Top SA legal team argues genocidal intent by Israel showing how life is being squeezed from Gaza

So ... where are the comments?

Once again the ANC government wishes to extract the splinter from the eye of another government whilst its own citizens suffer years of injustices and genocide, in its own back yard. The log in its own eye obviously not visible in it's self righteous glee at pointing fingers to distract from it's own lack of acceptable governance. Donating millions to Cuba or offering jobs to them when South African doctors are unemployable. There are thousands of children suffering malnutrition and dying in our own country. There is more rape and killing in South Africa than in Gaza, yet our legal experts are out on excursion to correct Israel on fighting back for its own people. What about our country? What about doing right for South African Citizens? How about cleaning up the festering, bubbling, puss of corruption in it's own heart?

I agree that the actions of the IDF in Gaza constitutes genocide. But it MUST be acknowledged that the ultimate purveyor of genocide is none other than Yahweh/Jehova/Allah. When he/she/it decided to obliterate humankind in the flood (sans Noah and family) this entailed the genocide of innocent children. Indeed, the Israelites enraged this meglomaniac by not completing the job with the Midianites (although he/she/it did spare all the virgins for the pleasure of his "chosen people"). All three Abrahamic religions claim divine sanction for their atrocious acts and it seems unlikely that there would be such levels of conflict if people could give up these absurd beliefs. So sad that the majority of Africans continue to embrace them

I honestly don't understand how a people who survived their own genocide turns around and commits genocide to another people.

Imagine if we had this legal talent to prosecute corrupt politicians. I can dream, can't I?

Dear DM Can one of your journalists please post a spreadsheet of how much this "jaunt" to the Netherlands is costing SA and who's paying? Did the "delegation" fly SAA? 1st class, Business or Economy? Where are they staying - B&B or 5 Star luxury? How long will they be staying in the Netherlands? My guess - the SA tax-payer?

I am wondering whether Ferial's one-sided comments will be extended, as a journalist, to Israel's arguments.

Is Israel not allowed to defend its own people? There is always more than one side to a story. What gives South African politicians the right to judge another country's right to protect themselves. They are not speaking on behalf of the majority of South Africans. The legal team should be focusing on prosecuting our corrupt leaders within our own corrupt country rather than criticizing another.

It's my believe destroyed the seed of a maleka was read as an injection to kill Palestine as a group its a genocide against humanity Shadrack maretela

Apartheid: A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. Sounds exactly like what B.E.E. is.

The hypocrisy astounds me, what about Putin's war against Ukraine ?

If an organized group of "people" massacre >100 people that they do not like, they will (should) be eliminated from society. For comparison: say a group of (white) Afrikaner weerstandsbewegng will enter Soweto and kill thousands of (black) people, the ANC government will (correctly) move in and blast them all out. Nothing left. OK? Agree? Have you seen the horrendous vides taken by Hamas themselves? Chopping off the head of a civilian man to pieces with an axe, shooing a baby in its cot - blood all over, breaking the pelvis of a girl whilst gang raping her, pulling a man along the tar road behind a scooter......and we could carry on. Atrocities that will become our experience in the West if Hamas is to take control. Your children! ..if you are not a Muslim of course. Jihad to all non Muslims. Pick your choice madam.

Ms Haffajee, if your dear little girl has been gang raped to the point of breaking her pelvis by a group of "poor neglected disadvantaged people" will you have sympathy for them? Just asking.

Shouldn't South Africa look at itself first before pointing a finger at Israel, after all, when you point a finger at someone, 3 fingers point back at yourself. Rape capital of the world, rampant corruption etc. etc.

As a South African I am deeply embarrassed by the actions of our corrupt and incompetent ANC ruling party. They don’t speak on my behalf, nor that of millions of my fellow countrymen, and it’s just a ruse to hide their failure and to win them votes from my less-sophisticated compatriots. All of the speeches made were just full of empty platitudes. The problem is not the message - I think we are all for peace and non-violence. The problem is the messenger. I’ve said it before: it’s like the pimp in a brothel complaining about human rights being violated. They have zero credibility.

Breathtaking hypocrisy from the SA GOVT. Why are they silent on the disgraceful aggression and war crimes of Putin’s Russia in Ukraine? Praise for SA’s legal team is misplaced in light of this hypocrisy and lack of balance in dealing with the catastrophe in Gaza

As wrong as everything is that is happening there, including and let us not forget the original attack by Hamas, which is only so very briefly mentioned in this article, can South Africa really afford to be fighting this fight? That huge impressive legal team must be costing the country (aka the taxpayer) a fortune and one that could be way better spent on a myriad of issues at home.

Look at that big group of expensive lawyers. Whilst millions struggle in SA money is spent on this pie in the sky c**p. What a useless and disgusting bunch of hypocrites we have in charge!

There are human rights associations in Israel. May they be listened to. Gavin

I think SA presented well and am listening to Israel rebuttal today, equally eloquent, compelling and reasonable. What I would like to see though is another country taking one of our opposition parties to task re utterances of "kill the boer, kill the farmer which smacks of genocide in our own country. I have never heard our government taking him and his party to task the way they are doing to Israel. Saying this, I abhor any military conflict and violence but let us look towards our own issues as well?

