FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Coalition Calls for Global Mobilization As Hearing Before the World Court Begins on January 11
CONTACTS:
- Adrienne Pine, Popular Resistance, 202-652-5601, adrienne@quotha.net
- Lamis Deek, Palestine Assembly for Liberation, 212-226-3999, Deek@DeekDictorAdi.com
- Genie Silver, WILPF US, 610-283-1376, rhsilver@comcast.net
United States - The newly-formed International Coalition to Stop
Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) issued a sign-on letter* on January 3,
2024 that garnered over 800 organizational endorsements from around the
world in less than one week. In addition to the initiating organizations
noted here,
signing organizations represent broad social movements, including World
March of Women and the International People’s Assembly, Palestinian-led
and Palestinian solidarity movements such as Palestinian General
Federation of Trade Unions and the Palestinian NGO Network, as well as
human rights and legal groups, unions, and religious organizations of
all faiths.
“It is important for La Via Campesina to support the South African
initiative. What is happening in Palestine is an atrocity. In
particular, the use of starvation as a weapon of war is part of a
strategy of genocide that we need to denounce. The expulsion of farmers
and land grabs in Gaza as well as the West Bank, is also part of a
strategy of ethnic cleansing,” said Morgan Ody of the Confédération
paysanne (France) and General Coordinator of La Vía Campesina
International. “La Via Campesina calls upon the governments of the
world, and in particular progressive governments and those in the Global
South, to do everything in their power to stop Israel’s apartheid and
colonization. Those governments have the responsibility to coordinate
their efforts in order to ensure a future for Palestine and for all
Palestinian people, and to make sure that those responsible for Israel’s
crimes against humanity are held accountable.”
The coalition letter urges all signing organizations to press their
“governments to immediately file a Declaration of Intervention in
support of the South African case against Israel at the International
Court of Justice to stop the killing in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories.” So far, Malaysia and Turkiye, and the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 member countries on four
continents, have publicly supported South Africa’s case. Jordan reports
that it intends to take the more legally substantive step of submitting a
Declaration of Intervention. Members of ICGSP are working closely with a
number of other countries that are in the process of doing the same.
“The South African filing before the ICJ marks a critical juncture which
tests the global will to salvage the laws and systems which were
designed to safeguard not merely human rights; but to preserve humanity
itself,” emphasizes Lamis Deek, co-founder of The Global Legal Alliance
for Palestine and the PAL Commission on War Crimes. “Genocide is the
highest crime and none has been so publicly documented as the Israeli
Genocide in Palestine. The sincerity of states' commitment to the
principles of the Geneva and Genocide Conventions is now under heavy
scrutiny. The very least states can do is to submit Declarations of
Intervention as a small part of fulfilling their obligations under
Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, to assure their people—and
humanity—that they have lost neither their moral compass nor abdicated
their obligations under international law.
The sign-on letter states:
“Many countries have rightly expressed their horror at the State of
Israel's genocidal actions, war crimes and crimes against humanity being
committed against Palestinians. Israeli Occupying Forces have bombed
hospitals, residences, United Nations refugee centers, schools, places
of worship and escape routes, killing and injuring tens of thousands of
Palestinians since October 7, 2023. More than half of the dead are women
and children. Israeli leaders have made brazenly genocidal statements
openly declaring their intention to permanently and completely displace
Palestinians from their own land.”
Despite the clear evidence of genocidal actions being committed daily by
Israeli Occupying Forces, the State of Israel is actively soliciting
nations to deny its atrocities and denounce South Africa’s case. At this
moment, the United States, a major backer of the Israeli State that has
vetoed three resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the United Nations
Security Council, stands alone in denying that Israel is committing
genocide.
Edith Ballantyne, former Secretary General and International President
of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, warns, “I write
from my personal experience over ten decades, spanning two world wars
and living through fascism, with the absolute conviction that the basis
of the conflict must be solved in a legal, political and non-violent way
as the only means to achieve permanent peace desperately needed by the
world’s peoples and for the survival of our planet.” She adds, “Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom was involved in the Middle
East conflict since the 1920s when it recognized that what was happening
in Palestine was destined to be catastrophic. The genocidal war the
government of Israel is waging in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
against the Palestinian People must be stopped. I urge all to challenge
their governments to live up to the principles of the UN Charter and
international law, including human rights and humanitarian law.”
The International Court of Justice, also called the World Court, will
hear South Africa’s case against the Israeli State on January 11 and 12,
2024. The ICSGP is calling on endorsing organizations to join actions
of support at The Hague during the hearing and to hold local rallies and
vigils, including expressions of gratitude and solidarity at South
African embassies, this week. Details about the hearing and where to
watch it are here: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240103-pre-01-00-en.pdf
*The full text of the letter and an updated list of signers can be found here: https://bit.ly/Genocide_Convention_Letter
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Link to online version: https://blackallianceforpeace.com/movement-news/israel2icjupdate
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