FOR the first time, a country has decided to file a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), formerly known as the World Court (WC), alleging that Israel is guilty of genocide. In this sense, South Africa’s decision is a historic one. As for Israel, it’s been before this forum on a number of occasions but never to face a heinous offence such as genocide.
For example, as I recall, in 2004, the court rendered “an advisory opinion” in the case concerning the “legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory”. So even though