POLL | Are you proud of SA for fighting for a ceasefire in Gaza? Justice minister Ronald Lamola at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, when South Africa presented its case earlier this month. File photo. Deaths in Gaza in the war between Hamas and Israel have left the world divided about how to end it. The South African government, for a while, stood on the grey line with its calls for a ceasefire and peace talks, but late last year it changed tack as civilian fatalities increased. South Africa applied to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on December 29 to make an order for the suspension of military operations in Gaza. Its legal team argued Israel committed genocide against Palestinians after the attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people died. While some people have applauded South Africa for taking the matter to the world court, others believe SA has a “lack of understanding” of the complexities of relations between Palestinians and Israel. Israeli foreign affairs minister Lior Haiat accused South Africa of “functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation”. South Africa, in its application to the court, said it condemned violations of international law by all parties, including the targeting of Israeli civilians and other nationals, as well as the hostage-taking by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Justice minister Ronald Lamola said the country aimed to protect civilians. “We have presented a case on behalf of the government of South Africa and we are doing so on behalf of a number of Palestinians — children, women and the elderly — who are being killed in Gaza. We are not presenting any case on behalf of Hamas. We do not have any mandate from Hamas,” Lamola said. https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2024-01-26-poll--are-you-proud-of-sa-for-fighting-for-a-ceasefire-in-gaza/

The lies of Lior Haiat, spin doctor for Israel Michael F. Brown Rights and Accountability 16 January 2024 Lior Haiat speaks into microphones Lior Haiat, Israeli foreign affairs ministry spokesperson, addressed a press conference after South Africa made its 11 January genocide case to the International Court of Justice. Robin Utrecht ANP Lior Haiat, spokesperson at the Israeli foreign affairs ministry, has leveled an extraordinary charge against South Africa, claiming that the anti-apartheid state “is functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organization.” This charge is without basis in fact. His effort to undermine Palestinian-South African solidarity and bludgeon a legal team that inspired millions around the world underlines why so many people are disturbed by how Israel operates in the occupied Palestinian territories and on the world stage. Israel, it will be recalled, long maintained close relations with apartheid South Africa and its white leaders. As a country that overcame apartheid rule, South Africa is particularly well placed to bring the genocide case against Israel, a modern-day practitioner of apartheid as documented by credible Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations. Haiat is not a credible figure to lob such charges. Nevertheless, CNN dutifully repeated the allegation at least twice on Thursday last week and did not comment on the lack of any evidence. Haiat’s history Haiat has made numerous false charges on Twitter/X in recent weeks and over the years. He has also amplified the false charges of others by reposting them. The foreign affairs ministry spokesperson has learned there are no repercussions for lies and misrepresentations. Haiat tweeted in rage on 14 October at “those who spoke of ‘proportionality’ when Israeli babies were murdered and burned alive.” That tweet was a suggestion of no limits to Israel’s response, precisely what landed Israel in the dock at The Hague over South African concerns of intent to commit genocide. Later that month, he accused Save the Children of supporting Hamas. “On October 7 there was no violence against children on both sides!” he reportedly claimed. “Only against Israeli children!!” Yet Defense for Children International - Palestine has documented that the Israeli military killed at least 13 children in Gaza on 7 October. Israeli forces killed another Palestinian child that day in the occupied West Bank. Haiat not only had his facts wrong about 7 October and Palestinian children also being killed that day, but by reposting a 28 October tweet from self-described terrorism expert Dani Lerer, he showed a callousness toward the Palestinian children killed in the three weeks following 7 October. DCIP put the figure at 3,195 Palestinian children killed in that period with at least another 1,000 missing under the rubble of Israeli bombardment. The spokesperson also circulated lies and unverified information about 7 October when he reposted this tweet as well as a video from a Twitter/X account run by Israel’s foreign affairs ministry: There were not 40 Israeli babies “killed and burned” on 7 October. This was atrocity propaganda that enraged western politicians against Palestinians and cleared the way for Israel’s overwhelming violence, a reckless approach that may lead the International Court of Justice to determine Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The Times of Israel noted in early December that two Israeli infants were killed on 7 October along with 12 other children under age 10 – not 40 babies. Agence France-Presse has reported 36 children were killed in those Hamas-led attacks. The Electronic Intifada, however, has helped expose that Israeli tank fire killed 12-year-old Israeli citizen Liel Hatsroni on 7 October in Kibbutz Be’eri. Her twin brother Yanai was likely killed by Israeli tank fire or crossfire. Haiat also reposted similar atrocity propaganda advanced by author J.K. Rowling that Hamas had killed 40 babies. Both Haiat and Rowling irresponsibly helped foment the killing environment that resulted in Israel being