Namibia: Germany is the first to commit genocide against us in the century and we refuse to ignore the genocide against the Palestinians
On Friday, Namibia’s Minister of Justice, Yvonne Dausab, accused Germany of committing the first genocide in the twentieth century.
This came in a speech delivered by Dussab on behalf of Namibia during hearings held by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.
At the beginning of her speech, Yvonne Dausab quoted a statement by the late Namibian President Hake Geinkup, who died at the beginning of this February, saying, “No peace-loving person can ignore the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza”.
Namibia’s Minister of Justice added, “I stand before you representing a country where Germany brutally committed the first genocide of the twentieth century against the Herero and Nama peoples in Namibia.
“Namibia knows well the pain and suffering of occupation, systematic discrimination, apartheid and its deep-rooted consequences,” Dausab said.
She continued, “Given that Namibia has this history, it considers appearing before this court a moral duty and a sacred responsibility regarding the issue of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, which cannot be justified”.
Dossab added, addressing the court, “We ask you to put an end to the historical and ongoing injustice by protecting the basic rights of a people who have suffered for 57 years from stifling occupation and the confiscation of their lands”.
The minister pointed out that the Palestinians are being subjected to collective punishment due to the siege of the Gaza Strip, saying, “This siege is killing civilians through indiscriminate bombing operations on an unprecedented scale in modern history, and this represents a stain on the conscience of the world”.
At the session, Phoebe Oko, professor of international law at the University of London, spokeswoman for Namibia, said that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and that the court prohibited the annexation of territories by occupying them in its previous decisions.
She pointed out that racist Israeli practices in Palestine contradict basic human rights conventions and the principles of international law, saying, “These measures blatantly violate the principles and objectives of the United Nations conventions”.
The international lawyer asked the court to issue a decision “that stipulates that the decision to ban apartheid in the last century is not limited to the continent of Africa only, but that this ban also includes the policies practiced by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories today”.
Friday is the fifth day of hearings held by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories at the request of the United Nations General Assembly, with the sessions ending next Monday.
Friday’s session includes pleadings from Namibia, Norway, the Sultanate of Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, and Tunisia.
On the other hand, victims of the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have been filing a criminal complaint with a German court for months against senior officials in the German government for supporting “Israeli war crimes and genocide” against the Palestinians.
Lawyers for the Gaza victims said, in a press conference held on Friday, the German capital, Berlin, “We’re filing a criminal complaint against German government officials on charges of aiding and abetting genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, by supplying weapons to Israel and issuing the relevant export permits”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck are all accused of “complicity in genocide in Gaza” by supporting the Israeli military offensive and allowing the export of arms to Israel worth 326 million euros ($350 million).
For its part, Britain said that the disputes between Israel and Palestine shouldn’t be resolved within the framework of the advisory function of the International Court of Justice, thus defending the Israeli proposals.
This came in a speech by Dan Saroshi, a professor of international law at the University of Oxford, on behalf of Britain, before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, during hearings to discuss the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Saroshi explained, “The court should not resolve disputes between parties using its advisory jurisdiction; Instead, the advisory function of the courts is to provide legal advice to UN bodies requesting an opinion”.
He added, “The current state of the questions raised in the court’s opinion would create a situation against Israel”.
Saroshi pointed out that “Israel’s approval must be obtained in this case”.
In turn, Director of Legal Affairs at the British Foreign Office and its representative to the International Court of Justice, Sally Langrishe, said that her country’s position on the conflict “has been known for a long time, as the two-state solution is the only solution that will guarantee self-determination for the Palestinians and protect Israel’s identity and security”.
Langrish added, “Britain wants an immediate halt to attacks in Gaza, and then progress towards a sustainable and permanent ceasefire”.
