South Africa

South Africa lodges Urgent Complaint with Int’l Court of Justice over Israel’s Plan to Assault Rafah

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The South African government lodged an urgent complaint on Monday at the International Court of Justice against the plan announced by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to attack Rafah in southern Gaza, where 1.4 million people, most of them refugees from elsewhere, have been pushed by the Israeli military. So […]

Africa

Namibia, Victim of Germany’s 1904 Genocide, Lambastes Berlin for Denying Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Countries of the global South are most often denied a voice in Europe and North America. Our cable news brings on often corrupt former generals to explain countries such as Iraq and Yemen, but no Iraqi-American or Yemeni-American professors or journalists who actually know what they are talking about. This […]

Dissent

Gaza: 400K Rally in DC against “Genocide Joe;” Massive Protests in Johannesburg, London, other Capitals

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Millions of protesters came out around the world on Saturday, answering the call of Palestinian activists to rally against the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza on a “Global Day of Action for Palestine.” Close to home, an estimated 400,000 demonstrated in Washington, D.C., and scattered what looked like bloodied dolls […]

International Court of Justice

What enforcement power does the International Court of Justice have in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?

The Conversation

By Victor Peskin, Arizona State University | – South Africa says that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has asked the International Court of Justice to intervene and stop Israeli military action in Gaza. Israel issued its initial defense to South Africa’s charges on Jan. 12, 2024, at the International Court of […]

Featured

South Africa at the Int’l Court of Justice: Israel’s Actions in Gaza constitute Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The historic proceedings against Israel on charges of genocide were almost completely ignored by the U.S. media, in what can only be described as censorship by neglect. The blackout on this crucial event smells of racism. What could be less important to a white nationalist establishment than an African country’s […]

Featured

Genocide Denialism and the South African Complaint: USG Spokesmen like Kirby are the Goebbels of the 21st Century

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Biden Administration continues to run a scam on the US public and the world by running interference for the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The smarmy and duplicitous spokesman for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, responded to the South African complaint against Israel to the International […]

Featured

South Africa Charges Israel with Genocide at Int’l Court of Justice, as Global South charges West with Hypocrisy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – South African society has had extensive experience with racial Apartheid (segregation and humiliation) and with genocide, which is defined in international law this way: “Genocide is the intentional a physical destruction of a social group in its entirety, or the intentional annihilation of such a significant part of the group […]

Featured

South Africa downgrades Israeli Embassy over Ongoing Apartheid (and they should know)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Middle East Eye reports that the South African parliament has voted to downgrade the Israeli embassy in Pretoria to liaison status. The resolution was introduced by the tiny center-left National Freedom Party, which has only two seats in parliament. Its passage was assured, however, when the African National Congress […]

Coal

In Victory against Coal, South African Court rules that clean Air is a Constitutional Right

The Conversation

By Rebecca Garland, University of Pretoria | – A court in South Africa has confirmed the constitutional right of the country’s citizens to an environment that isn’t harmful to their health. This includes the right to clean air, as exposure to air pollution affects human health. Air pollution also affects land and water systems, and […]