brought before the ICJ. The video cited above from the foreign affairs ministry reposted by Haiat also wrongly claimed that there were “1,400 Israelis murdered.” In fact, most US news sources now assert 1,200 Israelis were killed that day in the Hamas-led attack, though these sources don’t generally note that some were killed by Israeli forces. Of these 1,200 killed, a New York Times correction says Hamas “killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, not 1,200 civilians. More than 300 soldiers and police officers were among those who died.” Agence France-Presse reports, however, that 1,139 people were killed on 7 October in the Hamas-led attack and 695 of them were Israeli civilians. Haiat has not removed or corrected numerous tweets or reposts citing the erroneous figure. An apparent supporter of dispossessing Palestinians of still further land, Haiat reposted this claim from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that Israel includes some or all of the West Bank – or as the governor puts it: “Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.” Haiat also bragged about efforts to block the nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian freedom and equal rights. When nonviolence as a path to securing rights is closed off, violence becomes more likely. Haiat took satisfaction in that work then and it’s unlikely anything has changed now even with people around the world looking on in horror as Israel pursues what South Africa – and perhaps soon the ICJ – deems to be genocide in Gaza. Far too many civilians on both sides have been killed. South Africa’s case, however, may finally be making clear for people around the world just how far Israel has taken matters – and has for decades with its apartheid and occupation policies. Spinning genocide and apartheid is a losing cause in much of the world. Nonetheless, with many American and European politicians, Haiat continues to find a willing audience. Lior Haiat Israeli foreign ministry CNN Defense for Children International - Palestine Dani Lehrer Ron DeSantis International Court of Justice https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/michael-f-brown/lies-lior-haiat-spin-doctor-israel

South Africa files case at ICJ accusing Israel of ‘genocidal acts’ in Gaza Israel, which has been accused of meting out collective punishment on Palestinians, has rejected the case at the UN court. Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 25, 2023. [Reuters/Shadi Tabatibi/File] Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli attacks on houses, amid the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, at the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 25, 2023 [File: Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters] South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza after nearly three months of relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 21,500 people and caused widespread destruction in the besieged enclave. In an application to the court on Friday, South Africa described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”. “The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” the application said. People look on as the shrouded bodies of Palestinians killed in nothern Gaza, that were taken and later released by Israel, are burried in a mass grave in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on December 26, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP) People look on as the shrouded bodies of Palestinians killed in nothern Gaza, that were taken and later released by Israel, are burried in a mass grave in Rafah, Dec. 26 [Mahmud Hams/AFP] The ICJ, also called the World Court, is a UN civil court that adjudicates disputes between countries. It is distinct from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals for war crimes. As members of the UN, both South Africa and Israel are bound by the court. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank with his country’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation imposed by the white-minority rule that ended in 1994. Several human rights organisations have said that Israeli policies towards Palestinians amount to apartheid. Sign up for Al Jazeera Week in the Middle East protected by reCAPTCHA Global condemnation South Africa said Israel’s conduct, particularly since the war began on October 7, violates the UN’s Genocide Convention, and called for an expedited hearing. The application also requests the court to indicate provisional measures to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people” under the Convention. “South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants,” a statement from South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said, adding that the country has “repeatedly stated that it condemns all violence and attacks against all civilians, including Israelis.” “South Africa has continuously called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the resumption of talks that will end the violence arising from the continued belligerent occupation of Palestine,” the statement added. Israel has rejected global calls for a ceasefire saying the war would not stop until the Hamas group, whose October 7 attack triggered the current phase of the conflict, was destroyed. Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack in Israel. The Palestinian group has said its attack was against Israel’s 16-year-old blockade of Gaza and expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Settlement expansions pose the biggest hurdle in the realisation of a future Palestinian state comprising Gaza, occupied West Banka and East Jerusalem. In the latest development in Israel’s war on Gaza, tens of thousands of newly displaced Palestinians in the centre of the Palestinian enclave on Friday were forced to flee further south as Israel expanded its ground and air offensive in the centre of the enclave. Israel has faced global condemnation for the mounting toll and destruction and is accused of meting out collective punishment on the Palestinian people. ‘A very important step’ The court application is the latest move by South Africa, a vociferous critic of Israel’s war, to ratchet up pressure after its lawmakers last month voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a ceasefire was agreed. