ICJ Decision--MoA's Analysis

The International Court of Justice—the UN’s Court—has delivered its initial opinion on South Africa’s complaint of Occupied Palestine’s waging of Genocide against Palestinians and has made this Friday very busy as much else is also happening. Here’s the opinion in pdf. Personal business has kept me away from doing a deep dive into the decision, so I’ve relied on the competent analysis of b at Moon of Alabama where he’s produced two articles on the issue—one on the decision and another dealing with Western misreporting on the decision. There’re a great many comments on each thread, some of which provide valid info, while most offer various types of speculations. The decision was announced while maria Zakharova was providing her weekly briefing, so a special press release was made by Russia’s MFA regarding that portion of her Q&A:

Question: What is Moscow's reaction to the January 26 decision of the International Court of Justice to order "provisional measures" in the proceedings between South Africa and Israel under the Genocide Convention?

Reply: In its judgment, the Court ordered Israel not to commit acts of genocide or to allow them to be committed by any person; prevent and punish public calls for genocide; and to allow immediate access to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian assistance and the resumption of public services. In so doing, the Court has reproduced obligations that are already incumbent on Israel, as on all States, under international law.

Contrary to many expectations, the decision does not require Israel to cease hostilities and withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, the Court has provisionally recognized that the magnitude of the suffering of the civilian population of Gaza justifies the question of genocide. This once again confirms the validity of Russia's position on the need for an immediate cessation of violence. It is based both on the universally recognized norms of international law and on universal morality. We continue to hope that the UN Security Council will take appropriate steps and return to diplomatic efforts in accordance with the universal international legal framework for a Middle East settlement.

However, it must be stressed that Russia’s MFA had yet to do a proper examination of the decision, so part of what it said above isn’t 100% correct. There’s an important distinction that b discovered that prompted him to title his second article, “The ICJ Could Not Order A General Ceasefire. It Ordered Israel To Cease Fire.” His analysis follows:

No legal scholar expected the International Court of Justice to order a general ceasefire.

The court could not order a general ceasefire because its jurisdiction covers only one of the waring parties. An order for a general ceasefire would require that all parties of a conflict are nation states and have signed the Genocide Convention. Hamas however is not a state and is not a signatory of the Genocide Convention and thus not under the ICJ's jurisdiction.

So the court did indeed not order a ceasefire.

It could not.

But the court ordered Israel to cease fire.

Point 85/86 of the court's order says:

85. The Court deems it necessary to emphasize that all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip are bound by international humanitarian law. It is gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

86. For these reasons,

THE COURT,

Indicates the following provisional measures:

(1) By fifteen votes to two,

The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular:

(a) killing members of the group;

(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
...

The court clearly orders Israel to take all(!) measure to prevent the killing or wounding of Palestinians.

In short: The court orders Israel to cease fire.

All of it. Now….

That three of the leading media are using similar headlines and a similar obfuscation of the actual judgment points to a concerted propaganda campaign well prepared in advance of the today's order. [Emphasis original except final sentence is mine.]

And as expected, the Zionists have accused the court of Anti-Semitism. The court has no army with which to enforce its decision—that’s what the UNSC is for. If the Zionists don’t cease and desist as ordered, the UNSC will need to pass a Resolution with a provision from Article 7 authorizing the use of force to enforce the decision. Unfortunately, France is the current UNSC President for the month and two other abettor nations are on the UNSC as well—UK and USA. Yes, the decision has ramifications for both as they are accomplices to the genocide and are in violation of the Genocide Convention. So, if they veto as is most likely the upcoming UNSCR, they will thus declare their guilt to the World, while leaving the Global majority to combine their efforts and fulfill their duties under the Genocide Convention.

There will be more analysis over the coming days as the court returns to deal with what remains to be done. I highly suggest time be taken to read the entire ruling. What remains very important is the Genocide Convention itself and the duties all signatory nations have to perform within it. The UN Office on Genocide has additional info besides the law itself which is linked above.

IMO, this is a huge win for Humanity and a massive loss for the remaining hegemonic nations. Momentum was already building and must now build higher as the Palestinian situation is still far from resolved, and it will take force to make the Zionists conform to Human norms since so many of them favor Genocide.

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