South Africa has filed its Memorial to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday 28 October 2024, in its case on the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).
In accordance with the Rules of Court, the Memorial may not be made public. The filing of this memorial takes place at a time when Israel is intensifying the killing of civilians in Gaza and now seems intent to follow a similar path of destruction in Lebanon. The action taken by South Africa since December 2023, culminating in the filing of this Memorial has generated overwhelming national and international interest.
The Memorial – the name for the document recording the main case of South Africa against Israel – contains evidence which shows how the government of Israel has violated the genocide convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza, physically killing them with an assortment of destructive weapons, depriving them access to humanitarian assistance, causing conditions of life which are aimed at their physical destruction and ignoring and defying several provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, and using starvation as a weapon of war and to further Israel’s aims to depopulate Gaza through mass death and forced displacement of Palestinians.
The evidence will show that undergirding Israel’s genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide.
The evidence is detailed in over 750 pages of text, supported by exhibits and annexes of over 4,000 pages. South Africa’s Memorial is a reminder to the global community to remember the people of Palestine, to stand in solidarity with them and to stop the catastrophe. The devastation and suffering has been possible only because despite the ICJ and numerous UN bodies’ actions and interventions, Israel has failed to comply with its international obligations.
Last week, the world commemorated the signing of the Charter of the United Nations seventy-nine years ago. The UN was created to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. To live up to this aspiration, all nations must insist on compliance with the UN Charter and international law. The action taken by South Africa and joined by other states is primarily to stop a genocide in Palestine peacefully, through holding Israel accountable in the institutions set up for this very purpose by the United Nations.
Israel has been granted unprecedented impunity to breach international law and norms for as long as the UN Charter has been in existence. Israel’s continued shredding of international law has imperilled the institutions of global governance that were established to hold all states accountable .
As President Ramaphosa stated in his address to the UN General Assembly this year, “The South African story bears witness to the enduring role of the United Nations in global matters. In supporting our struggle, the UN affirmed the principles of the UN Charter – fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of every person, and the equal rights of nations, large and small”. President Ramaphosa emphasised that South Africa’s action through the ICJ was an attempt to ensure that the same global solidarity that helped end Apartheid in South Africa should be mobilised to end the Apartheid that Palestinians are experiencing, including an end to the genocide of Palestinians.
The glaring genocide in Gaza is there for all who are not blinded by prejudice to see. South Africa expresses gratitude to the other nations that have filed Article 62 and 63 interventions to join the case that has been initiated at the ICJ.
We reiterate our appeal for an immediate cease-fire in Palestine, in Lebanon and entire region, and the start of a political process to ensure a just and lasting peace.
The Palestinian struggle against imperialism, Israeli Apartheid and settler colonialism is the daily reality of the Palestinian people. Since 1948, they have faced various forms of colonisation, often backed by historical colonial powers and, more recently, by states intent on shaping a world order in their interests. The global fight against settler colonialism persists in some parts of the world, including in occupied Palestine, both in Gaza and the West Bank.
The international community cannot stand idly by while innocent civilians – including women, children, hospital workers, humanitarian aid workers and journalists, are killed for simply being. That is a world we cannot accept.
South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice is a comprehensive presentation of the overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza.
The government wishes to thank its legal team for their dedication, skill and commitment.
