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The ruling Zanu PF party has hailed the South African government for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide in Gaza, where over 20 000 Palestinians have been killed in the past four months.

Presenting its case to the ICJ last week, South Africa argued that the Israeli government’s attack on Gaza since early August, during which about 25 000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed, amounts to genocide.

Genocide is defined as acts committed with intent to destroy, either in part or in whole, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group according to the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

South Africa’s submissions at the ICJ placed charges in the broader context of Israel’s conduct towards Palestinians, including claims of 75 years of apartheid, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.

In a wide ranging first press conference for 2024 last week, Zanu PF national spokesperson Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa said the ANC, which celebrated its 112th anniversary recently, had represented the African continent well by taking Israel to the ICJ over the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians in a near four months siege.

“It has made Africa feel proud that we are part of humanity and we say to the Israeli government, those of Jewish extraction in other countries who are demonstrating against their government including the young people of America, from universities, they are right. We need a ceasefire, we need unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people,” he said.

Calling on members of the pioneer Southern African liberation movements to remain united,Cde Mutsvangwa said a strong South Africa is good for the stability of the region as it checks wayward adventurism as a regional power.

“Tinodawo wedu pamamonya ipapo (we need our own among the giants) that is why we are happy when they go to BRICS to look for more opportunities as a bridge head for Africa. 

“That is the role which SA plays and it vindicates why you Zimbabweans stood four-square with SA at their darkest hour when Mozambique was made to buckle with Samora (Machel) being killed and Nkomati (Accord) being foisted upon,” he said.

“Wasn’t it a source of pride yesterday to see SA jurists presenting their case in solidarity with the Palestinian people at the ICJ?”

Cde Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe’s liberation succeeded because the world stood in solidarity with Zimbabweans regardless of colour, creed, sex or gender or religion and recognised that humanity is the same, a situation similar to the Palestinians.

“The PLO and other liberation movements of the Palestinian people are imperilled. Right now, the population of Gaza is imperilled because of the genocidal practices and tendencies of the Israeli government and the Israeli army against the whole population,” he said.

He added; “25 000 people have been killed in three months. No war has done so much ravage to a civilian population in a very confined area including collective punishment of a people, denying them water, denying them medicine, denying them care because you are justifying that you are trying to hunt down terrorists, no act justifies acceptance or condonation of genocide or genocidal tendencies no matter what the Israeli government do. 

“The most unfortunate thing is that it is even the leadership which has been making some strange statement to justify why they should do that to a population, the statements are there so we are very happy that SA has pricked the conscience of the world and had the courage to defy the powerful Israeli lobby in America.”

Cde Mutsvangwa said ZANU-PF expects a two step solution for Israel and Palestine as was the case in SA which became a rainbow nation of blacks and Afrikaners living side by side fallowing the fall of Apartheid in 1994.

“People used to say blacks and Afrikaners in SA cannot live together. The demise of apartheid has disproved that. SA is now a multi-racial rainbow nation. Who says Palestinian and Israelis cannot find each other? We want extremism to be checked, particularly state sponsored or state directed extremism on the part o the Israeli, and Israeli leadership and Israeli government,” he said.

Israel on October 27 last year launched a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip in retaliation to a deadly October 7 coordinated attack by Hamas militants on its territory.

The first invasion of Israel since the 1948 Arab-Israel War, the incursion fell on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, right after the festival of Sukkot, a Sabbath day.

About 1 139 Israelis were killed during the attack and approximately 250 taken as hostages into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said the attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence, and recent escalations. – New Ziana.