SWC to International Court of Justice: It is not Jerusalem but Hamas that Should be Indicted for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

January 10, 2024

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is releasing the following statement in response to South Africa’s accusation presented to the International Court of Justice that Israel is guilty of genocide:

 

“It is no surprise that Hamas supporter, South Africa has turned to the International Court of Justice to demonize and de-legitimize Israel. This court has a panel of judges from countries like Russia, China, Lebanon, and Somalia that themselves should be in the docket for their violation of fundamental human rights and in some cases are guilty of crimes against humanity. 

 

It is unclear if the Jewish state has any chance of winning its case on the justice of its actions or will yet again be the victim in a kangaroo court. 

 

Still, Israel will do its best to refocus an uncaring world on who the true victims are and who is responsible for loss of life and property in Gaza. It will document Hamas’ litany of crimes against humanity, its barbaric killings, beheadings, dismemberment, rape and other crimes targeting Israeli civilians in sovereign territory of the Jewish state. 

 

It is not Israel that should be in the docket, but Hamas leaders who have lived in the lap of luxury in Qatar who should be on trial;  it is their sponsors and trainers in Tehran who should be called before the ICJ, not the Jewish state which stands firmly on legal and more importantly, ethical and moral ground by defending its people,” stated Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director

 

“The Nazi Holocaust destroyed entire European Jewish communities, with six million Jews, including 1.5 million children mass murdered by Nazi Germany and its willing collaborators.

 

It was only after January 27, 1945, the day Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet soldiers, that the world would begin to understand the scope of the barbarities inflicting on Europe’s Jews, of a crime of such epic scope, that a new term had to be invented to describe the Holocaust: Genocide. 

 

The United Nations, born out of the ashes of World War II and the Holocaust, passed the UN Genocide Convention, which made genocide a crime under international law as well as incitement to genocide as a criminal act. 

 

This is a dark day for International Law, it is a dark day for justice as we see, yet again, players like South Africa, like Russia, like China, utilizing international modalities to deflect attention from themselves and to continue to pound America’s lone reliable ally in the region and lone true democracy in the Middle East: the State of Israel,” concluded Cooper.

 

For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).