Genocide Gets Political at the U.N.

null By The Editorial BoardJan. 11, 2024 6:30 pm ETJournal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyThe United Nations has done little while Russia has slaughtered innocent Ukrainians, but suddenly the body has a cause it can get behind—charging Israel with genocide for the crime of self-defense. The U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) began hearings Thursday on South Africa’s charge that the Jewish state is committing genocide in its war against Hamas. In its first day of hearings at The Hague, South Africa claimed Israel is guilty because it has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians in its military campaign since the Hamas massacre of civilians on Oct. 7. That’s proof, South Africa says, that Israel’s military actions are “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.” Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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The Editorial Board

Jan. 11, 2024 6:30 pm ET

Journal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark Kelly

The United Nations has done little while Russia has slaughtered innocent Ukrainians, but suddenly the body has a cause it can get behind—charging Israel with genocide for the crime of self-defense. The U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) began hearings Thursday on South Africa’s charge that the Jewish state is committing genocide in its war against Hamas.

In its first day of hearings at The Hague, South Africa claimed Israel is guilty because it has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians in its military campaign since the Hamas massacre of civilians on Oct. 7. That’s proof, South Africa says, that Israel’s military actions are “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”