Powerful nations must pressure Israel to implement ICJ measures

26 January 2024

Israel’s powerful friends in the global north must take responsibility for enforcing the interim measures that the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to urgently implement to reduce the suffering in Palestine.

If these friends, led by the United States – which has used its veto power at the United Nations to block resolutions calling for a ceasefire – don’t pressurise Israel to comply with the ruling of the United Nations’ court, they will place themselves in the same immoral league as Russia, which ignored the court’s ruling in respect of its war on Ukraine.

Indeed, whether or not the ICJ’s interim measures are adhered to will test the UN’s fitness for purpose as the arbitrator of global justice, cooperation and conciliation.

The reputation of the world body is already highly questionable over its structural quirks that afford more power to some nations than others’ – power that the US hasn’t been shy to use.

While the ICJ’s interim measures (they are called interim measures because South Africa’s main charge that Israel is committing genocide is yet to be argued) don’t demand the ceasefire that most of the world favours, they are important because they establish the principle that Israel has a case to answer.

After decades of violations of international law, land occupations and the implementation of what many regard as apartheid policies to subdue Palestinian aspirations for justice and equality, it is the world’s first ever official finding of fault by the State of Israel.

Israel now has the opportunity to prove or disprove that it is the rogue state many contend it is.

The GOOD Party commends the South African government for taking steps to intervene in Israel’s destruction of Palestine. It’s not a Jewish or a Muslim issue; it’s a human rights issue with deep roots requiring negotiation – an issue that further destruction and suffering will not fix.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament, 26 January 2024