A PRESSS STATEMENT
(For Immediate Release)

 

The European Union has joined a bandwagon of countries with newly-found morality in the West, calling out Israel for war crimes in Gaza. On Monday, it was Canada, France and the United Kingdom, threatening unspecified “concrete steps” against Israel, for blockading humanitarian aid into Gaza, now for over 80 days.

 

Since breaking the cease-fire with Hamas on 18 March, Israel has not only killed nearly 3,500, in attacks that have left approximately 10,000 Palestinians injured, but has also notably stopped water, food and medicine from entering Gaza. UNICEF has warned that up to 14,000 children could die due to starvation and malnutrition, if essentials are not let in within 48 hours.

 

In the nearly 20 months of ethnic-cleansing, pulverisation of infrastructure and obliteration of livelihoods in collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza, many could see the Zionist entity for what it is. Yet, powers in the West prevaricated, and continue to refuse that Israel is genocidal. Notwithstanding, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled after South Africa’s application, that there was a plausible case of such a crime being committed in Gaza.

 

For the entire period South Africa has sought intervention at the Hague, to stop a genocide, voices of powerful nations and certain individuals, openly and in back-channels, have threatened the country with poverty and isolation. Deliberate and outright lies have been pedalled in order to discredit the government, simply for demonstrating to the world how to uphold signed-up to obligations, under international law.

 

Article III(e) of the 1948 Genocide Convention makes complicity in genocide punishable. What is unfolding under Operation Gideon’s Chariots, over and above what has preceded it in Gaza, has unmistakable implications. Western powers have given not only political and diplomatic cover to Israel, but have also rendered material and logistical support, providing the wherewithal for unconscionable war crimes.

 

While the ICJ’s final ruling on the case is still in the distant future, considering the rate at which the Zionist ethnic-cleansing machine has unleashed itself upon Palestinians, the verdict could as well be academic. However, the Convention was not adopted for moot outcomes. Article I of the treaty places an obligation of “prevention” upon signatories. That is why the “change of heart” in the West comes too late for their own absolution, considering that over at least 60,000 Palestinians, mostly non-combatants, women and children, have already been killed.

 

Now, rather than calling for the withdrawal of the ICJ case against Israel, the Western countries should not only join South Africa but also support the International Criminal Court in arresting and prosecuting Benjamin Netanyahu and accomplices from his administration, for violations of international humanitarian law. These countries must demand an immediate cease-fire and impose an embargo on arms with which Israel is committing excesses, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank.

 

South Africa’s moral courage stands out now, and for the ages. That is why the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa would like to once again salute the government’s principled stance of Ubuntu and the solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine. Those who care about humanity should stand on the side of justice, and demand an end to the dehumanisation of Palestinians.

 

Released by:

 

The Executive Committee
Jamiatul Ulama South Africa

 

22 Dhu al Qa’da 1446 / 21 May 2025