South Africa’s case against Israel is not the first time the world court is being asked to rule on potential genocide. Previous decisions will give hope to both the Palestinians and Israel, but may ultimately highlight the limitations of international law
Under international law, in order to prove genocide is being committed, it is necessary to show both a physical and a mental element: one or more acts have to be done with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The acts that can fulfill the physical element include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to members of the group, and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
As there is no doubt that Israel has killed many Palestinians in Gaza, and caused bodily harm to many others, the issue on which South Africa’s claims before the International Court of Justice that Israel commits genocide against Palestinians in Gaza will rise or fall is the question of intent.
The US should not be supporting genocide.