Jews think they are better than everyone else because the bible says they are the chosen ones. They wrote the bible in favour of themselves, they deserve whats coming to them.

It is well known, particularly in the middle east, that if you attack Israel and kill their women and children, you incur the ultimate wrath and retaliation. So, those who attacked, murdered and tortured, and those who supported them knew what would be unleashed. It is no surprise. When will it stop? When it is finished. Sad but true.

I disagree with South Africa's decision to charge Israel with genocide against Palestine. While I am critical of Israel's actions post-Hamas assault, it's important to maintain open relations with all countries. Given South Africa's limited military capacity, engaging in conflicts and upsetting allies may not be strategically wise.

The South African government's move to accuse Israel of genocide sparks controversy. Whether the allegations hold true or not, it raises questions about the wisdom of throwing stones when residing in a glass house. South Africa, with its own complexities, adds a layer of controversy to the critique.

Hassim forgot to include the release of Isreali hostages as her fifth point.

This team of people do not represent the South Africa people but the ANC regime. The ANC should first clear up the mess in our own country before they try and tell another how to protect its people.

So, this government can spend a fortune sending a humungous delegation to The Hague, to argue for something that affects South Africa in no way, and still supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but cannot muster sufficient expertise to extradite the Guptas from the Middle East. Double standards or delusions of grandeur, or what?

How would the Israelites be able to hit Hamas in such a closely inhabited place as Gaza without killing Palestinians, especially with Hamas hiding in or under schools and other public buildings? "Hamas members please step two passes ahead"? After Oct. 7th you cannot expect them to do nothing. From CNN: " A research company, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), has just published the findings of its latest survey into Palestinian attitudes. Seven hundred and fifty adults were interviewed face to face in the West Bank, and 481 were interviewed in Gaza, also in person. The Gaza data collection was done during the recent truce, when it was safer for researchers to move about. The survey, which has a four-point margin of error (rather than the usual three-point), found that almost three-quarters (72%) of all respondents believe Hamas’s decision to launch its attack on Israel on October 7 was “correct.” Less than a quarter (22%) said it was “incorrect.”

It's ironic that these SA legal experts are so intent on highlighting another country's damages inflicted on another. Meanwhile the SA government has wrought innumerable damages on their own electorate... for years.... causing poverty... hardship... lack of work and opportunities. It would be a whole lot better to focus on sorting the domestic issues before making statements and initiating actions on other country's issues or actions.

The ANC’s hypocrisy is simply astounding as they happily sell arms to the Saudis and UAE who have been waging a genocidal war against Yemen indiscriminately targeting innocent civilians (with our weapons mind you) and creating a human rights disaster where tens of thousands of infants and children starve from malnutrition? What say you anc from the lofty heights of your immoral high horses? But I suppose if it one Muslim sect killing another, it does not require the same action or sanction they mindlessly impose on Israel whose fate is determined by these very Yemenese tribes who want to wipe them from the face of the earth.

Hopefully,when this matter is sorted,our learned? friends from the legal community will rapidly tackle the silent genocide this government is committing against its own citizens.

All very well for SA to take the legal higher ground when we cant keep our own country clean from many many inequalities. How much is this going to cost the fiscus -

All very well but SA cannot sort out all of our many inequaltities. We are claiming the higher ground??? Also I wonder how many millions is being spent on this when our internal legal system is in many ways is a joke?

We always used to compare Israel to apartheid South Africa. Now it is far worse. It is following in the footsteps of Nazi Germany and Netanyahu is the true successor to Adolph Hitler.

South Africa has been a laughing stock of the world for years. Now we are also useful idiots.

The merits of this case aside, it is a scandal and a slap in the face of every South African that this crock of incompetent crooks, who cannot seem to successfully prosecute criminals in their own ranks, and whose people suffer violence, poverty, lack of education, healthcare etc., should take another state to court for perceived crimes, and that decked out in national flag scarves - can you imagine a British, German or any other prosecutor at an international court doing the same? And what does the minister of justice do there? He's not a functionary of the Netherlands government or the ICC. What a bunch of clowns.

Good ol hypocrite Zane Dangor. He went to the same court to get temporary amnesty for PUTIN to attend the BRICS summit.

Just a few questions: * what is the fee-cost of the assembled legal minds, career diplomats and other hangers-on in the first photo? *the essence of the eloquent submissions by the SA team is worryingly close to the minority view of the threat of "Kill the boer" encitement - how does government reconcile their refusal to act on the latter whilst assuming the role of the international conscience in the former? *who will stand up in the ICJ to defend or acccuse either Russia or Ukraine where very similar human tragedies have been witnessed for a much longer period?

Thank you for this excellent article.

