READER LETTER | ICJ ruling won’t lead to stability in the Middle East

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling won’t change anything, the war will still rage on.

There was no talk of a ceasefire in the ICJ’s ruling; Israel was only instructed to conduct its war in accordance with internationally accepted rules of the game. And no judgment was passed on whether Israel was committing genocide in Gaza or not.

So, this ruling failed on three fronts: first, it doesn’t change anything; second, it failed to give momentum to the search for a durable peace between Hamas and Israel; and third, this ruling won’t lead to stability in the wider Middle East.

We must understand that war remains a source of income and control by superpowers. Sadly, the ICJ ruling on Israel’s behaviour in Gaza will become a hollow victory for the ANC government because global power politics will affect its impact.

Instability in the Middle East is a consequence of a reset of world order and a process of great power contestation is under way. America’s influence as the world’s leading power is in decline and forcefully contested by an emerging alliance of rising powers in the global south, led by China.

The West has dominated global affairs since the end of World War II, after which it established self-serving institutions such as the UN to oversee global governance, the G7 and G20 to oversee economic governance, and Nato to oversee military governance.

Bushy Green, Kagiso