TODAY, the bombardment of occupied Gaza by Israel is 101 days old, during which more than 23,570 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children.
Many Arab and Muslim countries have tried to get the United Nations Security Council to stop the atrocities committed by Israel against Palestiniavns, but the veto-wielding United States keeps standing in the way.
Left with no choice, South Africa filed an emergency case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, arguing in an 84-page brief that Israel is committing genocide in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention, to which it is a party. South Africa wants the ICJ to stop Israel's attacks instantly.
Yet on Friday, Israel, in a style from the past, brazenly denied committing any genocide. Well, Israel, here is an op-ed question posed yesterday by prominent journalist Gideon Levy of Haaretz: if it isn't a genocide in Gaza, then what is it?
No surprises here. After every massacre it had committed in its 75-year history, Israel had shamelessly denied any guilt.
A portion of the undiscerning world believed the Zionist yarn. But this time, it will be different. Israel's denial will be put to a legal test by the ICJ, the highest court of the UN. Neither Israel nor its allies will get to decide whether genocide has been committed. Nor will South Africa.
The ICJ will. Some, especially the Western mainstream media, would like us to believe that a genocide charge is difficult to stick. On the contrary, genocide, as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention, is pretty straightforward. It is a crime committed with intent to eliminate a group — be it a national, ethnic, racial or religious one — in whole or part.
Difficult to prove, yes. But not impossible. Like most crimes, genocide is conduct backed by intent. Conduct is easy. As South Africa told the court, it had 13 weeks of incontrovertible evidence showing the very conduct. Intent is trickier, but Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist ministers have made it easy for South Africa to prove by their public statements, showing precisely their intent to commit genocide.
Start with Netanyahu. He has often equated the Palestinians to the biblical Amalek — an enemy of the Jews — an invented theory to justify the killings in Gaza. His most recent reference to Amalek was when he addressed Israeli soldiers as they were readying a second ground attack.
In an attempt to go one up on Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had this to say: "We will wipe this thing called Hamas, Isis, Gaza off the face of the earth. It will cease to exist." There are more but we will stop at the notoriety of a third: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir Anadolu Ajansi.
Here is his genocidal intent graphically illustrated in his own words: "To be clear, when we say that Hamas needs to be eliminated, it also means those who sing, those who support and those who distribute candy, all of these are terrorists." Hard to beat such incriminatory words. Many forget, mere threat without the actual slaughter is enough to prove genocide.
Lest we forget, South Africa is seeking provisional measures, such as ceasefire, restoration of water and food supply. It needn't prove genocide. Likelihood of it happening is enough. That is shame enough for impunity-ridden Israel.