Support for SA’s case against Israel grows

Palestinians gathered at the Nelson Mandela Square in Ramallah ahead of the International Court of Justice hearing into the genocide case brought against Israel by South Africa. The US Congress passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986, authorising the implementation of tough economic sanctions against Apartheid South Africa. At the time the Apartheid state was unleashing a reign of terror against opponents of Apartheid, through beatings, detentions, torture, massacres, extra-judicial killings, violation of human rights and general repression to opposition to Apartheid. It was business as usual for the Apartheid state, which enjoyed economic and political support from some of the world's powerful states including the UK and the US. But the enactment of the CAA Act 1986 by the world's biggest economy turned the tide against RSA. The passing of the Act is credited for having been a catalyst for the political reforms that followed and eventually led to the end of legislated Apartheid in 1994. In 2024 RSA is taking Israel, an ally of the USA to the International Court of Justice for “breaching the UN convention on genocide by killing Palestinians in Gaza.” So far the world has only watched the unfolding horror in which more than 23 000 Palestinians have been killed in mass bombings, air strikes and military raids on civilian settlements, hospitals, schools and refugee camps. It could be argued that Apartheid's reign of terror could have continued for much longer had the USA, the world's most powerful nation, not passed the CAA Act in 1986. SA is by no means on the same level as the USA in economic or political terms. It's also a relatively new player on the global political stage. But it has risen and taken a stand against injustice. As wait to see what impact SA's ICJ case will have on the ongoing carnage in Palestine and on the future of world politics, it's perhaps important to reflect on the words of Emperor Haile Selasie I, one of the founding fathers of the Organisation of African Unity, when he said: “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” - Mukururkuru Media