One year since South Africa v. Israel at the ICJ. What have we learned?
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), holds public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel on 11 and 12 January 2024, at the Peace Palace, The Hague
Walter Lucken IV writes in Mondoweiss on 29 December 2024:
Today marks one year since South Africa brought the charge of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In the legal case, known formally as South Africa vs. Israel, South Africa has argued that Israel has engaged in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in violation of its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Both South Africa and Israel have signed the Convention without reservation, and both states have important and unique relationships to international law, South Africa having included a number of international legal obligations in its 1996 post-apartheid constitution and the modern state of Israel owing its international recognition in many ways to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. The immediate celebratory response within the global Palestine solidarity movement was no surprise. While many recognized the limited capacity of the world to enforce international law, the hope existed that even if purely symbolic, the case brought by South Africa would have some tangible consequence for the Palestinians in Gaza.
A year later, however, we must contend with the fact that South Africa’s case against Israel has not impeded Israel’s assaults on Palestinian life in Gaza in any way. The last major development was South Africa’s submission of its comprehensive statement of evidence this past October 28th, to which Israel has until July 28th 2025 to respond, which is to say that the case has moved along with less and less attention while Gaza remains under attack.
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A limited victory for the movement
Reflecting back a year later, South Africa v. Israel has a mixed legacy thus far. While it has not prompted a change in the conditions on the ground in Gaza, it does represent a genuine, if limited, victory for the decades-long project wherein Palestinians and their allies have appealed to global civil society and international law to build legitimacy for the Palestinian cause and call attention to the ongoing Nakba perpetrated against the Palestinian people.