South Africa files genocide case against Israel at Internati

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I am not going to bow down to this propaganda against Israel

For that reason I labeled the article's descripton of the situation "biased", and not "some delusional nonsense".

I am not going to bow down to this propaganda against Israel

I am not going to bow down to this propaganda against Israel

Israel on Friday rejected as false and "grossly distorted" accusations brought by South Africa at the U.N.'s top court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population.

It called on judges to dismiss South Africa's request to halt its offensive, saying to do so would leave it defenceless.

The Israeli foreign ministry's legal adviser, Tal Becker, told the court that South Africa's interpretation of events was "grossly distorted".

"If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel," he said. "Hamas seeks genocide against Israel."

"The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas' strategy," Becker said, saying that Israel had a right to defend itself.

Hamas denies Israeli allegations that its militants hide among civilians, who account for most of the casualties in Gaza.

"Israel is in a war of defence against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people," Becker said. "The key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking."

'GENOCIDE'
Israel argued that this meant the court has no jurisdiction under the Genocide Convention to order it to halt its military actions in Gaza.

"This is no genocide, South Africa tells us only half the story," lawyer Malcolm Shaw said.

Palestinian backers with flags marched through The Hague and watched proceedings on a giant screen in front of the Peace Palace. As the Israeli delegation spoke in court, they chanted: "Liar! Liar!"

Asked what she thought of Israel's arguments that the Gaza campaign was a matter of self-defence, Neen Haijjawi, a Palestinian who recently came to Netherlands said: "How can an occupier that's been oppressing people for 75 years say it's self-defence?"

Israeli supporters were holding a separate gathering of family members of hostages taken by Hamas.

Israel has said South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for Islamist Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, Britain and several other nations. South Africa has rejected that accusation.

Yesterday the lawyers representing South Africa focused mainly on the facts. Today Israel's representatives focus a lot on rhetorics. The general public is often very susceptible to that kind of tricks - blowing smoke, whataboutism and reframing the context, but I doubt it works on these highly qualified judges. If you cut to the core of the matter I don't think Israel's lawyers put up much of a defence.

Israel's lawyers also provided it's own facts and I'm not sure which incidences of whataboutism that you're talking about.

A statement by Steffen Hebestreit, the spokesman for the German federal government, cited the Holocaust and the genocide of six million Jews by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.

"In view of Germany's history and the crime against humanity of the Shoah, the Federal Government sees itself as particularly committed to the Convention against Genocide. This convention is a central instrument of international law to implement "never again."

It condemned the genocide claim as "political instrumentalization."

’The accusation has no basis in fact'
Hebestreit's statement argued that Israel has been defending itself against Hamas since the October 7 attacks, contending that Hamas' goal is to wipe out Israel.

"The German government decisively and expressly rejects the accusation of genocide brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice," Hebestreit said.

"The accusation has no basis in fact," he said.

Germany plans to intervene as a third party before the ICJ, allowing states to seek clarification on the use of a multilateral convention. Germany will be allowed to present its own case disputing South Africa's allegation of genocide against Israel, according to reports.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for Berlin's decision to intervene in the case, the Times of Israel reports.

Germany has been steadfast in its commitment to Israel, the Times of Israel reports. Scholz was the first Western leader to visit Israel after October 7 and said that Germany has only "one place" during Israeli hardship, "and that is alongside Israel."

South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, is flying to The Hague to be present on Friday when the international court of justice (ICJ) delivers its highly anticipated verdict on South Africa’s request for an interim ruling in its genocide case against Israel.

In an interim judgment, the United Nations' International Court of Justice on Friday ruled that it has jurisdiction to consider the case brought by South Africa against Israel, and it rejected Israel's request for the case to be dismissed. The case alleges that "acts and omissions" committed by Israel as part of its offensive in Gaza "are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

The court's president Joan E. Donoghue said Friday in the court at The Hague, Netherlands, that, based on its initial assessment of Israel's actions and remarks from Israeli leaders, it would not accept Israel's request to dismiss the case brought by South Africa. The court did not order an immediate cease-fire, but it did order Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza and preserve any evidence of the crime.

"Finally, the court ordered Israel to submit a report to it 'on all measures taken to give effect to this order" within a month'."
I think this puts Israel in a corner. If they submit a report they admit the court's jurisdiction to tell them what to do. And if the measures described in the report fail to meet the court's standard it will be very hard for Israel to then question the court's demand on them to do better. If Israel on the other hand is defiant, doesn't submit a report and ignore the court's ruling it would seriously damage Israel's international standing.