Namibia's presidency criticizes Germany for failing to learn lessons from its own genocide against the Namibian people in the early 20th century.
Namibia has criticized Germany's “shocking decision” to support Israel in the genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa, as Israel's war against Gaza reached 100 days.
“Germany has decided to defend before the ICJ the genocidal and horrific acts of the Israeli government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories,” Namibian President Hage Geingob said in a statement on Saturday.
A two-day public hearing on the case took place on Thursday and Friday at the World Court, the United Nations' highest legal body, during which South Africa and Israel presented their arguments.
South Africa told the court on Thursday that Israel's air and ground offensive – which has leveled much of the enclave and killed nearly 24,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities – was aimed at bringing about “the destruction of the population” of Gaza. .
Israel accused South Africa of presenting a “distorted” view of hostilities, denying that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led campaign of genocide against Palestinians.
The Namibian presidential statement added that Berlin was ignoring Israel's massacre of nearly 24,000 Palestinians in Gaza and several United Nations reports disturbingly highlighting the internal displacement of 85 percent of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip. embattled enclave amid acute shortages of food and essential services.
The President of Namibia expressed his “deep concern” about “the shocking decision” communicated by the Government of Germany on Friday, in which it “rejected the morally upright accusation” presented by South Africa.
“No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage perpetrated against the Palestinians in Gaza,” he said.
The declaration stated that Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in Namibia between 1904 and 1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhuman and brutal conditions.
“Germany cannot morally express its commitment to the United Nations Convention against Genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, while supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza,” the presidency said.
“President Geingob calls on the German government to reconsider its ill-timed decision to intervene as a third party in defense and support of Israel's genocidal acts before the ICJ.”
Atrocities in Namibia
German colonial forces carried out atrocities in Namibia against the indigenous Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908.
The murders were part of a German campaign of collective punishment between 1904 and 1908 that is today recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century.
The ICJ is likely to present an interim measure in the coming days, but it will take years to issue a final verdict. South Africa has urged the court to order an immediate end to Israel's devastating military offensive in Gaza.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted following the mass murder of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”
South Africa brought the case to the ICJ on December 19, accusing Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza.
Several countries and international organizations have backed South Africa in its case, while Israel has received backing from the United States, its main arms supplier and close ally.
Several global entities, including Human Rights Watch, have determined that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.
