FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2024
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
INTERNATIONAL COALITION APPLAUDS SOUTH AFRICA; DENOUNCES COUNTRIES SUPPORTING ISRAEL’S CRIMES
The International Coalition To Stop Genocide In Palestine Calls For Three Days Of Action This Month.
Last week, member groups of the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) organized activities around the world, including press conferences at The Hague and outside various South African consulates and embassies, to highlight and support the South African legal team as they presented their evidence of the state of Israel’s acts of genocide against Palestinians to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 11.
Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, who was at The Hague representing Progressive International, one of the ICSGP’s founding organizations, stated:
“Every single person who witnessed the hearing was left in no doubt that we were reading the most frightening document of our time and hearing evidence of the most gruesome, illegal, and genocidal assault. In bringing this case to The Hague, South Africa has issued a resounding call to the Global South to break with the Zionist project and its inextricable links to the history of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism. This is not only Israel on trial. It is the ICJ on trial. It is a test of the humanity of the world and whether the institutions we’ve built to protect it — today, this court in The Hague — withstand the test of Western impunity.”
The ICGSP continues to expand with nearly 2,000 signatory organizations from 100 countries on the initial letter calling for mobilization in defense of South Africa’s strong case for genocide. Member organizations are working to press their governments to submit Declarations of Intervention to the ICJ in support of emergency provisional measures on Israel to stop the murder, maiming, starvation and displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and Occupied Territories in the West Bank. At present, countries that have publicly supported South Africa’s case include Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen and the Organization of Islamic Countries, which represents 57 nations.
Only three nations have publicly denied that Israel is committing genocide, the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, despite the fact that the world is watching events happen in real time on social media and on outlets that have reporters on the ground. The state of Israel has tried to hide their crimes by targeting and murdering over 100 members of the media in Gaza, which is another violation of international law.
The US, UK and Germany have taken direct actions to stop support for the Palestinian liberation struggle. On January 11, the same day that South Africa presented its evidence at The Hague, the US and UK conducted 73 bombing raids on Yemen killing five people and injuring six. President Biden stated that the bombing is in retaliation for Yemen’s blockade of ships traveling through the Red Sea on their way to Israel. Yemenis view their actions as an obligation as signatories to the Genocide Convention to impose measures to stop Israel’s genocide. The illegal escalation of military aggression in Yemen by the US and UK adds fuel to the fire of a broader regional conflict.
In November, 2023, Germany started banning most demonstrations in support of Palestine. Despite that, thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in defiance of the ban and in solidarity with Palestine. Hage Geingob, the President of Namibia, which was a victim of German genocide between 1904 and 1908, responded to Germany’s decision in a statement, writing, “Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.”
At the request of major Palestinian organizations and coalitions, the ICSGP has issued a call for three days of action, starting with an international day of action opposing the war against Yemen this Friday, January 19. The following week, on January 24, as we await the decision by the ICJ, there will be a day of action focused on supporting South Africa’s case and taking action to stop the genocide. On January 31, actions are being planned to protest Germany for its role in enabling the state of Israel to commit acts of genocide with impunity.
The full text of the letter and an updated list of signers can be found here: https://bit.ly/Genocide_Convention_Letter Endorsements are still being accepted.
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