Like millions of others, I spent a few hours watching the proceedings of South Africa’s suit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, The Hague. The two initial public hearings took place last week. It was instructive, to say the very least.
South Africa was represented by a fine set of lawyers who seemed to have prepared well, and presented arguments on intent, jurisdiction, requested actions and so forth. It was painful, nevertheless, to hear the carnage being narrated so clearly and unambiguously. SA’s body of evidence mainly consisted of what Israel leaders and soldiers have said and done, most of which had been captured and broadcast – in many cases triumphantly – by the perpetrators themselves. Israel’s response, besides inducing sleep, was basically “khamas so evil” and “we delivered medicine too!”
It was almost as if they weren’t trying. When the biggest economic and military powers of the world are firmly in your corner, why make the effort? Maybe they feel that whatever the ICJ rules, it can still continue to do whatever it wants to.
But it looks like Israel’s weak defence was noticed. So the US and UK started bombing Yemen.
And Germany decided to intervene as a third party on Israel’s behalf. After all, if any country knows genocide inside out, it’s… them.
Then Namibia turned up at the party.
With receipts.
Here is what the President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, said.
Namibia rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza
On Namibian soil, #Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil. Therefore, in light of Germany’s inability to draw lessons from its horrific history, President @hagegeingob expresses deep concern with the shocking decision communicated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany yesterday, 12 January 2024, in which it rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by South Africa before the #InternationalCourtofJustice that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in #Gaza.
Worryingly, ignoring the violent deaths of over 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza and various United Nations reports disturbingly highlighting the internal displacement of 85% of civilians in Gaza amid acute shortages of food and essential services, the German Government has chosen to defend in the International Court of Justice the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli Government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza. Various international organizations, such as Human Rights Watch have chillingly concluded that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.
President Geingob reiterates his call made on 31 December 2023, “No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage waged against Palestinians in Gaza”. In that vein, President Geingob appeals to the German Government to reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence and support of the genocidal acts of Israel before the International Court of Justice.
https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1746259880871149956
You can read the full tweet here: https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1746259880871149956
Germany is only one of the erstwhile colonial powers that brutalized much of Africa. Every western European nation has its skeletons: Italy in Libya, France in Algeria, Belgium in the Congo, the British in Egypt, Sudan, East Africa – there are just too many. All you need to do is to google and you’ll find the really troublesome history of the West.
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