Support South Africa’s case against Israel

THE EDITOR, Madam:

THE ADVOCATES Network, supported by other advocacy groups, on behalf of the people of Jamaica, call upon Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Government to support the South African government’s claim against Israel that has been presented to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We also call on all CARICOM governments to do the same.

The South African government alleges that Israel’s actions in Gaza since last October amount to genocide, that Israel has“committed and has failed to prevent genocidal acts through killings, physical and mental harm, and the imposition of conditions intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group”. Israeli forces have so far killed over 25,000 Palestinians, including a reported 70 per cent comprising women and children, and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Further, South Africa presented the ICJ with evidence in support of its claim that Israel’s Gaza military assault, having surpassed a war with Hamas – the Palestinian militant group that killed 1,200 and kidnapped 240 Israeli citizens – is now an armed offensive against the two million Palestinian residents of Gaza.

South Africa has asked the ICJ to urgently prevent Israel from committing further crimes against the people of Gaza, using“provisional measures to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, which Israel continues to violate with impunity”.

We noted that in December 2023, US President Joe Biden, Israel’s strongest ally, asserted that there was ‘indiscriminate bombing‘ in Gaza by the Israelis. However, the intensity and brutality of the bombings have got worse since then.

More than 50 countries worldwide, including CARICOM members, Guyana, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, officially support South Africa’s legal initiative against Israel.

In 1990, Nelson Mandela likened Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and the treatment of Palestinians to the oppression of black South Africans under apartheid rule. In thanking the international community for its help in overthrowing the apartheid regime, Mandela said, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians. ”Tragically, Israel has substantially extended its unjust and devastating control over Palestinians since Mandela’s call for justice.

Jamaica’s historical legacy includes heroic individuals who fearlessly fought against injustice and the oppression of people here and abroad, and have promoted and defended human rights and justice for all. Further, most of our people who are of African descent, living with the enduring legacies of slavery/ colonisation, have always supported peace, love, and justice for all and, therefore, reject the inhumanity and injustices of war and genocide.

We, therefore, urge Prime Minister Holness, on behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, and all CARICOM governments, to promptly and publicly support the South African government’s initiative that seeks justice on behalf of the people of Gaza, and to hold Israel accountable for its actions in a court of law.

ADVOCATES NETWORK JAMAICA ACCOUNTABILITY METER PORTAL JAMAICA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES NATIONAL INTEGRITY ACTION AND STAND UP FOR JAMAICA