ICJ Kicks Off Hearings in ‘Genocide’ Case Against Israel

Christians United Against South Africa’s Anti-Israel Genocide Case at the Hague
South African Christians came out with a statement criticizing their government for bringing the case against Israel.
Israel is defending itself at the International Court of Justice in the Hague against charges brought by South Africa that its war in Gaza against Hamas constitutes genocide. The war came in response to an unprovoked invasion by Hamas on October 7 which targeted civilians. Palestinian terrorists murdered over 1,200 Israelis, raped countless women, and took approximately 250 hostages into Gaza.
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An overwhelming response arose from Christians who stood resolutely with Israel. Over 1,000 Christians gathered in The Hague on Thursday for a public march and rally to stand with Israel. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ)announced the initiative on Facebook.

David Parsons, the ICEJ Vice President and Senior Spokesman, responded to the ICJ case in an article titled “Justice Inverted in Genocide Petition Against Israel”, describing the case as “twisted and odious.”

“The current hearings at the ICJ in The Hague are a clear example of what scholars on modern-day antisemitism call “Holocaust inversion”, “ Parsons wrote. “It goes beyond Holocaust denial or distortion, such as the claim by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that only 600,000 Jews died, or his more recent assertion that the Palestinians have been through “fifty holocausts.” Rather, it turns the Holocaust on its head by portraying Israel as just as bad as the Nazis, if not worse. And if such is the case, it follows that the Jewish state and people today deserve to be eradicated.”

Parsons notes that since the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was adopted in 1948, the ICJ has conveniently ignored several outright genocide campaigns, and post-apartheid South Africa was never bothered enough by any of these genocide campaigns.

“What really stands out, however, is all the hugely important facts which the South Africa team failed to mention,” Parsons wrote. “For instance, they never said one word about the Hamas terrorist invasion of October 7 that left 1,200 Israelis dead, most innocent civilians brutally murdered in their homes or at an outdoor music festival. They also skipped all the rapes and mutilations and beheadings by Hamas.”

“They left out the 240+ hostages taken back into Gaza, with more than half still being cruelly held in harsh conditions almost 100 days later. They likewise made no reference to their being held in the hundreds of miles of terror tunnels built with wasted foreign aid funds.”

“They ignored the way Hamas deliberately uses Gazan civilians as human shields, and places weapons and rocket launchers in schools, mosques and hospitals.”

“They were silent about all the extraordinary measures the IDF has taken to protect civilians in Gaza, such as the millions of phone calls and dropped leaflets warning them to flee the area due to impending military operations.

“They forgot to talk about the hundreds of aid trucks being allowed into Gaza every week, as well as the fuel – even though denying fuel to an enemy is not a war crime.”

“Perhaps most telling of all, the South Africa team dared not speak about Hamas’s own genocidal, jihadist agenda, which is openly spelled out in its founding charter as a sacred Islamic duty to eradicate the Jews both in Israel and worldwide. They also were mum about how UNRWA and other UN agencies have aided Hamas in brainwashing the entire population of Gaza with this genocidal agenda and death cult mentality.”

In addition, South African Christians came out with a statement criticizing their government:

“We the South African Christian leaders, strongly oppose the decision by the South African government to launch the case against Israel, and demand it be rescinded immediately (“the Decision”) as it is without merit and detrimental to South Africa’s national interests for the following reasons:

1. We had hoped and prayed that our government would use its influence as a peacemaker to bring about a meaningful and lasting peace in the Middle East. Regrettably, it has elected not to do so and instead has chosen sides. We, as Christians deplore the loss of innocent lives, be it the Jews, Palestinians, Christians, or any other people but are strongly opposed to the Decision.

2. The Decision is fundamentally flawed. The unprovoked attack against Israel’s civilians included rape, mutilation, burning and other, hitherto, unimaginable horrors. This was a deliberate genocide attempt and is supported by Hamas’ charter calling for the total destruction of Israel. Gaza and West Bank celebrations following the attack and Hamas’ repeated statements that it seeks to carry out similar October 7 massacres whenever it has the opportunity. Hamas and other fundamentalist organizations before and after October 7 have openly called for the killing of every Jew and Israeli worldwide, whilst DIRCO stated in our country’s position, that the South African government is opposed to all forms of terrorism in February 2023, we call on our government to return to that stance. Israel does not seek to wipe Gaza or the Palestinians off the face of the map. It seeks to defend itself. This is a case of victim blaming by our government.

3. The Decision is not in the best interest of South Africa and its citizens. Detrimental political and economic consequences are likely to follow from the fact that many of South Africa’s major trading partners, including the US, Germany and Britain regard the Decision as an endorsement of the atrocities committed by Hamas. South Africa is suffering from debilitating unemployment levels, high levels of poverty and is fast becoming an uninvestable, failed country. We urge the Government to focus on this key issue, which impacts every South African, especially our most vulnerable citizens.

4. The absence of a public condemnation from South Africa regarding Hamas’s actions in Gaza, raises significant concerns. This silence is more conspicuous given the recent hosting of a delegation from Iran and Hamas in South Africa. Such actions could be interpreted as direct support to Hamas’s tactics, including using civilians as human shields and diverting aid for military purposes and the building of tunnels, rather than humanitarian relief sent to the Palestinian people, which was intercepted by Hamas. This stance raises questions about South Africa’s position on these critical human rights issues and its role in international diplomacy. Our government’s lead counsel in the case, is a trustee of an International NGO, ‘Lawyers for Palestine’, which appears to be the source of much of their application.

“5. The slogan from Hamas “From the river to the sea” means Israel must become Palestine and Jews must be destroyed. Aside from denying the Jews a right to a homeland in the aftermath of the holocaust, where does this leave us Christians? Places of worship for Christians in the Holy Land will be destroyed. South Africa is not a Muslim country. The majority of its people are Christians. The South African government has prejudiced the interests of its own people to achieve the political and religious objectives of others. The government is also aware that the one sided approach it has adopted has placed its Jewish citizens at risk by inciting antisemitism as well as eroding the freedom of religion of Christians in South Africa.

6. Why did the Government not speak out against numerous atrocities committed against innocent civilians, as well as bringing hostages home. This long list includes Syria, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique, Afghanistan. Our government has been inconsistent in upholding international law, assisting Omar al-Bashir to evade arrest? Additionally, why has South Africa chosen to ignore Security Council Resolution number 1373 which requires all UN countries, including South Africa to take steps against, let alone support, terrorist organizations like Hamas.

7. The list goes on. The fact of the matter is that South Africa has demonstrated capricious subjectivity by the Decision and has elected to engage in “lawfare” to achieve the political and religious agendas of extremists whose interests are not aligned with those of the majority of South African citizens or our national interest.

8. We reiterate our prayer for peace and deeply regret our government’s Decision to take sides and to do the bidding of those who have sinister and ulterior political and religious objectives and who have no genuine interest in the rule of law.

The supporting organizations were as follows:
Transformation Africa

Tell Them Ministries International One in Christ All Nations
Bridges for Peace
Concerned Clergy Western Cape
Life Change Centre River Word Church
ICEJ
Spirit and Truth
Church on the Move
Three Cord Family Services Friends From Abroad
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