Middle East Justice?

“The worst demonization of the Jewish state,” noted a Wall Street Journal editorial, “has typically followed the worst atrocities against it” (Oct. 20, 2023).

As fires still burned in kibbutzim near Gaza, massive crowds of protesters turned out in major cities around the world chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Likely some protesters didn’t realize the slogan implies wiping the State of Israel off the map, but many did.

In the United Kingdom, marchers angrily called for an “intifada from London to Gaza.” Berlin saw homes marked with the Star of David. The sheer scale of the demonstrations and anti-Jewish rhetoric had sinister echoes of the 1930s.

As time has gone on, many American universities have seen pro-Palestinian mobs set up encampments, terrorize students and vandalize buildings.

Accusations of genocide

Only a short time after Hamas’ spectacle of maniacal violence on Oct. 7, South Africa dropped a bombshell on the international community. It was bringing charges of genocide against Israel—a nation that had just suffered an almost unimaginably brutal attack—before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest judicial body.

Amid the ongoing bloodshed of the war in Gaza, the trial is likely to be the most watched international case in years, potentially having significant implications for Israel and for the future of international relations.

The International Court of Justice

The ICJ was created after World War II under the founding charter of the UN. Located in The Hague, the ICJ rules on disputes between nations and on alleged crimes perpetrated by state governments.

Because mankind does not understand peace, justice or mercy, the international courts will inevitably fail to bring true justice or lasting peace. However, the ICJ—like the United Nations itself—has numerous limitations. It lacks enforcement power and cannot prosecute individuals for crimes (though the separate International Criminal Court can). As well, several nations have ignored its decisions.

The court will not make a final determination on South Africa’s genocide allegations until it hears the merits of the case, which will likely take years. But its opinions carry weight with the UN and other international institutions.

Since its creation, the ICJ has heard an average of fewer than three, often obscure, cases a year. This marks the first time that its judges have been tasked to determine a nation’s guilt in genocide.

Opening arguments

The United States has been one of the few countries to defend Israel at the ICJ. Lining up behind South Africa is a cast of more than 50 developing countries and organizations such as the African Union, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

“Justice has been long delayed,” said Ma Xinmin, an official from China’s foreign ministry, “but it must not be denied.”

Of course, the Bible calls for justice. But it also shows that mankind is often incapable of rendering true justice because we’re usually unable to get past our biases and limited viewpoints (Isaiah 59:9-15; Romans 3:10-18).

Twisting the word genocide

The Holocaust is an incontrovertibly unique event in world history, with the death of 6 million Jews. Eight decades later, the Jewish population still hasn’t recovered to pre-Holocaust levels.

It is not surprising that Israel has fiercely rejected these accusations of genocide. It was in 1948, in response to the Holocaust, that genocide was codified as a crime, putting specific legal meaning to the ultimate form of national atrocity—the attempt to utterly exterminate a people.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the ICJ case “atrocious and preposterous,” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s tremendous efforts to avoid civilian casualties and the irony that those charges weren’t brought against Hamas. He added, “No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas. It would murder all of us if it could.”

From optimism to despair

There was a point in the 1970s when the predominantly Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza were considered the fourth fastest-growing economy in the world, ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, and far outpacing Israel. That period of optimism is gone. Unfortunately, radicals have destabilized the Middle East each time Arabs have tried to normalize relations with Israel and have started to see economic success.

Palestinians in Gaza have been permanent refugees now for over five generations, sequestered in a tiny strip of land with one of the highest population densities in the world. Unwelcome in Arab nations that claim to support them, the Palestinians in Gaza have been exploited by their leaders as cannon fodder for public relations purposes. They have endured economic ruin in their 17 years under Hamas misrule and injustice.

In the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Gaza has been turned into apocalyptic rubble, with a rising death toll and nearly 2 million people uprooted from their homes.

Unsurprisingly, in their enduring desire for some type of justice, many Palestinians were elated by scenes of Israel being charged at the ICJ after what they consider decades of impunity for its conduct in the occupied territories.

Again, justice is important, but will any decision the court makes consider the entire context of Israel’s recent actions in Gaza? Will it bring peace or lower the temperature in the region?

The cause that binds nations together

The ICJ referral is actually not the first time South Africa has led the diplomatic fight against Israel. In 2001, South Africa hosted the fractious UN Durban Anti-Racism Conference that aimed to combat racism, but instead erupted into a shocking festival of hate against Jews.

South Africa’s charges against Israel are also a symbolic challenge to the U.S.-dominated international order that it sees as unfair to African and non-Western interests.

“David Monyae, the director of the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, said that by bringing a genocide case against Israel, South Africa was not just putting Israel’s government on trial, but also challenging the post-World War II global order led by Israel’s chief ally, the United States” (The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2024).

If the accusation against Israel is more about challenging the West than bringing justice to the Palestinian people, then is true justice even the real goal? Or is it merely a smoke screen obscuring a bigger issue?

Does the Court of Justice matter?

