Thread by @NimerSultany

As the ICJ proceedings on the legality of Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestine draws to a close today, what we have learned: 1/14

https://twitter.com/NimerSultany/status/1759570170471735478

First, is how isolated Israel is, legally and politically. Dozens of states made comprehensive arguments regarding the illegality of Israel's occupation and the violation of prohibition on apartheid and racial discrimination. They called for an immediate end of the occupation. 2

Only a handful of states (primarily, the US) brazenly defended the continued denial of the right to self-determination, and a handful (primarily, the UK) asked the court to decline from ruling in the case by reference to non-existent bi-lateral political process. 3/14

What follows from this isolation is a proper understanding of the "failure of the international community": The single most important factor that enables Israel to maintain its unlawful occupation, and consolidate an apartheid regime over historic Palestine, is US imperialism. 4

Second, although the ICJ case on Genocide deals with a different legal framework than the one invoked in the ICJ case on the legality of occupation, one wonders if the Judges can maintain the legalistic distinction in their minds. 5/14

On the one hand, we saw that defenders of Israel in both cases, whether genocide or legality of occupation, were willing to use same argument to avoid holding Israel accountable (e.g. Judge Sebutinde in Genocide case, US/UK in legality of occupation case) 6/14

by trying to leave Palestinian right to self-determination subject to same jungle rules that have left the ghettoised, subjugated, brutalised Palestinians at the mercy of Israeli whims and raw power, in a state continuously lurching to the far right of the Zionist continuum. 7

The presentations over the past week by dozens of states in the ICJ show how pathetic the pro-Israeli western propaganda line about "unsuspecting and peace-loving Israel suffering from an external attack by an irrational actor". 8

Several states and organisations also made the arguments that the Palestinians have a right to resist the occupation in pursuance of rights to self-determination, and that the illegality of Israel's hold on Palestine means all its actions are illegal 9/14

And these illegal actions are intended to maintain the unlawful occupation and to enforce an apartheid under the guise of security while it is pursuing settlements' expansion, illegal annexation of Jerusalem, and declaring repeatedly Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. 10/14

Some arguments (e.g. the Arab League) also made the point that the ongoing Israeli occupation is itself an ongoing aggression on the Palestinian people. From this perspective, the current genocide is another escalation in this aggression. 11/14

So the question for the Judges in the ICJ Genocide case, who will now need to consider Israel's compliance with the order on provisional measures, is: can they separate between what they heard over a week from dozens of states & understanding Israel's genocidal conduct? 12

In their ruling on provisional measures the ICJ focused on the genocide case on the "immediate context" despite South Africa's application's invitation to consider 75 years of apartheid, 56 years of occupation, 16 years of siege. 13/14

Israel's intentions towards Gaza cannot be separated from the colonial dynamics of elimination, & Israel's de-humanisation of Palestinians since Oct 7th can't be separated from its denial of their rights and their inferior status for decades to justify their dispossession. 14/14

Another thought: when compared to arguments made by South Africa (emphasising settler colonialism), China (right to resistance) and Arab League (the illegality of partition and the basis for the regime of racial domination) -- the "State of Palestine" arguments fall very short!