Irwin Cotler
National Post, Jan. 10, 2024
“… by launching a baseless proceeding against Israel for the crimes of genocide and incitement to genocide, it provides protective cover to Hamas and its related Iranian terrorist proxies, who themselves are the ones guilty of those crimes.”
Genocide is the “crime of crimes,” constituting the most egregious acts that humans have ever perpetrated against one another — the ultimate crime against humanity, a crime not only against its victims, but against all humankind. The term “genocide” originated with the Holocaust — the worst systematic atrocity in human history, culminating in the mass murder of over six million Jews. In the wake of the Holocaust, as the world bore witness to the horrors that had taken place, the United Nations Genocide Convention made genocide a crime under international law, with incitement to genocide as a standalone crime.
This Thursday and Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will convene to hear an application by South Africa, alleging that Israel is in breach of the Genocide Convention, due to its conduct in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. These proceedings turn fact and law on their head, inverting reality and effectively undermining international justice and the rules-based international order.
The Israel-Hamas war that gave rise to South Africa’s accusations in fact began on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists invaded Israel and committed unspeakable horrors — mass war crimes and crimes against humanity. Over 1,200 people — mostly civilians — were brutally murdered, men, women, children and elderly alike. Women were systematically raped and tortured in the most gruesome ways imaginable. Ambulances and medics were intentionally targeted. Many of the corpses were desecrated where they lay, while others were carried back to Gaza to be defiled by jubilant crowds.
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