END OUR PAIN OF APARTHEID, PALESTINIANS URGE UN COURT
▶ ICJ judges hear plea in The Hague on opening day of case over Israeli occupation of Palestine
Palestinian officials told the UN’s highest court yesterday that their people were suffering from “colonialism and apartheid”.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the International Court of Justice at The Hague that it was “so painful to be Palestinian today”.
“How could we be subjected to such loss and injustice, such lawlessness and humiliation, time and time again?” he asked.
Mr Mansour appealed to the panel of ICJ judges to rule that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal.
This “would contribute to bringing it to an immediate end, paving the way to a just and lasting peace”, he said.
The hearings are not related to the Gaza war in Gaza, or South Africa’s accusation that Israel is committing genocide in the enclave. Instead, they are the result of a 2022 UN General Assembly vote to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ on what states should do about the Israeli occupation.
At hearings until Monday, representatives of 52 countries – including 15 Arab nations – will speak. Participants include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, China and Russia.
The Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the African Union will also take part.
“Israeli leaders no longer feel the need to hide their intentions. They speak openly of getting rid of the Palestinian people one way or another,” Mr Mansour said.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki said “ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative”.
“The genocide under way in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction,” he said. Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egyptian State Information Service, said his country would “demand that the court acknowledges Israel’s responsibility for illegal actions”.
He made claims of persecution, racial discrimination, and forced evictions.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan Al Qudah
said the government had contracted an external legal team to help Jordan “affirm the need for Israel to respect the existing historic and legal situation of Jerusalem”.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide. It has declined to take part in the hearings but has submitted a written statement that has not been released to the public.
As Mr Al Maliki spoke, pictures of Mandatory Palestine were projected for the court. He argued it was not a “wasteland” before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, as some Israeli leaders have said.
“Our people are here to stay,” Mr Al Maliki said. “They have a right to live in freedom and dignity in their ancestral land. They will not forsake their rights.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has con
sistently opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, which was enshrined in a 1947 UN resolution that also recognised the creation of the state of Israel.
Jordanian political researcher Hazem Ayyad said the carnage in Gaza would help Arab countries emphasise the impact of Israeli breaches across the occupied territories.
These include the siege of the enclave, demographic pressures in the occupied West Bank caused by illegal Israeli settlements, land seizures and restrictions on residents of East Jerusalem.
“Basically, under international law, it is illegitimate for Israel to lift even a stone in the areas it occupies,” Mr Ayyad said.
Human rights lawyers have told The National they expect the hearings to increase political pressure on countries involved in negotiations to establish a Palestinian state. Despite not being legally binding, the ICJ’s opinions “carry a lot of weight”, said Gissou Nia, director of the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council. “They could have political impact.”
The advisory opinions are likely to reaffirm either the need for a Palestinian state or the need to recognise the rights of Palestinians under occupation. “It will sharpen the need to create a state,” said Ms Nia.
Global powers, including Israel’s strongest allies, have been increasingly vocal about the need for an independent Palestinian state over the past few months.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference a day before the ICJ hearings, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted “the imperative to proceed to a Palestinian state that ensures Israel’s security”.