Israel: SA Is Anti-Semitic to Invoke Genocide Convention
Consortium NewsDec 30, 2023
The Facts
Israel will defend itself at the International Court of Justice in The Hague against allegations filed by South Africa that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war, an Israeli government spokesman said on Tuesday.
The State of Israel would appear at the Court "to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel," spokesman Eylon Levy said at an online briefing, adding that history would judge the South African leaders "without mercy." For decades, South Africa has been promoting the Palestinian cause of statehood.
The Spin
Pro-Palestine narrative
South Africa's decision to file a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice is a shining testimony to the South African government's functioning moral compass. Israel's impunity in killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and displacing nearly 2M people is the clearest expression yet of the double standards of the Israeli regime's Western backers who love to portray themselves as champions of human rights. Hamas may have triggered the latest episode in the long-running conflict, but Israel's brutal response is unprecedented in its scale, scope, and pace. It is now up to those nations that still hold strong and consistent values to support South Africa's genocide application and stand on the right side of history.
Pro-Israel narrative
By targeting Israel but not Hamas, Pretoria is making itself complicit in Hamas's genocidal campaign against the Israeli people. It is outrageous that the South African government is exploiting the post-Holocaust UN Genocide Convention to attack Israel, which is defending itself against the most horrific attack on Jews since the horrific events of WWII. Moreover, the International Court of Justice is known as a political and anti-Israel court, and the case may once again prove to be less of a legal threat and more of a public relations stunt. The Hague's decisions were ignored in the past not only by Israel, but also by countries like the US and Russia, and Israel will not be deterred from continuing its righteous fight against terror.
