Look who’s turned up at the international court to vilify Israel
JEREMY Corbyn joined a South African delegation at The Hague yesterday to accuse Israel of genocide.
The country brought the case against Israel last month, accusing it of having ‘genocidal intent’ and trying to ‘destroy Palestinians’.
The delegation has urged the International Court of Justice, the highest court in the world, to order Israel to cease military operations in Gaza in its war against Hamas.
Israel has rejected the allegations of genocide ‘with disgust’ and will defend itself at the ICJ later this week.
Its Foreign Ministry has accused South Africa of acting as the ‘legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation’. Mr Corbyn was among several ‘progressive’ political figures supporting the case in the Netherlands yesterday.
The veteran MP was blighted by allegations of anti-Semitism throughout his tenure as Labour leader between 2015 and 2019, and was suspended from the party in 2020 after a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found it responsible for ‘unlawful’ harassment and discrimination against Jews.
In 2009, he described Hamas, the terrorist group behind the October 7 massacre, and its Lebanese allies Hezbollah as ‘friends’, a comment he later said he regretted.
Speaking following yesterday’s hearing, Mr Corbyn said: ‘We should all say a huge thank you to South Africa for standing up on behalf of the rest of the world for the aggression that’s going on in Gaza.’ He also posted on X: ‘Today’s ICJ hearing was devastating. Horror after horror, laid out in plain sight for all to see.
‘South Africa spoke for millions around the world desperate for this massacre to end – and put the UK and US government to shame for their deplorable silence, cowardice and complicity.’
The case brought by South Africa accuses Israel of violating the United Nations’ Genocide Convention, established in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the case was ‘completely unjustified and wrong’.
Since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,200 people and saw more than 200 kidnapped, Britain has said that Israel has a right to defend itself under international law.
According to the Hamas-controlled Health ministry, more than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, and more than 2million Palestinians have been forced to flee from their homes to escape Israeli bombardment. Responding yesterday to the accusations, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‘Today we saw an upside-down world. Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting against genocide.’
He added: ‘The hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the heavens. Where was South Africa when millions were killed and displaced in Syria and Yemen by Hamas’s partners?’
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: ‘We urge the court to reject all pressure and take a decision to criminalise the Israeli occupation.’
‘Case is completely unjustified’