IESzg]
“I don’t believe the Canadian government even studies the validity of legal applications like this to the ICJ or the moral imperatives of holding perpetrators of international crimes to account,” he said. “It will immediately position itself to protect Israel from scrutiny under international law, and then find some legal arguments that fit the bill.”
Plenty of criticism can be tossed deservedly Israel's way, however i think South Africa's motivation may be less to do with humanitarian reasons and more to do with it's ally Russia.
Lol, this guy here just wrote off South African history of struggle against apartheid and of Palestinian solidarity as "allies with Russia". Mandela, Tutu and others have spoken out on the Palestinian issue. Israel was one of the only countries cozying up to the apartheid regime and used those ties to develop its nuclear arsenal. The lawyers involved in drafting the ICJ submission are summits of anti-apartheid litigation. Israel has a long history of making Putin-like statements denying the existence of a Palestinian people. And yet, here we are FrooBooteR69 made the call: "SA is grandstanding to score points with Putin". I mean, roflmao, dude.
Maybe. I like to think it comes from their knowing their past and wanting to carry on the legacy of one of the greatest ever humans, Nelson Mandela, that came from that past. In any event, South Africa is doing more than most countries to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza/Palestine. Good on them, I say
Yeah South African here, no the government, the ANC (Nelson Mandela's party) have long lost their moral standing internationally. They have a strong relationship with Russia due to their communist ideals. They lost there moral standing in failing to arrest Bashar Al Assad when he visited South Africa, this is after an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court(ICC) was issued and they full on knew they had a duty (even our highest court found afterwards they failed their duty), even though Nelson Mandela signed the to be part of the ICC. The ANC has tried and did apply to leave the ICC but backtracked on it, it came up again when Putin wanted to come visit South Africa for the BRICS summit, when they again complained about the ICC and it's arrest warrants (Putin did not attend). No ANC has stayed quiet in wars like the Ukraine for example (look how the voted in the UN if you want to), saying the do not want to get involved.... They have become morally bankrupt and are not the ANC of Nelson Mandela anymore and have lost any right now to criticise any war. They are only doing it due to Israel's relationship with the USA and the big bad "West". This is cheap shots they are taking.
But I do believe there needs to be pressure on the Isreal government to de-escalate the response, we understand they have a right to defend themselves, but the current response is like using a hammer to remove a brain tumor
Potentially however I think what's lost is people not understanding the complexity of the relationship between Russia and SA. Regardless of how we may feel as outsiders, they have a deep relationship. It's no different than Canada and the UK.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Canada faces an awkward political dilemma as it weighs its response to South Africa’s bid to take Israel to the International Court of Justice for its military actions in Gaza, legal experts say.
In a submission to the court in the Myanmar case last month, for example, Canada and five other Western governments argued that the evidence of genocide can include “a violent military operation triggering the forced displacement of members of a targeted group” and can also include “subjecting a group of people to a subsistence diet, systematic expulsion from homes and the induction of essential medical services below minimum requirement.”
“I don’t believe the Canadian government even studies the validity of legal applications like this to the ICJ or the moral imperatives of holding perpetrators of international crimes to account,” he said.
Taking the Gaza issue to the ICJ would remove it from “politics and social media mudslinging” and would put human rights first, Mr. Neve said.
The war began on Oct. 7 when the Gaza-based Hamas militant group launched a cross-border raid that killed about 1,200 Israelis and abducted 240 hostages, by Israel’s count.
In its full application, South Africa includes a nine-page compilation of statements by Israeli officials that, it says, show evidence of intent to commit genocidal acts in Gaza or an unwillingness to prevent them.
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