By Vanessa Beeley
Many Western analysts are hailing the ICJ ruling as a historic victory, many Palestinians don’t agree.
“We, the sons and daughters of this land, remain resolute in our cause. We do not seek acquittal from the International Court, nor do we wait for the international community’s approval to exercise our right to resist and liberate any occupied territory, especially from Israel and foreign military forces.”
— Myriam Charabaty
29 Jan 2024 – The ruling issued by the ICJ ordered six provisional measures including for Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide convention, prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. The Court also ordered Israel to preserve evidence of genocide and to submit a report to the Court, within one month, of all measures taken in line with its order.
There have been mixed reactions with widescale approval from many Western analysts and disappointment and anger from Palestinians and regional analysts. I will try to unpack both sides.
Palestine and the region responds
Last night I spoke with Lebanese journalist and analyst Marwa Osman and we covered much of what I will write about but please do listen to Marwa’s opinion which is based on years of Resistance against the Zionist colonialist project that threatens the whole region.
Beyond Marwa’s invaluable insights I also reached out to another Lebanon-based journalist Myriam Charabaty who describes herself thus on her website:
An Arab political analyst focused on soft power, the colonization of the Christian identity across the Arab Nation, and the role of Arab Christians as part of an entire social fabric in the fight for Arab national liberation.
Myriam responded to the ICJ ruling with the following statement:
We, the sons and daughters of this land, remain resolute in our cause. We do not seek acquittal from the International Court, nor do we wait for the international community’s approval to exercise our right to resist and liberate any occupied territory, especially from Israel and foreign military forces.
For decades, we’ve paid a heavy price in blood and sacrifice, aiming for liberation, the end of oppression, and the preservation of our dignity and land. The failures of the international community and its courts are glaring, with examples like Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya, where our suffering goes unaccounted for.
The Arab-Israeli conflict remains the core issue in the Arab world, and we firmly believe that what was taken by force can only be reclaimed through force – a historically proven equation.
Yesterday, the International Court of Justice and the world were put on trial as they witnessed a live-streamed genocide. Will they choose to preserve their humanity in the face of this ongoing atrocity? By failing to confront the occupation as a whole, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza and systematic ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Occupied AlQuds, they admit to prioritizing their interests over their humanity.
As for us, the people who have chosen the honorable path of steadfastness and resistance across the Axis, we will continue to stand with our most honorable Resistance until we achieve liberation, regardless of the cost. Resisting oppression and occupation is our fundamental human duty.
Much blood has been spilled, and our pursuit of vengeance has become a sacred endeavor. This time, our vengeance will be in the form of liberation.
It is mistaken to call it a ceasefire. By its definition a ceasefire is an agreement between two conflictual armies. Palestine does not have an Army, it does not have a Navy nor an Air-force, it is an indigenous Resistance movement whose right to armed resistance against an apartheid, brutal occupying force is enshrined in International Law.
On Instagram an account called Decolonize the Classroom also argued against the term ceasefire:
There is no humanity in Imperialism and ceasefire only treats Palestinians as objects that need to be temporarily quelled while the colony and the imperialist US gear up for a new method of containing and exploiting these objectified humans.
Watch:
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Vanessa Beeley is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment.
5 February 2024
Source: transcend.org