Sad irony of Israel now perpetuating genocide in Palestine

IN DEFENDING Israel’s conduct in Gaza since October 7, the Israeli legal team at the International Court of Justice painted Israel as a paragon of virtue.

Truth is that Israel has a long history of committing and/or aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in historic Palestine and abroad.

In 1947/48 Israel perpetrated the massacres of Palestinians under its Plan Dalet. That was followed by the 1956 massacres in Gaza’s Kafr Qasim, Khan Yunis and Rafah by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the most immoral army in the world. In 1982 Israel used its proxy, the Lebanese Phalangists to carry out the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

The founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, in 1895 made clear his desire for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Herzl’s followers have faithfully been carrying out his wish since 1947.

What had been an incremental genocide of Palestinians in Gaza in the period following the 1967 SixDay War has now become a full-scale genocide.

Internationally, Israel has through its supplies of arms and/or training of special forces, been complicit in genocide in Serbia, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Rwanda and Myanmar.

In Latin America during various periods, Israel has had close relationships with gross human rights-violating right-wing dictatorships.

And we in South Africa, cannot and will not forget the close military ties that were maintained between Israel and the apartheid regime.

Thus we now have the sad irony of Israel that does not want the world to forget the Holocaust, that has aided and abetted genocide internationally, but has for more than three months itself been committing genocide in Gaza with the express complicity of the West.

GUNVANT GOVINDJEE | Ormonde