Letter, Signed by 210 Zionist Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Unequivocally Supports the Israeli-U.S. Genocide Campaign in Gaza
In a letter, dated January 23, 2024, to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Kathy Manning (D-NC), Co-Chairs of the House Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, led 208 fellow members of Congress in “denouncing the hostile genocide allegations levied by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.”
The members of Congress write “South Africa has filed a grossly unfounded case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of genocide and asking the court to order Israel to immediately halt its military efforts in Gaza. We write to you to express our disgust at this filing, which perpetrates false and dangerous allegations against the Jewish state.”
Supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Smith-Manning letter further states, “We share the administration’s position that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas terror and appreciate the strong statement of National Security Council spokesman John Kirby that the South African application is ‘meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.’”
The letter continues by saying, “South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel exposes how far Israel’s enemies will go in their attempts to demonize the Jewish state. While barely acknowledging the Hamas terrorists who gleefully massacred, mutilated, raped, and kidnapped innocent civilians on October 7, South Africa makes grossly unfounded and defamatory charges against Israel on the world stage, abusing the judicial process in order to delegitimize the democratic State of Israel. Charging the Jewish state with genocide for defending itself against Hamas terror is particularly cynical given that the term ‘genocide’ was coined following the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust.”
The 210 members of the House of Representatives close by stating, “We vigorously denounce South Africa’s deeply hostile stance towards Israel and thoroughly reject its charge of genocide. We urge you to continue to do the same, to offer Israel all appropriate support in opposing the South African application to the ICJ, and to encourage our allies to join us in speaking out against this unfounded attack on Israel, particularly at the United Nations and in other intergovernmental organizations.”
In his press release, Rep. Smith states, “I thank my colleagues from both parties who joined me in asking the Biden Administration to support Israel as it responds to this scurrilous abuse of the International Court,” said Smith. “Anyone familiar with the legal definition of genocide and the standards developed around it will understand that South Africa’s petition is nothing more than an exercise in defamation. I hope many other governments join us in denouncing this abuse of the ICJ process.”
This is one of the most repulsive letters I have ever read. It is shot through with misinformation and outright lies.
The letter is not worthy of a response. Nonetheless, please consider the following two points.
1. Israel’s Response to South Africa’s Application Is an Attempt to Intimidate the ICJ Judges
The following is an excerpt from my Reply in Opposition to Israel’s Response.
Israel’s response is an attempt to intimidate the ICJ judges by mounting a pressure campaign urging governments around the world to publicly denounce South Africa’s genocide case in the hope of persuading the ICJ to decide this case based on politics rather than applying the law to the facts of the case.
On January 4, 2024, the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a cable instructing its embassies to pressure politicians and diplomats in their host countries to make statements opposing South Africa’s case at the ICJ. The cable illustrates Israel’s diplomatic action plan to create international pressure on the court to not issue an injunction that orders Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza.
The cable states that Israel’s “strategic goal” is for the court to reject the request for an injunction, refrain from determining that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and recognize that the Israeli military is operating in the Strip according to international law.
“We ask for an immediate and unequivocal public statement along the following lines: To publicly and clearly state that YOUR COUNTRY rejects the outrageous, absurd and baseless allegations made against Israel,” the cable also says. Stressing Israel’s efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the population in Gaza and to decrease the number of civilians who are killed “is critical”, the cable reads.
In the cable, the Israeli embassies were instructed to ask diplomats and politicians at the highest levels “to publicly acknowledge that Israel is working [together with international actors] to increase the humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as to minimize damage to civilians, while acting in self-defense after the horrible October 7th attack by a genocidal terrorist organization.”
“The State of Israel will appear before the ICJ at The Hague to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spokesperson Eylon Levy declared. South Africa’s application is “without legal merit and constitutes a base exploitation and contempt of court,” he said. Including accusations of “blood libel” is disingenuous. “Blood libel” is an anti-Semitic trope that erroneously accuses Jews of the ritual sacrifice of Christian children.
“How tragic that the rainbow nation that prides itself on fighting racism will be fighting pro-bono for anti-Jewish racists,” Levy added ironically. He made the astonishing claim that Israel’s military campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza is designed to prevent the genocide of the Jews.
The Biden administration has already rejected South Africa’s application. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby describes South Africa’s ICJ application as “meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.” Kirby claimed, “Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel is not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat,” echoing Israel’s preposterous assertion.
Kirby’s contention that Israel is trying to prevent genocide is absurd. According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, from October 7, 2023 to January 4, 2024, the Israeli-U.S. genocide campaign in Gaza has resulted in the slaughter of 30,676 Palestinians, 105 journalists have been killed, 58,960 have been injured, 1,935,000 Palestinians have been displaced, and 524 healthcare professionals have either been killed or injured. The number of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children killed could easily be double or triple the reported number. Many causalities are buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Clearly, our AIPAC members of Congress are obedient Zionists. They are doing their best “to intimidate the ICJ judges by mounting a pressure campaign urging governments around the world to publicly denounce South Africa’s genocide case in the hope of persuading the ICJ to decide this case based on politics rather than applying the law to the facts of the case.”
The atrocities allegedly committed by Hamas freedom fighters were fabricated by Israel and the Zionist-Controlled media. As recent atrocity accounts have circulated, Sarah Leah Whitson, previously the Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, cautioned unless there are solid facts (beyond mere allegations) substantiating the horrific claims of decapitated infants and widespread rape and sexual assault - claims that the Israeli army states it cannot verify - it’s advisable to refrain from declaring their occurrence.
In the future, our AIPAC lawmakers should follow Ms. Whitson’s advice.