Failing to Validate South Africa

"In my respectful dissenting opinion the dispute between the State of Israel and the people of Palestine is essentially and historically a political one, calling for a diplomatic or negotiated settlement."

"It is not a legal dispute susceptible of judicial settlement by the Court."

"This case is complicated by the fact that in the context of an ongoing war with Hamas, which is not a party to these proceedings, it would be unrealistic to put limitations upon one of the belligerent parties but not the other."

Judge Julia Sebutinde, Ugandan ICJ court member

Judge Julia Sebutinde

"[Israel must also take] immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

"The Court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering."

International Court of Justice

After due consideration and hearing of legal arguments from all perspectives the ICJ did not call for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the IDF to withdraw. The Ugandan judge sitting on the International Court of Justice, along with 16 others, was the only judge to have voted negatively on all of the six provisional measures set out by the IJC. Even the Israeli justice on the court voted positively for several of the rulings. Justice Sebutinde felt none of the rulings represented total fairness and voted accordingly. 

 

She has become a heroine to Israelis, an outcast to the government of Uganda and a much detested personage to Hamas and its South African supporters.

 

Uganda is a country that produced two quite notable individuals, whose ethics, morals and perspectives couldn't be more distant from each other; while both distinguished themselves as Ugandans, one, Idi Amin its former President, did so by disrepute, not only hosting Palestinian plane hijackers at Entebbe airport in a collusion against Israel where a daring raid rescued the Jewish passengers and led to the death of the raid leader, Benjamin Netanyahu's brother, but he also expelled Asian/Indian minorities of long-standing residence in the country.

 

A country that was also capable of producing a keen and highly respected legal mind who gained a different kind of notoriety when she defied her own country on a previous occasion. Her actions at the IJC had a response from Uganda’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, who issued a statement to the effect that:

"Justice Sebutinde’s ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine."

"She has previously voted against Uganda’s case on DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo]. " "Uganda’s support for the plight of the Palestinian people has been expressed through Uganda‘s voting pattern at the United Nations." 

While Israel's actions in Gaza in response to Hamas's savage assaults against southern Israel where over a thousand people were murdered, hundreds taken hostage, an untold number of women raped, mutilated and murdered, children killed along with the elderly and entire families scorched to death when their homes were torched, over ten percent of the 3000 young Israeli music lovers at the Nova Music Festival were killed by fanatical psychopaths, the actions of the Hamas terrorists were never taken into account by the Court. 

South Africa's charge to the Court of Israeli genocide deliberately side-stepped the genocidal intent of the rulers of Gaza. To ascribe intent of genocide to Israel, on the very eve of Holocaust Remembrance represents the apex of moral failure. October 7, its outcome and its aftermath represented a repeat of a loathing for a people so reprehensible that it led to genocide; to ascribe that intent to the inheritors of the Holocaust must be accounted a crime unto itself.

The single issue that gave credit to the Court was its statement that it was "gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages" abducted by Hamas, calling for "their immediate and unconditional release". Creditable, but barely; treated as an aside to the main issue of holding Israel suspect of genocide.
Any focus on a two-state solution where there is but one side of the issue prepared for dialogue and to reach a useful solution acceptable to two parties in the absence of the second, is a fallacy.

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"It was brought to the attention of the Court that South Africa, and in particular certain organs of government, have enjoyed and continue to enjoy a cordial relationship with the leadership of Hamas. If that is the case, then one would encourage South Africa as a party to these proceedings and to the Genocide Convention, to use whatever influence they might wield, to try and persuade Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the remaining hostages, as a goodwill gesture."

"I have no doubt that such a gesture of goodwill would go a very long way in defusing the current conflict in Gaza."

"Unfortunately, the failure, reluctance or inability of states to resolve political controversies such as this one through effective diplomacy or negotiations may sometimes lead them to resort to a pretextual invocation of treaties like the Genocide Convention, in a desperate bid to force a case into the context of such a treaty, in order to foster its judicial settlement."

"It is clear that a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only result from good-faith negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian representatives working toward the achievement of a just and sustainable two-state solution. A solution cannot be imposed from outside, much less through judicial settlement."

Judge Julia Sebutinde