Recently, African feminists have penned a call for solidarity to support South Africa’s charge of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The horrific regime of the State of Israel against the people of Palestine is not news to any of our readers. But we are glad that African feminists, women’s organisations, and movements have decided to take a stand through South Africa’s initiative to bring Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The story of how the charge of genocide against Israel came to be made by South Africa is an inspiration to hear. If you are an African feminist, endorse the statement using the link provided at the end.

Read the statement below below:

We, the undersigned African Feminists, commend South Africa and express our support for this noble and just initiative of bringing Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We are African feminists, members and representatives of various women’s organisations and movements, promoting and participating in furthering the realisation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, identified in the various international instruments, particularly in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and UNSCR 1820 (2008).

South Africa charges that in retaliation for an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, Israel both in intention and action, is committing genocide, according to Article 6 of the Rome Statute (2000) and Article II of the Geneva Convention (1949), which identifies genocide as “a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part”. We hold that the horrific and calculated violence we are witnessing being perpetrated by the Zionist state of Israel applies as genocide and so do other acts by Israel in the period of its occupation of Palestine.

As Africans, we know only too well the rape and theft of our land and its resources by Colonization, the psychological and material violence inflicted by Apartheid, and the resistance needed to be waged to overcome being considered “less than human”.

We are appalled and enraged by the war on the children of Palestine and consider it a deliberate tactic to terrorise and traumatise a people into fleeing Palestine, to frighten women into infertility, to humiliate and to weaken a people’s ability to recover and reconstruct itself. The trans-historical trauma created by Israel’s genocidal strategies of war and ethnic cleansing makes the task of reconciliation a distant and difficult outcome.

Justice must prevail for peace and reconciliation to emerge from the unlawful occupation of Palestine by Israel. We call on the people of the world to prevail upon their governments to support this application to the ICJ by South Africa, and to continue to unmask the violence, protest the injustices, and isolate, sanction and boycott those who refuse to honour International Law, so as to avoid any impunity.

As African feminists, we believe women and children are central to envisioning the peace required to breathe and build post this brutal genocide in Palestine. We support the agency and wisdom of Palestinian men, women and youth in their brave efforts to reconstruct Palestinian society and its various architectures for independence and development.

Please click here to endorse this statement.