Thank you Feriel for your well-written piece. Your 'Ubuntu' focus indeed lends an interesting angle to the present application launched before the ICJ. From a 'humanity/ humanness' point of view one cannot but agree with the merits of SA's application. From a legal perspective, the stellar team selected, cogently and concisely presented the case seemingly covering all angles with a fair mix of drama and high-brow legal posturing. Many of the comments thus far constitute the usual mix of knee-jerk reactions, emotivity, and outrage. I must agree with the point made that the SA government was right in challenging Israel's blanket approach in pursuit of Hamas and its dire consequences to the Palestinian population. What is however clearly contestable is the government's true motivation behind its application in terms of the Genocide Convention. Can one blame the skeptics? I think not. The past few years have seen a dramatic departure from Mandela's undertaking of a principled foreign policy based on the upholding of human rights and justice and becoming "a moral compass and a voice of reason in the world", whilst promoting peace and security, has sadly been cast away. In its stead, we have seen blind and blinkered allegiance to countries that had historically supported the ANC in exile and its military operations against the former apartheid regime and, sadly, to tyrants and dictators (Al Bashir, Putin, Gadaffi et al) Could the upcoming elections and especially an attempt to shore up lost voter support in the Western Cape possibly have been a contributing factor in the government's highly publicized action at the ICJ? Finally, as to the prospects of success of SA's application: it will be interesting to see how the ICJ will rule on the competing and conflicting interests between the Palestinians and Israel. Putting a stop to the alleged genocide against the Palestinians living in Gaza must be a priority. On the one hand, the court will surely not easily completely take away Israel's internationally recognized right to defend its citizens against external attacks. Let's hope that the collective wisdom of the ICJ judges will come up with a solution that will protect the lives of innocent civilians and especially those of women and children on both sides

The Israel defense team’s reply exposed the SA team’s arguments somewhat. I am no legal expert, but if it was true what SA team said, then there has been some real examples of genocide in Zimbabwe and currently Russia, and no action or even a mention from SA team. I believe the SA team could destroy the last bit of hope the International community still had for SA. Why does CR and team not even try to stop murders and criminal activity from mafia like syndicates in SA, but rather focus on Israel?

So October 7th 2023 never happened? Israel just made that up as an excuse to wipe-out the Palestinians? Palestinian people support Hamas......allow Hamas to use their land to wage war on Israel. The ANC gov are guilty themselves of a genocide that is happening at a very slow pace in the rural farmlands of this country. Hypocrites!

So SA, a country laid waste by the ANC, topping the world on rape, murder and most other negative indicators, headed to bankruptcy, has the gall to talk on matters of morality and the money to dispatch hordes of people to the UN? I smell an outsize rat here? I would suggest that on the basis of precedent the war itself, the nature of the war and its continuation, all relate back to actions, or inactions, by Hamas, imply very clearly that Israeli actions are not about genocide and, in fact if anyone has ideas about genocide they are a stated desire of Hamas? WWII provides an interesting parallel. Germany and Japan started the war. In order to defend themselves the allies responded. A point was reached where the Axis forces were effectively beaten, their continuation of the war was pointless, would not change the outcome and indeed would result in the deaths of millions of their people........ which with carpet bombing of cities like Dresden, Cologne and Berlin, atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in order to force a surrender, came about. Hamas is in precisely that position today. If it was not run by unhinged and genocidal madmen it would many months ago have surrendered and handed back the hostages in order to prevent the horrendous destruction which it has, without any care at all, brought upon its people. Part of this would have been negotiations – with the heads of both groups bashed together until a conclusion reached - on the futures of Gaza and Israel.

Do you honestly think that SA has the right to bring this accusation to the ICC. I honestly believe that we are being used by Putin as a distraction whilst he continues to destroy Ukraine. Israel was given its land in 1948 and the Palestinian fanatics just cannot handle the fact that from the desert came a thriving community.

Here to read the comments from fellow South Africans…

I see a next case coming up: The people of SA versus the ANC government. Why? Millions of SouthAfricans are deprived of food and jobs because of State capture, self enrichment and corruption which is still ongoing. They (ANC politicians) show contempt towards their own people, so for what reason are they interested in people far away from SA.

Screw the International Court of Justice. We all know how the vote is going to go. There is no Israel problem. The world has a humanitarian problem This application from a corrupt bunch of hypocrites is laughable. I am sure that 70% of the current ANC voter base do not have a clue that there is a court case in this regard.

What a joke of an article. I have always been ashamed of our government. Now I am embarrassed to call myself a South African.

Firstly we have a stuffed up country and a ragingly incompetent government....... but we have money, and the hypocrisy, to launch this showboating? More important, I would suggest that on the basis of precedent the war itself, the nature of the war and its continuation, all relate back to actions, or inactions, by Hamas, imply very clearly that Israeli actions are not about genocide and, in fact if anyone has ideas about genocide they are a stated desire of Hamas? WWII provides an interesting parallel. Germany and Japan started the war. In order to defend themselves the allies responded. A point was reached where the Axis forces were effectively beaten, their continuation of the war was pointless, would not change the outcome and indeed would result in the deaths of millions of their people........ which with carpet bombing of cities like Dresden, Cologne and Berlin, atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in order to force a surrender, came about. Hamas is in precisely that position today. If it was not run by unhinged and genocidal madmen it would many months ago have surrendered and handed back the hostages in order to prevent the horrendous destruction which it has, without any care at all, brought upon its people

When political leaders fails they look to foreign affairs to distract from the problems at home.