The Simon Wiesenthal Center is releasing the following statement in response to South Africa’s accusation presented tothe 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 andde-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 humanrights 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 thevictim 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 lifeand 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 sovereignterritory of the Jewish state.
It is not Israel that should be in the docket, but Hamasleaders who have lived in the lap of luxury in Qatar who should be on trial; it is their sponsors and trainers in Tehran whoshould be called before the ICJ, not the Jewish state which stands firmly on legal and more importantly, ethical and moral ground by defending itspeople,” 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 massmurdered 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 worldwould 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 madegenocide 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, likeRussia, 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 theMiddle East: the State of Israel,” concluded Cooper.
For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com orShawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitterfeed.
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).