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South Africa’s Initiative on the Formation of Hague Tribunal Against "Genocide"

South Africa’s Initiative on the Formation of Hague Tribunal Against "Genocide"

On Thursday, January 11, a meeting of the "International Criminal Court (ICC)" in The Hague was held to examine the accusation of "genocide" against the Israeli government. This court, which will take place on January 11 and 12, has been activated by the South African government's complaint against the crimes committed by the Tel Aviv government. The Hague Court's jurisdiction to enter into the matter of the complaint is considered to be certain in advance from the point of view that the Israeli government is one of the signatories of the "Genocide Convention" and officially a member of the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide".

In the 84-page complaint submitted to the prestigious international court in The Hague, it is correctly stated that "Israel's actions have specifications of genocide, since they are aimed at destroying a large part of Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza." In this case, Israel's actions during the period after October 7 are introduced in accordance with the definition of the said convention of "genocide" as "committing acts with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Although the complaint was prepared before the number of Palestinians killed reached 23,000, but by collecting statistical data, it has provided sufficient legal documents to prove the Israeli government's genocides.

This bold action of South Africa in solidarity with the victims of war and occupation, which is a legacy of Nelson Mandela, had wide reactions in the world. On the one hand, it has received praise from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation consisting of fifty-seven countries, support from five continents, and even the writing of a petition in support of four hundred peace activists in Israel. On the other hand, it has provoked Israel as defendant and its supporter, US. Tel Aviv's reaction to this action was to express "disgust" and the White House's approach was to consider it "worthless, non-constructive and completely baseless", and on the other hand, more than one thousand international progressive movements, political parties and labor unions have supported this initiative.

The political-executive board of the Left Party of Iran appreciates and strongly supports this timely and well-considered decision of the South African government. In the current shameful international situation, which is the result of the tragedy of Gaza, this should be considered a lasting historical action. A situation in which not only a voice is not heard from the powerful governments against the daily "genocide" of the Netanyahu government against the people, especially the children and the helpless women of Gaza and partly the West Bank of the Jordan River, but also their direct and indirect support of the perpetrators of the crimes is still going on.

We, aware of the bitter reality of the influence of world power centers, are not under the illusion that the Hague Criminal Court will issue a clear verdict that Israel is guilty of its "genocides". With all this and apart from the legal outcome of the issue, we consider bringing Israel to the trial, even in the absence of its representative, a failure and political bankruptcy for the Israeli extremists and their global supporters. Although Israel historically and until now has shown disobedience to every resolution of the international institutions that has the least angle with its acts of aggression and force, it has also become more disgraceful. The formation of this court against Israel has political importance rather than legal.

We welcome the holding of the Hague Tribunal as we see it as a way to confront the continuation of Israel's terrible killings against the Palestinian people. During these three months, we have condemned the crime of fundamentalist Hamas on October 7th and the war crimes and genocide of Israel during this period of terror. We consider the establishment of an international court to adjudicate the crimes of the extremist government of Netanyahu, as well as to judge the actions of Hamas, as a safeguard for the future of peace in Palestine. Such approaches are the right countermeasures against the beating of the war drum by any government and movement, including the Islamic Republic.

Political-Executive Board of the Left Party of Iran

January 11, 2024

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