Apartheid Israel will have to, once again, confront the turning tide of opinion should it face the World Court in The Hague. This time, a lawsuit filed by Indonesia seeks accountability for the terrorist state’s “policies and practices” in Palestine, reports Middle East Monitor.
The move came after the Southeast Asian country’s Foreign Ministry constructed a team of experts to help draft a case for the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This itself was on the heels of an earlier case brought to the court by South Africa, which asserted that genocide was unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
The occupation forces have so far killed more than 25 000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave in just over three months. That is a whopping 2 104 percent excess compared to the death toll of 1 139 from Hamas’s retaliatory attack on Israel on 7 October.
They have, at the same time, continued the occupation of the West Bank, making day-to-day life extraordinarily painful and difficult for Palestinian civilians.
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Indonesia lawsuit
Israel has kept a tight grip on the West Bank since 1967. The occupier routinely enacts village closures, restricts movement, surveils Palestinians and chokes the economy, among other actions. Raids under the military occupation can often be deadly, too.
Jakarta’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was quoted by IOL as suggesting the lawsuit was filed in the name of international law. The ICJ had itself previously affirmed the West Bank was a military occupied territory.
“International law must be upheld. The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination must be respected. Israel’s occupation of Palestine, which has lasted for more than 70 years, will not erase the right of the Palestinian people to independence.,” said Marsudi.
Public hearings on the case are scheduled to take place at the World Court on 19 February. Parties will have an opportunity to present their perspectives on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, Slovenia being among those backing Indonesia’s case against Israel.
