SOWETAN | Is the world committed to justice?

The rousing welcome of the SA legal team which landed in OR Tambo from the Netherlands on Sunday was a befitting recognition to the work they have done on behalf of our country. 

The team, led by Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, was received by jubilant crowds and supporters of the Palestinian cause following their sterling presentation of SA’s landmark case against Israel at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. 

More than 23,000 people, including children, have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in the past 100 days. 

While Israel claims its war in Gaza is an act of self-defence against the organisation Hamas, the SA government rightly contends that Israeli’s onslaught on Palestine goes beyond the proportionality of self-defence to the commission of genocide. 

Critics of SA have suggested that our government is a proxy for organisation Hamas which attacked innocent Israelis on October 7. 

This is absurd considering much condemnation by SA of that attack. 

Others have suggested that our government has no business concerning itself with matters across the world when South Africans suffer due to corruption and incompetence.

Again, this assertion is disingenuous because it undermines our right and responsibility to the cause of justice across the world, a cause from which we too benefitted under apartheid.  

Of course there is much debate about whether SA had made a strong enough case to win the first round of its application – including demonstrating intent to commit genocide on Palestinians by the state of Israel. 

There is also debate about whether Pretoria had made enough effort to fulfil its obligations for a dialogue with Israel before taking the matter to the court as per the law. 

These are technical legal concepts that the court must grapple with and rule upon. 

Regardless of the impending ruling, SA’s case signifies much more than the interpretations of international law. 

It squarely places under scrutiny the world’s commitment to justice in the midst of one of the biggest humanitarian crisis of our times. 

It also shines a spotlight on powerful nations, some with a history of colonialism, war and genocide and juxtaposes their said commitment to human rights, against their actions in support of a state that is relenting in its war against innocent civilians. 

It is precisely for this reason that ordinary people around the world should rally around those who are victims of crimes against humanity, no matter who they are.