On Friday the 26th of January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favour of South Africa by finding the state Israel guilty of the intention to commit genocide against Palestinians in Israel. This follows a resounding 15-2 judgement in favour of South Africa’s compelling case. A subsequent and final judgement will be made in the near future following this interim ruling.

South Africa successfully claimed that the state of Israel intended to commit genocide (by definition of the term “genocide”). They presented their case and corresponding evidence to the court. South Africa accused Israel of ending thousands of Palestinian lives (70% of which were women and children) and subjecting them to unlivable conditions in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, South Africa contended that there was a deliberate attempt to prevent victims from accessing humanitarian aid amidst war-like conditions; and that this was a long-standing attempt to reduce the population of Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s rebuttal included claims that there was in fact no genocide being committed. They argued that they were targeting a terrorist group called Hamas. Hamas is said to have been responsible for numerous acts of terrorism, including launching thousands of missiles at Israel in October 2023. Fortunately, many of these missiles were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system. What then followed was Israel’s retaliation; attempting to destroy Hamas, who were said to be hiding behind civilians. This made it difficult for the Israeli military to distinguish between innocent civilians and the group responsible for the attack.

For context, is key to note that the Palestine-Israel conflict is one with a long history, dating back to biblical times. South Africa provided video evidence of members of the Israeli army singing a chant which referred to the Palestinians as “the seed of Amelek”. Amelekites, the descendants of Amelek, are described in the Hebrew Bible as a sworn enemy nation of the Israel. Both groups of people have valid historic claims to the land of Israel; thus making this conflict one of the most ancient and difficult to resolve.

South Africa’s empathy towards the plight of Palestine most likely stems from it’s own history of colonialism and apartheid. South Africa’s first democratically-elected president, Nelson Mandela, is heralded globally for his role in ensuring peace between “blacks” and “whites” after apartheid. As we await reports of Israel’s compliance with the ICJ ruling, we can only hope that Mandela’s example of exemplary morality is remembered by both sides in the case of Israel and Palestine.

With a little bit of love, forgiveness and understanding, we pray that Muslims and Jews alike find it in their hearts to put religion and politics aside in favour of peace and harmony in Israel. We are all the seed of Adam, regardless of which of the two religious beliefs you support. It is important that we put our humanity before our pride and practice love for a conflict-free and sustainable future.