Is international justice relevant to prevent genocide in Gaza?

1 February 2024 By

for Justice Info

Swedish lawyer of Palestinian origin Nada Kiswanson has for the last 15 years provided evidence to various international institutions including the International Criminal Court, in order, she says, to “bring to an end violations committed against the Palestinians”. In this new podcast, our partners from Asymmetrical Haircuts invited her to comment on the International Court of Justice 26 January order that Israel must take “all measures within its power to prevent and punish direct and public incitement to commit genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

"This was one of the rare time where the plight of the Palestinian people is being taught to the entire world without interruption", said Swedish-Palestinian lawyer Nada Kiswanson about the much-followed World Court hearing in The Hague. © Robin Utrecht / ANP / AFP

1 min 14Approximate reading time

To listen to the podcast, click on the "play" button below:

The top court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, has announced some provisional measures in the case brought by South Africa against Israel about what has been happening in Gaza under the Genocide Convention.

Amid all the commentary, we picked a few elements from the announcement by the court’s president Joan Donoghue and talked them through with Nada Kiswanson, a lawyer who’s been representing Palestinian human rights organisations and around 700 Palestinian victims at the ICC. She also edited the volume Prolonged Occupation and International Law, published by Brill last year. And she’s the MENA program manager at Impunity Watch.

We also mention media expectations of the court’s ruling (a bit skewed, and maybe missing the main issue, we think), current events such as the pause in funding of UNWRA and how these events may be connected to the case at the ICJ, and briefly look forward to the next big Palestine event – also at this court – and ask what impact this interim genocide ruling may have on the International Criminal Court’s investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel on Trial

ASYMMETRICAL HAIRCUTS

This podcast has been published as part of a partnership between JusticeInfo.net and Asymmetrical Haircuts, a podcast on international justice produced from The Hague by journalists Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg, who retain full control and independence over the contents of the podcast.