April 5, 2024

The world cheered when the International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s highest court, issued a preliminary decision Jan. 26 on the complaint submitted by the South African government on Dec. 29, 2023, that documented Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The ICJ’s ruling instructed Israel to do everything to prevent a genocide. The instructions included allowing humanitarian assistance to be provided to Gaza and reporting back to the court by Feb. 26. Even though the court failed to call for an immediate ceasefire to halt Israel’s indiscriminate bombing, it seemed to be a step forward at the time.

Now, over three months later, the lack of teeth in the ICJ ruling is glaringly evident. While the ICJ ruling is binding, it lacks the apparatus to concretely enforce or police any of its rulings.

After repeated U.S. vetoes of ceasefire resolutions since October 7, on March 25 the U.N. Security Council finally adopted Resolution 2728. Not vetoed by the U.S. or other permanent UNSC members, the resolution demanded a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan. The resolution also calls for the unconditional release of hostages and the end to barriers to humanitarian aid.

Like the ICJ ruling, this latest UNSC resolution was welcomed by liberation forces in Palestine and progressives everywhere. Unlike the U.N. General Assembly votes, Security Council votes are “binding.” The SC can authorize “peacekeeping” interventions, and it could take punitive measures including imposing sanctions on Israel.

Author Vijay Prashad noted: “According to Article 5 of the U.N. Charter (1945), if Israel violates the UNSC Resolution 2728, it must be suspended from the U.N.  If it persists in its violation, according to Article 6 it must be expelled.”

However, the Security Council has limited means to enforce the resolution without full U.S. support, and that is unlikely to happen in Gaza. Ignoring the recently passed Resolution 2728, Israel has continued its bombing and restrictions of essential aid to Gaza where starvation is imminent for hundreds of thousands of people, particularly children.

While the U.N. actions may be unenforceable, they do expose the growing isolation of the United States as a world power. The previous U.S.-supported Security Council resolution favoring Israel was vetoed by China and Russia with Algeria voting no and Guyana abstaining. U.S. efforts to use the U.N. to sanction Russia two years ago over Ukraine resulted in growing pushback from the Global South.

U.S. losing its grip on the world

Since the United Nations was founded in October 1945, the U.S. has dominated the Security Council, using its veto power to block progressive measures. It had already used its military might, including dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to tell the world not to challenge U.S. dictates. This was just two years before the U.N. agreed to the illegal creation of Israel on Indigenous Palestinian lands in 1947.

Over 76 years later, it’s a wholly different situation. The power of the world’s people, especially the Arab masses, is causing a shift, burning through the bureaucracy in the U.N. and the ICJ and forcing states to take action. Over 70 states, including 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, supported South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Amman, Jordan, have held daily, militant demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy since March 25, calling for Jordan to support the resistance in Gaza, cancel the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and cut all ties with Israel. Over half of the population in Jordan is of Palestinian origin, and there have been regular rallies across the country since the start of Israel’s genocidal onslaught in October.

Massive demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinians have been taking place across the world since October 7, often defying attempts by pro-Zionist governments to prohibit them. There is no indication of any let-up in these protests.

It’s a new day.