South Africa has informed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Israel should be held responsible for what it described as apartheid against the Palestinians and its occupation is “inherently and fundamentally illegal”.
Africa Today News, New York reports that South African representatives opened the second day of hearings at the ICJ on Tuesday and spoke on a request by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for a non-binding advisory opinion on the legality of Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“We as South Africans sense, see, hear and feel to our core the inhumane discriminatory policies and practices of the Israeli regime as an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalised against Black people in my country,” said Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, where the ICJ is based.
“It is clear that Israel’s illegal occupation is also being administered in breach of the crime of apartheid… It is indistinguishable from settler colonialism. Israel’s apartheid must end,” Madonsela said.
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He added that South Africa had a “special obligation” to call out apartheid wherever it occurs and ensure it is “brought to an immediate end”.
South Africa, which has a long history of support for the Palestinians and has compared their struggle with its history under an apartheid system, has launched a separate case at the ICJ accusing Israel of “genocide” in its bombardment of Gaza.
More than 50 countries are to present arguments to the ICJ on the legal implications of Israel’s occupation.
On Tuesday, representatives from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile presented their positions.
The 15-judge panel has been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation… including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”.
Israel has pushed on with building illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers and 3 million Palestinians.