Why Africa's heart bleeds for Gaza

By Nuri Aden

The Faculty of Law at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University hosted a two-day symposium last weekend that brought together over 100 of the world's top legal experts to reimagine a more robust international legal framework in the context of Israel's relentless genocidal pounding of Gaza.

Na'eem Jeenah, an author and senior researcher at South Africa's Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, presented a paper that eloquently argues for viewing the Palestinian cause as an extension of what he called "the African process of decolonisation".

"The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights makes a specific statement about the Palestinian issue and the African Union being against Zionism and seeking to overthrow Zionism and remove Zionist influences from Africa," he told TRT Afrika on the sidelines of the August 3-4 seminar on "Rethinking International Law after Gaza".

Jeenah's advocacy reflects South Africa's initiative in moving the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on December 29 last year against Israel's continuing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has killed around 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October last year.

Lessons for future

Retired Western Cape High Court judge Siraj Desai, who heads Ombud South Africa, outlined the need for the legal fraternity to take up cudgels for Gaza while shaping future legal and political agendas.

"This legal, intellectual gathering contributes to building a new legal order and dictates political and legal agenda for years to come for not only Palestine but for the entire world in future," he said.

Many countries such as Türkiye have supported South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. ''This adds weight to the case before the ICJ that Palestine is now a colonised state," he added.

Richard Falk, the former UN special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestine, gave his perspective in an illuminating talk on "The Gaza challenge: Does international law matter if it cannot be enforced?"

He would know, having been expelled by Israel during the reporting process of human rights violations in Gaza.

Michael Lynk, another former UN special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestine, spoke of the illegality of Israel's settlements in the West Bank and apartheid practices that violate the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The big picture Topics such as "Justice for Palestine and the Potential of the International Court of Justice", "International Humanitarian Law: Access, Rights, Digital Spaces, and Future", and "Social and Economic Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" set the discourse on reforming international law to ensure it serves all nations equitably, with the focus on crimes against humanity in Gaza.

"Most South Africans condemn the genocide because the people of South Africa know that this is genocide and an unbridled attack on Palestinians," Desai said.

Everisto Banyera, a professor at the University of South Africa, said it was about time the international legal system was reformulated by getting all stakeholders on board "so it can work justly for us all".

According to him, the starting point would be to discard the idea that this is wishful thinking.

"We cannot continue to have a situation where a privileged few design and impose their knowledge, experience, and jurisprudence in the form of international law, which then binds us all.

If it is to be a law that binds us all, then we must involve and represent the views of everyone in its preparation," Banyera said.

'Africa not free until Palestine is free'

He pointed to growing global solidarity with the Palestinian cause as a case in point.

Fighting hegemony Jeenah, who presented the session "Reframing International Law: Global South Perspectives and Challenges", said Palestine's problems should be treated as part of the broader cause of ending colonialism.

"Africa has a role in ending that process," he said. "The African process of decolonisation has not ended until Palestine is free, and the struggle of Palestinians is the struggle of Africa."

The senior researcher harked back to historical "close links'' between African liberation movements and the Palestinian struggle as the template for the continuing empathy towards the long-suffering people of Gaza.

Jeenah expressed concern that failure to stop Israel's genocide in Gaza will embolden other aggressor-nations around the world, and African countries could suffer the consequences.

"The Palestinian issue is an indicator of a future kind of struggle between the global South, including African states, and the kind of hegemonic North," Jeenah said.

"We want to see a world characterised by human rights justice and better socio-economic rights for marginalised people."

Other speakers at the symposium included Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, and Hilal Elver, the former UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

They condemned the continued bombardment of Gaza by Israel and expressed sorrow over the Palestinians' suffering.

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