Ebrahim Moosa | Palestine Information Network
December 2024
South Africa’s valiant exploits in hauling Apartheid Israel before the International Court of Justice have rightfully won it plaudits among Palestinians and supporters of Palestine worldwide.
“I applaud all the positions of support and especially the state of South Africa, which filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice against the occupying state for its crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, and we appreciate the political and legal importance of this lawsuit,” martyred Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in January.
“..We will never forget what South Africa did for us,” wrote academic Haider Eid from Gaza. “We will not forget how it showed us unwavering support and bravely took a stand for us at the world court when even our own brothers have turned their backs on us in fear. We will always remember how it linked our struggle, our most basic human rights, to global justice and reminded the international community of our humanity.”
It is now almost a year since South Africa’s engagement with the ICJ vis-à-vis the genocide in Gaza began. And after successive requests for provisional measures – which were all met with the characteristic Israeli intransigence – and of late South Africa’s filing of its ‘memorial’ to the court, the logistical process has run its course for the time being; the parties awaiting the lengthier outcome of a verdict that is binding, yet unenforceable.
For all the risks and resources it has expended for this case to see the light of day, the plaudits reserved for South Africa are well deserved. Yet, what remains necessary to acknowledge in the discourse is a sordid dose of reality: The genocidal voracity of the Zionist entity is far from satiated. A full scale campaign of extermination is being steamrolled in the north of Gaza, and famine and desperation persist today in large measure all across the Strip.
With Gaza still an inferno, can there seriously be any room for self-satisfaction amidst a genocide?
Beyond a single ICJ case, a question that lingers for all, including South Africa, is: Have the full package of measures within our individual and collective powers been effected, which may contribute to preventing the genocide?
Activists are convinced that the South African government has certainly not taken all measures at its disposal to isolate Israel and be more assertive in extracting accountability from it. Even more concerning to the solidarity community is the apparent inconsistency of the South African state in its variant approaches towards the Palestinians.
South Africa’s argument before the ICJ is based on the Genocide Convention, which holds states accountable not only for committing genocide but also for facilitating it. This raises the question: if South Africa adopts such a stance, should it not also address its own practices? Criticizing another state for committing genocide loses moral weight if one is simultaneously enabling its actions. While South Africa is spearheading the legal effort to hold Israel accountable for genocide on the international stage, the activists believe its domestic actions could potentially be breaching the same Genocide Convention it aims to enforce.
Of particular concern in South Africa’s approach to Apartheid Israel are the following:
- South African supply of coal to Israel: South Africa is currently Israel’s second largest coal supplier. 15% of coal consumed by Israel during this genocide has been of South African origin. According to Global Energy Embargo for Palestine these coal supplies have enabled Israel to continue its bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza, generate electricity for illegal Israeli settlements and run its arms industry.
- Arms supplies to major Israeli allies: In 2023, South African arms companies, with the approval of the South African government, sold arms worth R3.3 billion to countries that have been amongst Israel’s largest suppliers, including the USA, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and France. According to Open Secrets, that these South African-manufactured weapons are not directly exported to Israel does not mean they are not being used by Israel. It is highly plausible that South African weapons may be sold or transferred from these countries onwards to Israel, and be used to commit grievous crimes against Palestinians.
- Ongoing trade with Israel: South Africa remains Israel’s largest trading partner in Africa and an Israeli trade office continues to operate in Johannesburg. According to The Africa Report, between January and May this year, notwithstanding the ICJ case and its implications, South African companies exported almost $100m worth of goods to Israel. Imports from Israel matched the value of exports in the same period.
- South Africans serving in the Israeli army: The actions of South African authorities reveal a lack of willingness to investigate and prosecute South African Zionists who have fought for the Israeli army, and those who recruit for the same army locally, this in spite of substantial evidence provided, which includes hundreds of pages of legal argument corroborated by self-incriminating social media posts.
To demonstrate holistic solidarity to Palestine, and to convey the required seriousness for ending the genocide, it is imperative that we are relentless in ensuring that South African authorities prosecute all South African Zionists who have, and continue to serve in the Israeli army, and hold to account Jewish communal institutions that exploit South African freedoms to prop up the Israeli regime. It is equally necessary to ensure that political and legal solidarity become consistent with South Africa’s actions in the economic sphere. For any credible opponent of the genocide, trade and economic interests can never matter more than the freedom and lives of Palestinians and the oppressed all across the world.