Historic provisional ruling: ICJ orders protection of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from ‘acts of genocide’
Posted on January 29th, 2024
Courtesy Al Hakam
Ayesha Naseem, UK
On Friday 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice delivered a provisional ruling in South Africa’s case, submitted to the court in December last year, in which it accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice concluded that South Africa has standing to submit to it the dispute with Israel concerning alleged violations of obligations under the Genocide Convention.” (APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP”, www.icj-cij.org)
Given how historic this whole development is, it is imperative to highlight South African solidarity with the Palestinian people and the nation’s practical display of learning from one’s history. For South Africa to have taken this stand when the silence of the Western world couldn’t have been louder, the importance of taking calculated steps to try and bring an end to oppression comes to light. Islam also encourages solidarity, which can create a means to stop oppression.
azrat Anasra narrated, Allah’s Messengersa said, ‘Help your brother, be he the oppressor or the oppressed.’ The companions said, ‘O Allah’s Messengersa, we understand that we should help him when he is the aggrieved party, but how should we help him when he is the wrongdoer?’ He said: ‘Hold his hand [i.e., stop him from oppressing.]’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-mazalim, Bab a‘in akhaka zaliman aw mazluman, Hadith 2444)
Hazrat Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khanra, a pioneer Ahmadi Muslim diplomat and jurist who was also the President of the International Court of Justice between 1954 and 1961, has written extensively on Islam and its principles on human rights.
In his book, Islam and Human Rights, Hazrat Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khanra explains how the values and principles established in the UN Charter of Human Rights were revealed and inculcated within Islamic teachings by Allah the Almighty over 1400 years ago.
Article 3 of the UN Human Rights Charter speaks of the right to life, liberty and security of person.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights)