South African Foreign Minister to Al Jazeera Net: Israel is strengthening its supporters to ignore international legitimacy

South African Foreign Minister Grace Naledi Pandor: There is a murderous genocidal intent towards the Palestinian people (Al Jazeera)

Johannesburg -

South African Foreign Minister Grace Naledi Pandor confirmed that Israel has a “murderous intention” to exterminate the Palestinian people, considering that the military aid that Israel receives from some countries of the world makes it ignore international resolutions and laws. Pandor also mocked the Israeli accusations directed against her country and against her personally against the backdrop of Its position on the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Below is the text of the interview conducted by Al Jazeera Net with Pandor:

Will justice be achieved for the Palestinians from the International Court of Justice after the South African case?

I hope that the decisions of the International Court of Justice will help to achieve justice. I do not believe that there will be quite as positive a response as we have seen from the government of Israel, because we believe that there is a murderous genocidal intent towards the Palestinian people, and given this intent and the massive arms support that Israel enjoys from parts From the international community, I see that they think they can ignore everyone and do whatever they want.

Many decades of violations have passed without the world truly responding in a positive way to bring the two countries toward a settlement. The International Court of Justice has taken an important set of decisions and confirmed our belief that it is plausible that a genocide process is underway. The response from the Israeli government so far does not suggest a serious appreciation and recognition of the crime of genocide.

It is reported that Israel said that South Africa is the legal arm of Hamas. What do you think of that?

They were saying that I take my orders from Iran, and that I am a supporter of ISIS (Islamic State). I don't even know what the acronym for ISIS stands for, but this is some fake news, and insults being circulated. They even went to my family, my husband, and my children, but that's okay. We will strive hard, we will not get tired, and I hope we can work and do what we can.

We have sent some aid from our ministry and government, and we have other second packages lying near the harsher border that we would like to cross, but now the lies have increased even more. They are now accusing the workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of playing a role in the 7 attack. Last October it was launched by Hamas, so they stopped funding UNRWA which was supporting people who needed help.

So I called on my colleagues in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and progressive African countries to put our hands together to work to finance this agency, and to make sure that aid gets there. We cannot sit idly by and watch events happen. This is not our culture. We must be active, and try to make things happen. A difference.

Why did South Africa file a lawsuit against Israel with the International Court of Justice?

The duration of our submission to the Court restored confidence in key UN institutions to some extent, and also drew the world's attention to the need to reform the international organization as well. Through South Africa's approach based on human rights, restoring peace, and ending aggression, the issue of resolving the issue of genocide was opened to the world. What we wanted to do is that the case should be in court. The court must investigate it.

All evidence of the atrocities will be available to all of us and the global community. This is an important victory. When you are in a mighty battle, you are looking for one victory after another. Some victories may be small, and others may be big, but we must not undermine any step.

South Africa has done something big on this issue, and we must continue to do so, and not say that Israel did not do this or that. We want the people of Palestine to be liberated. I say to the South African government, keep going, get other countries to support you as you support peace.

On January 26, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop any acts of genocide. However, we saw the exact opposite. There has been an escalation in violence against Palestinians, and powerful countries continue to arm Israel, and continue to protect it from any accountability. Why?

This is the real pain, and I believe you can change this dynamic, and we in South Africa believe we should continue to use institutions like the United Nations. We must continue to push the members of the UN Security Council towards making binding decisions. Incidentally, the International Court of Justice indicated in its orders to Israel that its decision on interim measures is legally binding under the Convention. They do not need confirmation from the Security Council, which has only 5 countries with veto power, which they use not in the interests of peace and security, but primarily regarding their political positions.

Source: Al Jazeera