Is The Global North Enabling The Most Evident Genocide in Human History

Originally published in IAIS Magazine

The South African legal battle against Israel, initiated last December (2023) at the International Court of Justice, thrusts us into a maelstrom where legal intricacies entwine with geopolitical machinations. 

Since then, the trial brought to the forefront a deeper fault line in global geopolitics, that is between Israel and its traditional allies among the countries of the Global North, and developing and low-income countries of the Global South. The great countries of the Global North, predominantly white settler colonial states, and former European colonial powers continue to throw their support behind Israel despite glaring evidence of genocidal acts committed by the Israeli regime. 

South Africa’s exhaustive  84-page complaint against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, presented recently by Adila Hassim, an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, cited many of the atrocities perpetrated by Israel as well as, crucially, the declarations of intent to conduct genocide made by senior Israeli officials. 

The case, overwhelmingly endorsed by numerous legal scholars and international law practitioners, proves that the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Gaza are glaringly evident to most, except, it seems, to the Western elites in power. Thus far, no Western countries have supported South Africa’s case against Israel, a deliberate refusal to acknowledge the grievous violations in Gaza. Instead, some prefer to brand any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism, opting to prohibit expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The United States is among the Western powers that vehemently oppose the Genocide case. A day before the hearing started, National Security spokesperson John Kirby called South Africa’s submission “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis.” Despite massive pro-Palestine protests around the world including in the US, the U.S. government staunchly supported Israel, not just in rhetoric but by supplying arms and logistical assistance for the genocide. In turn, South Africa now is preparing to file a separate lawsuit against the US and UK governments on the basis that they are complicit in Israeli forces' war crimes in Palestine. 

The United Kingdom government, another staunch ally of Israel, faces accusations of double standards for refusing to endorse the South African case, despite recently submitting legal documents to the ICJ supporting allegations of genocide against Myanmar in the Rohingya community. South Africa would likely choose to highlight the UK’s arguments on Myanmar, submitted collaboratively with  Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands, when it makes its case against Israel during the proceeding. 

The German government also issued a statement saying that it “firmly and explicitly rejects the accusation of genocide that has now been made against Israel.” They expressed their intent to as a third party at the International Court of Justice in defense of the Jewish state. The Namibian government chided Berlin’s decision to reject the ICJ case, reminding them that historically the Germans had “committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions.” This is known as the Herero and Namaqua genocide. 

Yet, a glimmer of hope emerges from the Global South as many notably oppose the war in Gaza. A coalition of voices, notably from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), the 22-member alliance of the Arab League, and a cadre of Asian, African, and Latin American nations, rises in solidarity with South Africa's pursuit of justice. Indonesia's decision to join the legal fray against the Israeli occupation at the ICJ is a testament to the growing assertiveness among Global South nations to challenge the status quo.

Therefore, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog framed the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a “war that is intended – really, truly – to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization”, a desperate attempt to regurgitate the Clash of Civilization thesis advanced by the late Samuel P. Huntington, he misconstrued the dynamics at play. 

The clash is visible but not in civilizational terms. Rather, the traditional Western-led order is decaying, and as the powers of the Global North steadfastly rally behind Israel, the nations of the Global South find inspiration in the enduring Palestinian struggle, a rallying cry against the entrenched hypocrisy and indifference of the West to the plight of the oppressed.