Time to Stop Funding Israeli Military Actions in Gaza – Pandor


South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor outside the ICJ headquarters in The Hague. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Historically, Palestinians stood on the side of South Africa in its struggle against Apartheid, while Israel was one of the last governments in the world to back the apartheid regime. 

All states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions in Gaza after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made clear that those actions could be genocidal, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday.

The ICJ last week ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. 

The court stopped short of demanding a ceasefire and has not yet ruled on the core of South Africa’s case, whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. 

That ruling could take years, reported Reuters.

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Heads to The Hague ahead of ICJ Ruling on Genocide Case

South Africa has for decades been an advocate for the Palestinian cause, comparing the plight of Palestinians to that of Black South Africans under apartheid. 

Historically, Palestinians stood on the side of South Africa in its struggle against Apartheid, while Israel was one of the last governments in the world to back the apartheid regime. 

Israel has denied allegations of genocide and rejects the comparison to the apartheid era, even though major human rights organizations have determined that it has passed the threshold to be described as an apartheid state. 

Aside from international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, even Israel’s leading human rights organization B’Tselem agrees with the assessment that Israel is already an apartheid regime. 

ICJ Ruling is Not Good Enough, and This is the Way Forward – ILAN PAPPE

“The finding (by the ICJ) we think makes it clear that it is plausible that genocide is taking place against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Pandor told reporters. 

“This necessarily imposes an obligation on all states to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions,” she added. 

Responding to the ICJ ruling last week, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed it as a step towards justice and said that he expected Israel to abide by it.

(MEMO, PC)





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