Though a final ICJ ruling on the genocide case might take years, on May 24, 2024, the court called on Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. Although officially binding, this is unlikely to end the war. (The court ordered Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to no effect.)

But both this most recent call and the genocide case could, in the court of public opinion, give momentum to international pressure on Israel and potentially lead to sanctions and further impact America’s critical backing of the Israeli military.

The genocide case could also put Israel in the bitter bind of having to renounce the Genocide Convention it signed in 1949.

The new face of anti-Semitism

Jews have usually been few in number, culturally and religiously distinct, highly industrious and successful at a rate out of proportion with the general population. Historically, this often made them easy targets, especially as scapegoats in times of social or economic turbulence.

The vile rhetoric that activists trumpet is of Jews as genocidal usurpers who oppress helpless indigenous victims, Palestinians represented by Hamas.

This is just the latest mutation of the virulent disease of anti-Semitism, cloaked behind the term anti-Zionism and a hatred of the State of Israel. It equates Israelis with European settlers and colonizers. This view justifies violence against Jews by framing it in the context of an enduring anticolonial struggle.

Anti-Semitism is a moral evil that creates a bridge between some in both the far right and far left. Despite Jews making up less than a quarter of 1 percent of the global population, this depraved ideology never seems to disappear.

A time of fear and loathing

These new genocide charges coincide with an alarming recurrence of anti-Semitism around the globe:

• Anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S., including vandalism, harassment and assault, are up roughly 400 percent since the terror attacks. Almost two-thirds of religious hate crimes reported are directed against Jews—a group representing just 2.4 percent of the U.S. population.
• In France, anti-Semitic acts nearly quadrupled in 2023 compared to 2022.
• Germany reported anti-Semitic incidents rising 320 percent after the Hamas terror attacks, while Denmark reported its highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since World War II.
• London’s police force said there had been a staggering 14-fold increase in incidents of anti-Semitism since the Oct. 7 attacks.

The source of anti-Semitism

Many, if not most, of the key figures of the Bible were Jews by birth. King David, Solomon, Daniel and many of the Old Testament prophets were Jews, as were Jesus Christ, Peter and many of the Church leaders in the New Testament.

God powerfully used the Jewish people to faithfully preserve the Holy Scriptures (Romans 3:1-2). Our Creator God has a special love for the Jewish people (Psalm 78:68), and the Bible refers to all converted Christians as spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28-29).

Few people seem to realize that anti-Semitism is ultimately a rejection of Jesus Christ. To have an indiscriminate hate for the Jewish people is to also hate the Son of God, who was born a Jew. But, beyond that, we should remember that targeting any group with hatred and violence is sinful and unbiblical.

Justice at the UN?

The Palestinians and South Africans are demanding a ruling they consider overdue. Israel views a “justice” imposed by the United Nations as twisted and politicized.

While genuine justice seems increasingly unrecognizable and out of reach, others feel the international justice system is the only option remaining.

“International courts,” according to Chile Eboe-Osuji, a former president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), “now seem to be the last hope for humanity in a world where the possibilities of science have been harnessed by states to maximize destruction, while the U.N.’s ability to curb the scourge of war has largely failed” (ForeignPolicy.com).

How will justice be achieved?

Because mankind does not understand peace, justice or mercy, the international courts will inevitably fail to bring true justice or lasting peace.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with its deep historical roots and multifaceted dimensions, has always been deeply contentious and polarizing. Both sides have suffered greatly, and empathy or justice for either side is often misconstrued as antagonism and injustice by the other.

The Abraham Accords attempted to at least remind Arabs and Israelis that they have a shared lineage back to the respected patriarch known for seeking justice. But mankind rarely learns from history yet never forgets historical grievances, so it will take the risen Jesus Christ—who Himself was wrongly judged guilty by the legal system—to step in.

The Creator of Jews and Arabs understands and loves genuine justice (Jeremiah 9:24; Isaiah 30:18). Only He will be able to restore justice and an enduring peace in the Middle East.

Upon His triumphant second coming, Jesus Christ will be “exalted in judgment” (Isaiah 5:16) and bring justice for the powerless (Psalms 10:16-18; 97:2; 99:4; 146:7; Isaiah 2:4). Only under His leadership will the perpetual Israeli-Palestinian quagmire be resolved for the benefit of all.

Read more about this in our booklet The World to Come: What It Will Be Like.

 

Sidebar: ICC Also Getting Involved

The International Criminal Court prosecutor made news May 20, 2024, by announcing he would be seeking arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and defense minister, as well as three Hamas leaders. Usually arrest warrants have not been announced until after a pretrial chamber gave approval.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu decried “a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas. This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler,” reported The Jerusalem Post.

U.S. President Joe Biden, though he has criticized Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza, called the warrants “outrageous.” He continued, “There is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas.”

The ICC, established in 2002, is often confused with the ICJ.

“The ICC differs from the International Court of Justice—the top UN court, which settles disputes between states and is also located in The Hague—in that it prosecutes individuals” (cfr.org).

Israel is not party to the ICC, and such legal processes often take years.