South Africa Earns Praise For Genocide Case vs Israel

After arguing its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa won praise among pro-Palestinian activists globally for standing up against Israel’s war in Gaza and what many saw as the interests of Western countries, John Eligon reported for the New York Times.

At home, where satisfaction with the government is low, many South Africans applauded their leaders for taking a stand. I Photo: Cyril Ramaphosa X

At home, where satisfaction with the government is low, many South Africans applauded their leaders for taking a stand.

Gatherings were organized to watch the court hearing, Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags in the streets.

"I must say that I have never felt as proud as I felt today when our legal team was arguing our case in The Hague,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a political event after the hearing on Thursday.

Israel has strongly denied the genocide accusation at the court, and it has long rejected the comparison of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to apartheid.

David Monyae, the director of the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, said that by bringing a genocide case against Israel, South Africa was not just putting Israel’s government on trial, but also challenging the post-World War II global order led by Israel’s chief ally, the US.

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