Hear Nasreen Rajab-Budlender, a senior counsel at the Pan African Bar Association who has acted as a judge of the High Court of South Africa on several occasions, analyse yesterday’s provisional orders passed by the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
How does the South African government view these orders because it hasn’t got all that it asked for? Is there an inherent contradiction in the provisional orders because they require Israel to prevent the deaths of or bodily harm to innocent Palestinian people but do not order a ceasefire and thus permit the war to continue?
Or can the orders only be fulfilled by Israel effectively ceasing fire? What message do the very substantial majorities behind the ICJ orders send to Israel? Will Prime Minister Netanyahu be embarrassed by the ICJ citing the Israeli President’s and Defence Minister’s statements as examples of incitement of genocide? And what now?
In all likelihood Israel will ignore these orders and the matter will inevitably be referred to the Security Council. Will the Biden administration veto any UNSC resolution thus placing itself in defiance of the ICJ orders? Finally, do these provisional orders convey any hint of what the final ruling may be? And was this a good day in the history of the ICJ?
