| | | Trudeau government declaring its position on prosecuting Israel for 'genocide':
Here's what to knowHearings began at the International Court of Justice on Thursday
Author of the article:
Catherine Lévesque
Published Jan 11, 2024 • Last updated 9 hours ago • 4 minute read
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Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speaks about Canada's position on the Israel-Gaza situation in the Foyer of the House of Commons, Tuesday, December 12, 2023 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Article contentOTTAWA – The Trudeau government is expected to state its position Thursday on South Africa taking Israel to the United Nation’s top court over claims that the Jewish state is committing “genocide” against Palestinians.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is aware of South Africa’s filing and is “reviewing the case carefully.”
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Hearings began at the International Court of Justice Thursday, with South Africa’s legal team demanding that the court order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military actions in the Hamas-run territory. Officials in Gaza claim the death toll is now more than 23,000 people, although the Hamas government does not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths and the death toll has not been independently verified.
“The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state,” said Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, advocate of the High Court of South Africa, during the proceedings. “That is evident from the way in which this military attack is being conducted.”
Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide as false and baseless. The United States has slammed the prosecution as meritless and counterproductive, the U.K. has described it as unhelpful, and most of the world has refrained from commenting.
South Africa’s case has been supported by about a dozen countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Iran and Malaysia, as well as the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Joanna Baron, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, went through the 84 pages of South Africa’s application. She said that the bulk of the claim mostly focuses on the history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict and it is “exceedingly one-sided”.
“It’s not at all a fair or balanced or nuanced accounting of the conflict,” she said. “It doesn’t include any of the peace offers that were rejected by Palestinians, doesn’t go into the trauma that the Israeli collective psyche suffered after something like the second intifada.”
“It’s just very slanted, and I understand, as a lawyer, for making their case for the Palestinian side, but it was also shocking to me to see a sort of revisionist history of the Israel-Palestine conflict by South Africa.”
On the claims of genocidal behaviour put to the court, Baron said she noticed a number of “anecdotal accounts of alleged atrocities” committed by the Israel Defense Forces that have not been substantiated nor confirmed by independent organizations.
Other statements are simply false, she noted, including identifying Danny Neumann as a “former Israeli Knesset member” who called for the complete destruction of Gaza. Neumann is, in fact, an Israeli sports commentator and a former soccer player.
Post-apartheid South Africa has long been a critic of Israel and a supporter of the Palestinians. The governing African National Congress had forged ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization during the apartheid era when the ANC was still a Black African liberation movement.
The war began after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack against Israel in which militants killed 1,200 people and took hundreds more hostage back to Gaza. Some hostages have since been released but Hamas continues to hold more than 100 people captive. Israel says it is waging war against Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
Canada considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and Defence Minister Bill Blair has publicly said that the group needs to be “eliminated as a threat” to the world.
Since the start of the war, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced growing calls from Liberal MPs, including some of Muslim faith, to ask for a ceasefire in Gaza. Canada eventually voted in favour of a ceasefire in a non-binding motion last month at the United Nations.
Other members of the Liberal caucus they did not agree with the unconditional call for a ceasefire. MP Anthony Housefather said Canada had abandoned its “traditional position” on Israel.
South Africa’s application has followed similar divisions in the Liberal caucus, with some MPs calling on Canada to support it and others asking Canada to oppose it.
Liberal MP Salma Zahid called on Canada to support South Africa’s application, saying it is consistent with Canada’s “long-stated commitment to the rule of law”.
Her colleague Iqra Khalid also wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she supports South Africa’s submission to the court, arguing that “credible allegations that international law has been violated must be investigation and those responsible must be held accountable.”
“This is not about taking sides. No nation can be above the law,” she said.
Former Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Housefather put out a joint statement this week saying they agree with retired Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella’s view that South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide is “baseless and unconscionable.”
Abella wrote in the Globe and Mail on Jan. 9 that the case against Israel represents “an outrageous and cynical abuse” of the postwar legal order and that “it is a legal absurdity to suggest that a country that is defending itself from genocide is thereby guilty of genocide.”
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, will listen to Israel’s response on Friday. Israel is expected to invoke its right to self-defence against Hamas after the attacks of Oct. 7.
The court is expected to rule on possible emergency measures later this month. Proceedings on the genocide allegations could take years, but its rulings are mostly symbolic as there are no enforcement mechanisms.
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
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