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The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, is holding a hearing on Thursday and Friday to hear the Jewish state's position. Palestinian NGO Al-Haq hopes Israel will be condemned for what it calls genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Article written by Willy Moreau – Sandrine Mallon – Edited by Louis Mondot
Radio France
Published on June 1, 2024 11:08 am
Reading time: 2 minutes
Shawan Jabarin, the general director of the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq, on August 24, 2022 in Ramallah, West Bank. (ABBAS MOMANI / AFP)
Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? This is the serious question submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. As fighting continues in the Middle East, the United Nations' highest court is holding a hearing on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 January to hear the arguments of the Jewish state, but also those of South Africa, a country that is passionate about the Jewish state, to listen to the Palestinian cause and the originator of this request.
The human rights organization Al-Haq, based in Ramallah in the West Bank, has high expectations of this process.
The NGO's offices are on the second floor of a building in the backyard. Its general manager, Shawan Jabarin, sits in a room. A timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict covers the walls, with the years 2023-2024 not yet visible.
In his opinion, the massacres carried out by Hamas on October 7 were just a reaction to years of colonization and Israeli provocation. For this historic promoter of a Palestinian state, viewed by Israel as a terrorist, the alleged genocide in Gaza is beyond doubt. “They targeted civilians. To date they have killed around 9,000 children. They completely destroyed more than 25 hospitals. They cut off everything in Gaza.”
The NGO demands that France take a stand
At the end of October, Shawan Jabarin met Emmanuel Macron. An open meeting, he summarizes, at which he asked France, a state party to the Genocide Convention, for a position. “Who can give them the right to kill and attack civilians?” he asks. Where do we find this, in what law, in what religion, in what philosophy? Who can give them the right to do this and commit war crimes of this magnitude? and crimes against humanity?”
“It is time to stop all these actions and respect international law so that Palestinians can exercise their self-determination. This is the only way to create peace.”
Shawan Jabarin
General Director of NGO Al-Haq
For him, the USA is an accomplice of Israel, which rejects “these accusations of genocide with disgust”. Washington, for its part, considers the South African request to be unfounded, counterproductive and based on no facts.
The report in Ramallah by Willy Moreau and Sandrine Mallon
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