Israel before international justice | Canada criticizes South African approach in polite terms

(Ottawa) Without going so far as to take Israel’s side in the case of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as the United States and Germany have done, the Trudeau government insists on However, he does not support South Africa’s approach.

“Canada’s unwavering support for international law and the International Court of Justice does not mean that we accept the premises of the case brought before the Court by South Africa,” declared the Minister of Affairs in a press release. foreigners Mélanie Joly, Friday.

A sign of Ottawa’s skepticism in the face of Pretoria’s approach, the head of Canadian diplomacy emphasizes that to reach the “high threshold” of the definition of the crime of genocide provided for in the United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948, it ” irrefutable evidence is required.

Adding that Canada would follow “very closely” the evolution of the case at the CJI, Minister Joly argued that it would be necessary “to ensure that the procedural steps in this case are not used to encourage anti-Semitism and the targeting of Jewish neighborhoods, businesses, and individuals.”

It had been several days that the vagueness persisted regarding the position of the liberal government regarding the procedure initiated by the South African government. In the middle of the day, Friday, Justin Trudeau suggested that Ottawa was waiting to hear the pleas of both parties before making a decision.

In this historic legal case, the United States and Germany closed ranks behind Israel. The German government sees in this approach the risk of a “political instrumentalization” of international law.

Genocide is defined by the United Nations as a crime “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”, according to the Genocide Convention adopted in 1948.

Conservatives behind Israel

The Conservative Party has resolutely sided with the Jewish state, as Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman and MP Michael Chong have signed an open letter in National Post. “South Africa’s cause is worse than baseless,” the two elected officials said.

“The real facts point in the opposite direction: it is Hamas whose charter clearly states its genocidal intention to wipe Israel off the map, and whose savagery of October 7 shows that, given the chance, it is ready to act accordingly,” they also insist.

Their leader, Pierre Poilievre, made the same point at a press briefing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Friday. He also argued that the prolonged silence of the Trudeau government was a cynical political ploy.

Start of procedures

South Africa accuses Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). According to Pretoria, Israeli strikes on Gaza and the siege of the Palestinians living there are of a “genocidal” nature.

The court in The Hague, Netherlands, heard arguments from the South African camp on Thursday. South Africa’s lawyer, Adila Hassim, argued that the bombing campaign carried out by Israel aimed at “the destruction of the lives of Palestinians” and pushed them “to the brink of famine”.

The response from the Jewish state came on Friday. Israel said it did not seek to destroy the Palestinian people in Gaza, defending itself against a “distorted” and “malicious” accusation of genocide brought against it before the main judicial body of the United Nations ( UN).

According to the latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health, 23,708 people have been killed and more than 60,000 others have been injured since the start of the Israeli response to the attacks perpetrated on October 7 by Hamas. The attacks left around 1,140 dead and around 250 hostages.

With Agence France-Presse