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the United Nations headquarters in New York, said the move was “clearly a very important step to try to hold some accountability to Israel.” “Now that South Africa is pushing this to the ICJ, it will be on [the UN’s] agenda to try to make a ruling on this very important question,” he added. On November 16, a group of 36 UN experts called on the international community to “prevent genocide against the Palestinian people”, calling Israel’s actions since October 7 a “genocide in the making”. Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building of the Al Nawasrah family destroyed in an Israeli strike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building of the Al Nawasrah family destroyed in an Israeli strike in Maghazi refugee camp, Dec. 25 [Adel Hana/AP Photo] “We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilise to prevent genocide,” the experts said in a statement. Israel rejects South Africa’s accusations Israel has rejected South Africa’s move as “baseless”, calling it “blood libel.” “South Africa’s claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court,” Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Lior Haiat, said in a statement posted on X. “Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy, and is making every effort to limit harm to the non-involved and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip,” the statement added. “It does rally public opinion to the reality of what’s going on in Palestine, not just in Gaza but also in the West Bank,” said Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara. According to Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, genocide involves acts committed with the “intent to destroy, either in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” “Where the disagreement lies is whether there is intent or no intent,” Bishara said. “The three leading Israeli officials have declared the intent, starting with Israeli President Herzog when he said there are ‘no innocents’ in Gaza, the defence minister who said Israel will impose collective punishment on the people of Gaza because they are ‘human animals’,” Bishara said, adding that prime minister Netanyahu also used a biblical analogy in a statement widely interpreted as a genocidal call. The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs welcomed South Africa’s move, and called on the ICJ to take immediate action to “prevent further harm to the Palestinian people”. “Israel’s stated policy, acts and omissions are genocidal in character are committed with the requisite specific intent to the destruction of the Palestinian people under its colonial occupation and apartheid regime in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” a statement by the ministry said. “The State of Palestine appeals to the international community and the Contracting Parties to the Convention to uphold their obligations and support the Court in the proceedings.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/29/south-africa-files-case-at-icj-accusing-israel-of-genocidal-acts-in-gaza

Curiosidades e acontecimentos importantes do Ano de 1900. . O ano de 1900 foi marcado por vários acontecimentos importantes, tanto em termos de eventos históricos quanto em termos de avanços tecnológicos e culturais. Aqui estão alguns dos principais acontecimentos do ano de 1900: . Início do século XX: o ano de 1900 marcou o início de um novo século, que seria marcado por importantes eventos históricos, como as duas guerras mundiais e a Guerra Fria. . Exposição Universal de Paris: a Exposição Universal de Paris, realizada em 1900, foi uma grande feira mundial que contou com a participação de vários países e apresentou várias inovações tecnológicas e culturais. . Guerra dos Boxers: a Guerra dos Boxers foi um conflito ocorrido na China entre 1899 e 1901, envolvendo a luta dos chineses contra o domínio estrangeiro e a influência ocidental. . Nascimento de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: o escritor francês Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, autor de "O Pequeno Príncipe", nasceu em 29 de junho de 1900. . Avanços tecnológicos: o ano de 1900 também foi marcado por importantes avanços tecnológicos, como a invenção do primeiro rádio portátil por Reginald Fessenden e a criação do primeiro aparelho de raio-x por Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. . Campeonato de Futebol: em 1900, o Campeonato de Futebol da Inglaterra foi vencido pelo Aston Villa, que derrotou o Liverpool na final. . Vida urbana: o ano de 1900 também foi marcado pelo aumento da urbanização, com a maioria da população mundial passando a viver em cidades em vez de áreas rurais. . Política internacional: 1900 também foi marcado por importantes acontecimentos políticos, como a adoção da Lei Dingley, que estabeleceu altas tarifas alfandegárias nos Estados Unidos, e a Segunda Conferência da Paz de Haia, que tratou de assuntos relacionados ao direito internacional e à guerra. . Desastre ferroviário: em 12 de dezembro de 1900, ocorreu um desastre ferroviário na cidade de Montparnasse, em Paris, quando um trem colidiu com a estação e ficou pendurado na fachada do prédio. . Esporte olímpico: os Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1900 foram realizados em Paris, com a participação de atletas de vários países em diversas modalidades esportivas. . #Anode1900 #acontecimentos #curiosidades #guerra #viral #13deMarçode2023 #alepdias #leidingley #Montparnasse #raiox #Paris #Jogosolímpicos #futebol #direito #vidaurbana #haia #desastre #somee #makemoney #someeofficial #Hive #emailmarketing