July 12, 2024
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide before the U.N. International Court of Justice Genocide is an extremely serious crime. It is governed by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, in the wake of the Holocaust and at the instigation of Israel in particular.
According to UN texts, for genocide to occur, it must be proven that the perpetrators intended to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The word "intended" is fundamental. This is a legal definition. It is on this basis alone, irrespective of political interests, that the charges must be examined.
Recent human history is plagued with genocides: The Darfur, the Tutsis in Rwanda, the Muslims in former Yugoslavia, the Cambodians under Pol Pot's Khmers Rouges, the Armenian genocide, etc. And there is the Shoah, which claimed more than 6,000,000 lives. Still today, China is guilty of genocide against the Uighurs, and Myanmar is exterminating the Rohingyas.
Since the pogrom committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the outbreak of the war in Gaza that it provoked, Israel has been accused of genocide on our campuses and in many forums. This revolting accusation is not new.
As far back as 2001, at a U.N. human rights conference in Durban, South Africa, the NGO Forum declared Israel guilty of genocide. Most Western democracies dissociated themselves from this accusation, which was strictly political and propagandistic.
During this event, in a demonstration attended by thousands of people, signs were held high with messages such as "Hitler did not finish the job". The most famous anti-Jewish text, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was on sale in the exhibition area. The Union of Arab Lawyers distributed antisemitic cartoons reminiscent of the Nazi era. It was these organizations that accused Israel of genocide. Even then, the link between antisemitism and anti-Zionism was thus extremely clear.
The South Africa that hosted this 2001 conference was the same South Africa that, in 2015, warmly welcomed Omar El Bashir, the former Sudanese president guilty of genocide in Darfur, and refused to turn him over to the International Criminal Court which demanded his arrest for war crimes. Instead, he was allowed to return home and continue his dirty work undisturbed until 2019. It is this same South Africa that is now accusing Israel, together with countries which, no matter the issue, simply do not vote in favor of Israel at the UN.
The current war is the result of a pogrom deliberately carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians. This pogrom directly meets the definition of genocide. Hamas makes no secret of its intent, its genocidal goals, even in its charter. But Hamas faces no accusations. The International Court of Justice has the authority to rule on the actions of states, but not on those of non-state organizations. This exonerates Hamas, as a non-state organization. The irony is striking. The aggressor is unharmed, but the aggressed is prosecuted.
However, beyond the political motivations or lack of credibility of these accusers, what matters in law is not the allegation. It is the evidence. Beyond all reasonable doubt. Where is this proof against Israel?
Le us return to the fundamental concept of intent. Hamas attacks Israel, murdering hundreds of civilians and taking hostages. Israel defends itself in accordance with international law, which demands maximum protection for civilians.
Hamas uses the Palestinian civilian population as shields, housing its combat infrastructures in hospitals, schools, mosques and even UN offices. All this has been well documented. Hamas is fully cognizant of the fact that this makes these places legitimate military targets, in accordance with the laws of war. Hamas is fully aware that Palestinian civilians will pay a high price. But it is counting on the wave of compassion and public sympathy that this triggers. Hamas knows that Israel will have no choice but to attack, and that this will lead to the consequences we have since witnessed, including the UN resolutions and this lawsuit before the International Court of Justice designed to paralyze the actions of Israel.
We cannot recognize the right of Israel to defend itself and simultaneously prevent it from exercising this right.
This war is sadly claiming many lives. Images of devastation and destruction prove that war is merciless. But do they prove that Israel intends to eliminate the Palestinians? Would the Allies have been accused of German genocide when they bombed Dresden to put an end to Nazism? Would Canadians have been accused of Iraqi genocide when they provided technical support in the bombing of Mosul to eliminate the Islamic State?
Hamas openly welcomes these tragedies in Gaza. Just a few weeks ago, its leader, Yahya Sinwar, described the heavy loss of life as a "necessary sacrifice". But genocide and sacrifice are incompatible. The former is imposed. The latter is chosen. The two terms are mutually exclusive. You cannot "self-genocide". If there is sacrifice, then there can be no genocide.
On January 9, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella declared that "the charge of genocide against Israel is an abuse of the international legal order established after the Second World War.” I wholeheartedly endorse this statement.
Be that as it may, the International Court of Justice will now have to rule based on irrefutable evidence, free from political interference. In a democratic world, the credibility of the judiciary relies on both its real independence and the perception of such in the court of public opinion.
The vocation of the Montreal Holocaust Museum is to perpetuate memory and promote education to prevent genocide. Therefore, it has a moral obligation to speak out against any attempt to politically exploit or trivialize this term. It has an obligation to denounce all pretexts, all perpetrators and all manifestations of genocide. It owes this to all victims, past and present.
Hon. Jacques Saada
President
Montreal Holocaust Museum
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