"While history is important to learn so that we don’t repeat it, one cannot help but think that we haven’t learned from it, especially since the Genocide Convention, the basis for South Africa’s case at the ICJ, was conceived in response to the Holocaust."
January 26, 2024
As someone who visited the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and who has been taught repeatedly about the Second World War and the Holocaust, I cannot fathom how these events came to happen. Yet, for 112 days, we’ve been seeing Israel’s actions and hearing Israeli officials publicly and shamelessly call for the killing of Palestinians. Even so, the ICJ ruled that Israel has to prevent and punish genocide incitement, take all measures to prevent genocide, and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. It fell short of asking for a ceasefire, which the world community has called for months. While history is important to learn so that we don’t repeat it, one cannot help but think that we haven’t learned from it, especially since the Genocide Convention, the basis for South Africa’s case at the ICJ, was conceived in response to the Holocaust.
Fatima Haidar
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)