Bloody Sunday Trust in Derry urges Irish government to join South Africa in Gaza genocide action

The Derry-based organisation has also urged the Irish government to formally join South Africa as a party to the proceedings in this action “to halt the Genocide in Gaza”.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the UN’s tribunal for settling legal disputes submitted by states.

Both South Africa and Israel are parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

In an 84-page submission to the tribunal, South Africa has requested provisional measures “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention”, and to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations as a signatory to that Convention.

Tony Doherty, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust said: “This principled stance is in keeping with South Africa’s unyielding commitment to human rights, justice and accountability”.

The Trust pointed out that although South Africa is the first to act, it is open to any state that has ratified the treaty to invoke the Genocide Convention against a member state suspected of genocide.

“Apartheid South Africa was in its day ‘the only democracy’ in Southern Africa. It too was defending “civilisation” against an existential enemy.

“It too relied on its massive military capability, its nuclear weapons capacity and the support of its allies in the United States, Britain and Europe.

“Yet none of this could crush the resistance to an immoral political and economic system built on apartheid,” Mr Doherty said.

Noting that the Irish government had in 2004 referred Israel’s construction of a ‘separation wall’ in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the ICJ for a ruling, Mr Doherty said there is therefore both a precedent and a compelling contemporary argument for a referral to the ICJ in the case of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.

“Israel is not, as is routinely claimed, engaged in self-defence but is escalating the settler colonial violence it has directed for decades against the Palestinians,” he claimed. “Prior to October 7 Israeli policy makers were actively advocating a second Nakba.”

Mr Doherty added that an Irish government referral to the ICJ was “both a moral imperative and an effective template that must now be applied to establish peace, dignity, equality and security for both Palestinians and Israelis”.

The South African government’s Department of International Relations & Cooperation in a statement on December 29 said: “South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants. Furthermore, there are ongoing reports of international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, being committed as well as reports that acts meeting the threshold of genocide or related crimes as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, have been and may still be committed in the context of the ongoing massacres in Gaza.

"South Africa has repeatedly stated that it condemns all violence and attacks against all civilians, including Israelis. Moreover, South Africa has continuously called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the resumption of talks that will end the violence arising from the continued belligerent occupation of Palestine.

"As a State Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, South Africa is under a treaty obligation to prevent genocide from occurring.

"Therefore, at a special meeting held on 8 December 2023, Cabinet directed that the International Court of Justice in The Hague be approached to obtain an order directing Israel, which is also a State Party, to refrain from any acts that may constitute genocide or related crimes under the Convention. An application in this regard was filed before the Court on December 29, 2023 in which the Court is requested to declare on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, should immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions.”

Responding to this, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said: “Israel is committed to international law and acts in accordance with it, and directs its military efforts only against the Hamas terrorist organization and the other terrorist organisations cooperating with Hamas.”

Rejecting what it called the “outrageous” appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Ministry also said:

“The Hamas terrorist organisation - which is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and tried to commit genocide on 7 October - is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by using them as human shields and stealing humanitarian aid from them.

“Israel is committed to international law and acts in accordance with it, and directs its military efforts only against the Hamas terrorist organisation and the other terrorist organisations cooperating with Hamas.

“Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy, and is making every effort to limit harm to the non-involved and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

“We call on the International Court of Justice and the international community to completely reject South Africa’s baseless claims.”

It is understood representatives from both Israel and South Africa will attend a hearing on the matter this week.